A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart.

Based on the comedies of the ancient Roman playwright Plautus, it tells the story of a slave named Pseudolus and his attempts to win his freedom by encouraging the romance between his master's son Hero and a young virgin named Philia who is owned by Marcus Lycus, a dealer in courtesans, and promised to a swaggering soldier named Miles Gloriosus. The humor is broad and bawdy and fast-paced.

Sondheim's score was coolly received when "Forum" opened on Broadway on May 8, 1962 at the Alvin Theatre, and was not even nominated for a Tony Award even though the show won the award for Best Musical. Starring Zero Mostel, Jack Gilford, David Burns , Ruth Kobart , and John Carradine, the original production was directed by Broadway legend George Abbott.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum was made into a film in 1966 with Zero Mostel, Jack Gilford, Buster Keaton, a very young Michael Crawford and Phil Silvers (who also starred in a critically well-received Broadway revival in 1972). It was also revived with great success in 1996 with Nathan Lane as Pseudolus, replaced later in the run by Whoopi Goldberg.

Characters

• Pseudolus- A Roman Slave, owned by Hero, who seeks to win his freedom by helping his young master win the heart of a virgin in the house of Marcus Lycus.
• Hero- Young son of Senex who falls in love with the virgin, Philia.
• Philia- A virgin in the house of Marcus Lycus, and Hero's love interest.
• Senex- A Roman Senator living in a less fashionable suburb of Rome.
• Marcus Lycus- A purveyor of courtesans, who operates from the house to the left of Senex.
• Domina- The wife of Senex.
• Erronius- The elderly neighbor to the right of Senex who is searching for his two children, kidnapped in infancy by pirates.
• Gymnasia- A mute courtesan from the house of Senex.
• Miles Gloriosus- A concieted captain in the Roman army.
• Histerius- The Chief slave in the house of Senex.
• Fertilla the Populator- A female "Breeding Slave".
• Crassus- A merchant at the docks.
• Tintinabula- A courtesan in the house of Lycus.
• Vibratta- A courtesan in the house of Lycus.
• Gemini- Twin courtesans in the house of Lycus.
• Panacea- A courtesan in the house of Lycus.
• Domina's Mother- Senex's Whip-wielding mother-in-law.