A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

Stephen Sondheim, Burt Shevelove, Larry Gelbart

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Paperback

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English

Nick Hern Books
08 July 2004

Musicals

Series: NHB Modern Plays

A bawdy, fast-paced, raunchy comedy musical from one of the world's most influential and innovative creators of musical theatre, loosely based on the plays of Plautus.

Pseudolus, a simpering slave, is trying to win his own freedom by cooking up a romance for his master's son, Hero, with the pretty young virgin Philia. But there's a problem – not only is Philia owned by Marcus Lycus, an infamous courtesan dealer, but she's also already promised to swaggering soldier Miles Gloriosus... and neither of them are keen to give her up.

Stephen Sondheim's A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, with a book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart, ran for three years on Broadway. The first British production, starring Frankie Howerd as the cowardly slave Pseudolus, ran almost as long and spawned the TV series Up Pompeii!

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum won the 1962 Tony Award for Best Musical.

'The funniest, bawdiest and most enchanting musical that Plautus, with a little help from Stephen Sondheim, Burt Shevelove and Lary Belbart, ever wrote'

— New York Times

'Spectacularly generous when it comes to the gags... one of the most exuberant opening numbers ever penned... The comic plot never stops boiling in a show that creates mounting farcical mayhem with rare precision... a brilliantly crafted hit... preposterously enjoyable'

— Daily Telegraph

'A brilliant synthesis of stock characters from Plautus... a vertiginously funny show'

— Guardian

'Simply irresistible... blissfully hilarious... a glorious gag-fest... A delirium of good, clean, filthy fun... a cornucopia of delight'

— Independent

'Gloriously mischievous'

— The Times

'Delightful... just sit back and enjoy it'

— Financial Times

Best Musical, Tony Awards

By: Stephen Sondheim, Burt Shevelove, Larry Gelbart
Imprint: Nick Hern Books
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 198mm, Width: 129mm, Spine: 10mm
Weight: 144g
ISBN: 9781854591456
ISBN 10: 1854591452
Series: NHB Modern Plays
Pages: 128
Publication Date: 08 July 2004
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Stephen Sondheim (1930–2021) was a celebrated American composer and lyricist, one of the most important figures in 20th-century musical theatre. Sondheim started his theatre career by writing the lyrics for West Side Story (1957) and Gypsy (1959) before becoming a composer and lyricist. Sondheim's best-known works include A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962), Company (1970), Follies (1971), A Little Night Music (1973), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1979), Merrily We Roll Along (1981), Sunday in the Park with George (1984), and Into the Woods (1987). He won many awards including eight Tony Awards (including a Lifetime Achievement Tony in 2008), eight Grammy Awards, an Olivier Award, an Academy Award, a Pulitzer Prize, and the 2015 Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Reviews for A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

'The funniest, bawdiest and most enchanting musical that Plautus, with a little help from Stephen Sondheim, Burt Shevelove and Lary Belbart, ever wrote' * New York Times * 'Spectacularly generous when it comes to the gags... one of the most exuberant opening numbers ever penned... The comic plot never stops boiling in a show that creates mounting farcical mayhem with rare precision... a brilliantly crafted hit... preposterously enjoyable' * Daily Telegraph * 'A brilliant synthesis of stock characters from Plautus... a vertiginously funny show' * Guardian * 'Simply irresistible... blissfully hilarious... a glorious gag-fest... A delirium of good, clean, filthy fun... a cornucopia of delight' * Independent * 'Gloriously mischievous' * The Times * 'Delightful... just sit back and enjoy it' * Financial Times *