Carson City theater lovers have one more chance tonight to enjoy one of the better summer musicals playing in our town.
It’s “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” with music by Stephen Sondheim and book by Larry Gelbart and Bert Shevelove. It’s playing at the new outdoor theater, labeled Amphitheater, sitting on the west side of the old church now part of the Brewery Arts Center at 449 W. King St. Admission is $18 for most folk, $15 for students, seniors and BAC members. Show time is 7:30 p.m. tonight, Sunday.
This is a show with a cast of fine comedians, singers and dancers, including a very attractive love interest, a slave going free and all sorts of other Romans, Core to the cast is Jody Paslov as Pseudolus, the freed slave who acts as a sort of moderator amid all the confusion.
He sings, he mimes, he dances and is generally the center of the show. But that’s not to ignore some of the others, such as June Joplin, making the jump from running Comma Coffee and singing jazz to joining the musical comedy world. Then there are the two leggy Roman soldiers (Rachel Anderson and Jessica Reynolds, a comedy team all by themselves) distaff side, who parade with short spears and long legs.
Plenty more in the cast, and all of them have fun and spread fun. Don’t worry about the plot, just go along for the ride. And enjoy the new outdoor theater location. It’s under four big trees and there is a wine booth and popcorn stand. Friday night the winds were strong and part of the set blew loose, but someone just reached around and took the falling Roman pillar off the stage.
The show is directed by Karen Chandler with music direction by Andy Sonnemaker and choreography by Andie Anderson. And the Brewery’s Performing Arts Collaboration is overall responsible for this, and it’s great to see this outfit continuing to turn out fine work.
Too bad one can’t say the same for the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival which has devolved into a single comedy mishmash of Shakespeare show and a couple of musical performances. What went wrong there, one wonders.
But nothing wrong with the BAC comedy team. They do just what they are supposed to do.
— Sam Bauman
