A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum (1962 Original Broadway Cast)
"Tragedy tomorrow, comedy tonight!" With that song, one of the most famous opening numbers ever, the brilliant career ofStephen Sondheimas a Broadway composer and lyricist was born. Sondheim had written lyrics for the classicsWest Side StoryandGypsy, but he wanted to compose as well, and after 1954'sSaturday Nightwas derailed,A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum(1962) gave him his first Broadway show. Based on theRoman comedies of Plautus, it's a light frothy entertainment (as promised in the opening) led by the outrageousZero Mostelas the scheming slave Pseudolus. The Gordian knot of a plot also involvesJack Gilfordas fellow slave Hysterium, Preshy Marker as the vacant Philia, Brian Davies as the young hero, Hero, andRon Holgateas the testosterone-oozing soldier Miles Glorious. Sondheim the composer proves an ideal match for Sondheim the lyricist: you can hear halting uncertainty and not-yet-blossomed passion in "Love, I Hear," "I'm Calm" perfectly captures Hysterium's hysteria, and "Everybody Ought to Have a Maid" is pure vaudeville genius.--David Horiuchi