Comedy Tonight

Last week, I went to see a Denver area theater production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Though I'm no expert on all of Stephen Sondheim's musicals, I have certainly liked the ones I have seen. (In particular, performances by the original Broadway casts of Sunday in the Park with George and Into the Woods are available on video. I also was actually in a production of the latter, back in high school.)

I was eager to take in this, Sondheim's very first musical. As his first, it was created in the early 1960s. And in my opinion, it's showing its age a bit. I suppose that's an odd thing to say, when the play itself is set in ancient Rome -- but much of the attitudes and sense of humor the show contains feel very much of the early 60s.

The story and dialogue is salted with an undercurrent of prejudice and negative stereotypes, mostly all against women. It's all very playful and anything but malicious, but it is pervasive throughout, and seems a little awkward today. I suppose Sondheim "atoned" for this in later works, creating some very strong female characters.

The characters do an awful lot of breaking through the fourth wall to mug at the audience for cheap laughs. Again, it's playful and not unfunny, but it feels very much like a style of comedy that hasn't been popular for many decades.

But the music is well-crafted, and the lyrics fiercely clever -- as you would expect from one of the true masters of musical theater. It's just that this show is more of a sugary dessert that's very enjoyable at the time, but not ultimately filling. It's intended as such, so in that respect should be applauded for achieving its goal -- but it's not quite what I was expecting, given the greater weight of the Sondheim musicals I knew before.

Still, an enjoyable night out at the theater.