By Megan Fraedrich
Some shows feel like a workout for your brain. Reston Community Players’ A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum feels more like a workout for your abs — you’ll laugh so hard and so frequently, you’ll tire muscle groups you didn’t even know you had. And that’s to say nothing of the workout that the actors onstage are getting with all the frenetic physical comedy. As director Michael Barret Jones puts it in his program notes, Forum is comedy as a contact sport.
Forum holds the distinction of being Stephen Sondheim’s first Broadway score, paired with a riotously funny book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart. While some of the humor feels a bit dated — well, it is Ancient Rome, after all — this piece is so packed with multiple laughs per minute that there’s bound to be “something for everyone” in this comedy.
The opening number, “Comedy Tonight,” sets the tone for the evening with panache and is further enhanced by nonstop physical gags devised by Jones. It’s all led by Steve Cairns as the emcee, Prologus, who later reveals himself as the lead role, Pseudolus. Cairns’ roguish Pseudolus has the audience in the palm of his hand from start to finish and seems so at ease onstage that he makes even the most obvious jokes feel fresh and off-the-cuff. You don’t have to be a great singer to play Pseudolus well, but it helps, and Cairns’ surprisingly strong, resonant voice carries Sondheim’s challenging score effortlessly.
The action, Pseudolus tells us, centers around three houses in Ancient Rome. There’s the house of henpecked patriarch Senex, who lives with his overbearing wife Domina, their young son Hero, and the family’s slaves, Hysterium and (surprise!) Pseudolus. Next door sits a notorious brothel, the House of Marcus Lycus. It’s home to a newly arrived courtesan, Philia, who is still a virgin. Then there’s the home of a sweet old man named Erronius, who’s been abroad for years in search of his two children, kidnapped by pirates in their infancy.
When Senex and Domina leave town to visit family, Pseudolus hatches a scheme to help Hero hook up with Philia in exchange for his freedom. From there, it’s nonstop chaos, filled with mistaken identities, chases, disguises, distractions, diversions, and plenty of pratfalls.
The entire cast and creative team are more than up to the challenge of this fast-paced comedic tour de force. There’s no shortage of strong singers who make strong comedic choices. Particularly delightful is Ryan Rigazzi as the high-strung Hysterium, who has an incredibly expressive face but can also say so much with a scream. He notably shines in Act Two in a disguise sequence too delicious to spoil. As a young ingenue Hero, Alejandro Cahoon, has a winning smile and a warm, lustrous voice that feels suited for a Disney prince. (His cool Mercury-winged sneakers add to the impression.) He pairs well with Caitlin Costello as lovely but none-too-bright Philia, whom she plays with a perpetual daffy, slack-jawed smile.
As Hero’s parents, Brian Ash and Cathy Gurson are a hoot. Ash’s cheeky portrayal of Senex feels likable despite being an accurately described “dirty old man,” and he leads an enjoyable rendition of “Everybody Ought to Have a Maid.” Gurson portrays Domina with more subtlety than the terrifying Gorgon you sometimes see, sweeping about the stage with an imperious air and superb command of her physicality. (She also really pulls off a wacky wig, styled by Ryan Kincade.)
But the show really escalates to comedy gold when two scene-stealing supporting players enter the stage. There’s Scott J. Strasbaugh as the befuddled Erronius, who possesses extraordinary comic timing and somehow manages to keep a straight face through some of the silliest stuff you’ve ever seen. Then there’s the long-awaited arrival of the boastful captain, Miles Gloriosus (Spencer Pilcher), which is well worth the wait. Pilcher has a thunderous, rafter-shaking voice with operatic power and stage presence to match.
A show so centered around male characters, and in which many of the female characters are courtesans, can feel a bit … antiquated. But in RCP’s production, the slimy “merchant of love,” Marcus Lycus, is reimagined as a woman, portrayed with kooky abandon by Susan Kronenberg. Her fabulous liquid dark green caftan with dark shades is just one of the many amazing costumes designed by Eva Thorpe, with support from costume team Clara Hoch and Claire Walsh.
The “House of Lycus” is populated by many memorable dancers (exciting choreography by McKinley Seale), all sporting fantastic color-coordinated green garb. Featured dancer Mikaela Fenn as Panacea and Weston Weber as the Amazonian Gymnasia particularly stand out. Rounding out the cast are the four madcap Proteans (Glen Bartram, Andie Matten, Garrett Tucker, and Rachel Lily Donders), who play many small roles with gusto.
Of course, you can’t have a comedy centering around three houses without, well, the houses. Set designers Sheila Widerski and Dan Widerski (who doubles as the master carpenter) have constructed three detailed and distinct Roman-style houses, with support from set decoration designers Cathy Gurson and Liz Mykietyn. Erronius’s window box of marigolds with a working fountain is a lovely touch. A rude statue in front of the House of Lycus is an especially noteworthy piece of stage business. And a special mention goes to the creation of “Domina’s bust,” created by a team of five people (Cathy Gurson, Liz Mykietyn, Dan Widerski, Charlene Sloan, Stacy Ferreira) and stealing the show in its own right.
Fight and intimacy director Ian Claar does outstanding work in a show where either fight or intimacy — and sometimes both — seems to be taking place at any given moment. Music director James Maxted ably handles the beast that is a Sondheim score. Though the orchestra hit a few sour notes here and there on opening night, they complemented the singers well and even played a role in a few comic bits.
Sound by Liz Shaher enhances the comedy with well-timed sound effects and keeps all voices balanced well, and lights, designed by Franklin Coleman and operated by Cecelia Hilliard, Barry Fedon, and Brian Altmiller, capture the seamless flow of the piece. One clever recurring lighting choice is a pink effect highlighting the phrase “gaggle of geese.”
Through it all, director Jones embraces all of the best parts of a classic musical comedy while adding plenty of amusing innovation. For two and a half blissful hours, RCP’s Forum lets audiences put aside their troubles for a good, old-fashioned laugh. Starch your toga, shine your sandals, and run, don’t walk, to A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. It’s the “funniest thing” in town.
Running Time: Two hours and 30 minutes, including one 15-minute intermission.
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum plays through May 9, 2026, presented by Reston Community Players at the Reston Community Center, 2310 Colts Neck Road, Hunters Woods Plaza, Reston, VA. Tickets ($26–$31) are available online.
View the program here.
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Produced by Lora Buckman
Directed by Michael Barret Jones
Megan Fraedrich is an actor, director, playwright, marketing professional, and enthusiastic audience member from Fairfax, Virginia. A lifelong DMV denizen, she has taken part in over 50 theater productions in the area since elementary school, most recently playing Rosalind in As You Like It (Globe Openstage) and assistant-directing Our Town (Sterling Playmakers). She is also the Artistic Director of Independent Theatre Company in Springfield, Virginia, where she recently edited and co-directed The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly: Shakespeare’s Kings and Queens. She lives in Fairfax with her husband.
