A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum Play

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Theatre/AFunnyThingHappenedOnTheWayToTheForum

"Tragedy tomorrow, comedy tonight!"

A Farce Musical based on the plays of Titus Maccius Plautus, with a volume by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Ready in Aboriginal Rome, it's about a slave, Pseudolus (Greek, "imitation liar"), helping his principal'due south son Hero woo the Girl Next Door in exchange for his freedom. Along the way they get involved with the diplomacy of the houses on either side of them: i is a "house of ill repute" run by Marcus Lycus; the other the habitation of an old well-nigh-sighted homo named Erronius (Latin errare, "to wander" or "to make a mistake").

Many puns announced in the names of the neighbors alone: Domina (Latin, "Lady," "female master") the Beloved Smother, Henpecked Married man Senex (Latin, "old man"), the son named Hero, panic-prone slave Hysterium, aforementioned fault-decumbent old man Erronius, love interest Philia (Greek, "love, friendship" or possibly intended as the Latin "filia" meaning "daughter"), and Roman ground forces captain Miles Gloriosus (Latin, "boastful soldier" and the championship of a play by Plautus). The latter provides the main romantic contest, since Philia is a Bride for Sale and he has just bought her. Meanwhile, Erronius trots around trying to find his lost children, who were stolen in infancy (by pirates!) but are recognizable past an Orphan'due south Plot Trinket. And the merely reason any of this can happen is because Senex and Domina are off visiting her mother, thus giving Pseudolus and Hero the run of the neighborhood... just Senex finds an excuse to come home and, err, ogle the merchandise, with his wife in hot pursuit (that's for those of you who take no interest in pirates). Of course, Hilarity Ensues.

The play opened in 1962, and did well enough to spawn a 1966 film adaptation and many revivals. The picture show, directed past Richard Lester, starred Nix Mostel every bit Pseudolus (reprising his part from the original Broadway production), Phil Silvers as Marcus Lycus, Michael Crawford as Hero, and Buster Keaton (in his last flick role) as Erronius. Revival productions take featured, amongst others, Nathan Lane, Whoopi Goldberg, Geoffrey Rush and Gary Chalk.

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This musical provides examples of:

• Abhorrent Admirer: The breeding slave, Fertila the Populator, is constantly trying to go Pseudolus alone. She happily lays merits to whatever other man who unwittingly stumbles into her room (and stumbles out again looking dazed).
• Adaptation Expansion: The film greatly opens up the story, including an activity-packed climax throughout the countryside. Pseudolus' romance with Gymnasia is also greatly expanded. However, several songs were cut to make room for all of the boosted content.
• Added Alliterative Entreatment: Miles Gloriosus tends to speak like this.

  Miles: ...the beautiful helpmate I bargained for.

  Miles: Now, I rid Rome of a rascal.

  • This is Lampshaded by Pseudolus at one point:

    Miles: Her bridal bower becomes a burying bier of bitter bereavement!
    Pseudolus: Very skilful! Can y'all say "Titus the tailor told ten alpine tales to Titania the titmouse"?

• An Aesop: Discussed and subverted. The last lines of the closing number imply that they're going to say what the moral of the story is, but then sing "Morals tomorrow! One-act tonight!"
• All Part of the Show: When Lycus (in disguise as 1 of the troupe) fails to take hold of an acrobat, Miles delightedly laughs that the man is very good.

  "He really makes it look like he roughshod on his head!"

• All At that place in the Transmission: The setting is "Two hundred years earlier the Christian era" in the script book. Equally Rome became Christian in 313, this tell united states the setting is 113, during the reign of Trajan. In instance in that location was any doubt, Pseudolus' question of "Was 1 a good year?" definitely tells usa that it is not the time of the Democracy.
• Amazon Chaser: In many productions, Gymnasia is a scary dominatrix with a whip who towers over the rest of the cast — and that'south exactly why Pseudolus wants her and so bad.
• Aboriginal Rome: The story takes place in a "less fashionable suburb" of it. Bodily dates or the Emperor in charge aren't relevant, though.
• Attractive Aptitude-Gender: Hysterium and Marcus Lycus. Even when Marcus pulls off his wig to reveal his true sex activity, his Abhorrent Admirer but vows to get revenge on the one who shaved "her" head.
• Awful Wedded Life: Senex and his shrewish wife Domina. He's a Henpecked Husband, while she'southward constantly suspicious of even the smallest things he does.
• Badass Baritone: Miles Gloriosus, particularly compared to rivals Henpecked Husband Senex and Tenor Boy Hero.
• Bavarian Burn Drill: Pseudolus is good at these.
  • Pseudolus manages to successfully convince Lycus that he'south a free man by walking into his brothel, swaggering effectually a handbag of money and coming up with a expert line of bullshit about how he bought his liberty.
  • Past acting like he's Lycus, Pseudolus manages to successfully convince Miles Gloriosus that everything is going according to plan, fifty-fifty as Pseudolus is playing Xanatos Speed Chess.
• Trunk Sushi: A form of this decades before the trope became popularized, when someone is eating food off the abdomen of a scantily clad courtesan at Miles' orgy.
• Brainless Beauty:
  • Philia, existence an Affectionate Parody of The Ingenue and Purity Personified. Her song "Lovely" has Hero reassuring her that her inability to read or tell the difference between iii and five doesn't matter considering she'south and then, well, lovely.
  • And to a lesser extent, Hero. He's usually portrayed as a quite handsome young human who's rather lacking in the brains department, enchanted with Philia with Love at First Sight while deliberately ignoring his lessons.
• Staff of life, Eggs, Milk, Squick: Hero says Senex can't be a suitor to Philia because "He has gas, chronic asthma, gout, and a wife."
• Brick Joke:
  • At one indicate, Pseudolus disguises himself as a soothsayer and tells Erronius he is under a curse and must run seven times effectually the vii hills of Rome to end it, in order to get him out of the way then that they can hide someone in his house. He's seen running in the background of several scenes. Somewhen, he runs into the remainder of the cast, and it is revealed that Miles Gloriosus and Philia are his son and daughter, and then they can't marry. So in the last scene Eronnius counts on his fingers, shrugs, and keeps running.
  • Early in Act Two, Pseudolus touts Philia's beauty to Miles, maxim "If you had been born a woman, you would accept been she!" At the stop, Miles and Philia turn out to be siblings.
• Butt-Monkey: Hysterium gets humiliated and outsmarted by Pseudolus at every turn, despite being the superior of Pseudolus equally the head slave. Pseudolus constantly uses his wit and intelligence to slip by Hysterium or convince him to proceed with the ever-increasingly complicated schemes, such every bit Pseudolus threatening to reveal Hysterium's subconscious collection of erotic pottery to keep Hysterium quiet well-nigh Hero and Philia.
• Chekhov's Gun: The passion potion that Senex tells Hysterium to make. Pseudolus ends up drinking it by blow. In the motion picture, it's Domina who drinks it.
• Chekhov's Gunman: The nearsighted Erronius who is searching for his long-lost children, discovers in the stop that Miles and Philia are his son and daughter that disappeared many years ago.
• Commedia dell'Arte: Many of the characters from the Plautus play "Pseudolus" upon which this is based are probably the Ur-examples of several Commedia dell' Arte types, so it'due south not surprising that they bear witness up hither in spades:
  • Pseudolus is the arlecchino
  • Gymnasia (despite being The Speechless) is the colombina
    • (Speechless in the movie. Has one line in the play.)
  • Hysterium is the pierrot
  • Hero is the innamorato
  • Philia is the innamorata
  • Senex is the pantalone
  • Lycus is the brighella
  • Miles Gloriosus is the capitano
• Contrived Coincidence: Senex just happens to knock on his door three times later Pseudolus tells Phillia that will be her captain's signal. The movie then actually averts it when information technology expands the gag, with Pseudolus telling 1 of Miles' men and so Senex again to knock three times to play a trick on them off on Fertila.
• Covert Pervert: Hysterium and his erotic pottery collection get a plot signal when Pseudolus uses it to convince Hysterium to go along his oral cavity shut.
• Credits Gag: I fresco depicts a Roman orgy, but one character raises the MPAA (Movement Picture Association of America) seal in protest. In the 1960s the MPAA developed a film rating organization to judge whether a moving-picture show's content was besides offensive/adult for audiences.
• Creative Endmost Credits: The film features a endmost credits sequence blithe by Richard Williams, seen here. The closing credits are a sequence of blithe Roman frescoes. At the terminate of the credits, all the frescoes appear together as a gallery with the words "THE Cease" every bit a centerpiece.
• Cross-Cast Office: Pseudolus is usually played by a male actor, but Whoopi Goldberg replaced Nathan Lane in a Broadway revival.
• Cute Clumsy Girl: Hero is a genuine male instance. He never gets through a scene without falling over something, even if it'southward his own toga, but he's never so much as slowed downward. Even when he'due south rolling through a waterwheel he bounces right support.
• Cute Mute: Gymnasia, mostly with Pseudolus. If you overlook the fact she'due south actually a tall Amazonian Beauty and more physically fit and proficient with weapons than the entire bandage. Turns out Pseudolus can talk with Gymnasia considering he had a nurse from the Isle of Silent Women.
• Deliberate Values Racket:
  • Women being sold as courtesans and brides is treated as a normal, if rather disreputable, concern. While Philia is not exactly thrilled to be sold to Miles Gloriosus and non be gratuitous to marry Hero, she'southward perfectly willing to do it to fulfill a contract and only agrees to run when she finds out that her husband-to-be is the same man who conquered and raped her home state of Thrace three times. She'due south only freed by virtue of the fact that she's actually the daughter of a freeborn Roman citizen (and Gloriosus's sister), Gymnasia is merely able to be freed to be with Pseudolus through subtle blackmail, and the final song reveals that Miles Gloriosus just bought another slave girl (well, two) as his wives, the rest of the soldiers took the other courtesans for themselves, and Marcus Lycus just got new slave girls. Anybody reacts like the whole affair is perfectly reasonable, if a piffling convoluted.
  • Miles Gloriosus describes himself every bit both "slaughterer of thousands" and "paragon of virtue" within thirty seconds of each other. In Rome, such a affair would exist rather attractive qualities for a homo (bold it was in Rome'southward name, of form).
• Deus ex Machina: Erronius just shows up at the finish and solves everyone's problems (including his own) completely by accident, including revealing that Miles and Philia are siblings, so they tin can't become married.
• Dirty Old Man: Senex, who's a little too interested in the brothel that's moved in next door. Domina even sings a song about him with that exact title.
• Bearded in Drag: Hysterium's disguising himself as the "dead" Philia. Marcus Lycus besides spends the last half hour of the film disguised as a woman in an attempt to sneak into Senex's business firm while information technology's occupied by Gloriosus's troops.
• The Ditz: Philia and Hero aren't very book smart. The former because she never had to learn annihilation every bit a courtesan, and the latter considering he'southward the son of a wealthy family who was besides enthralled with romance to care.
• Dramatic Timpani: Miles Gloriosus' "I Am" Song is accompanied by sufficiently bombastic sounding timpani booms.
• Even the Guys Want Him: Miles, judging by what his soldiers sing about him during "Bring Me My Bride."
• Evil Sounds Deep: Miles Gloriosus has the everyman notes, as well as beingness the closest thing the show has to a bad guy. (Which is to say that he's as bumbling and well-intentioned as the rest of the cast, he just happens to lead a Roman legion.) In the moving-picture show, they even transposed his part down lower, presumably to accommodate the operatic bass (Australian actor Leon Greene) who was bandage.
• Falling-in-Love Montage: "Lovely". This gets an admittedly hilarious reprise when one of the (male) characters has to pretend to be Philia.
• Fanservice: Something for everyone, after all. The movie includes a rather... drawn-out sequence of Lycus' "trade" showing themselves off for Pseudolus.
• Foregone Conclusion. The song at the first guarantees "a happy ending, of course", seeing equally how it'south a comedy.
• Gambit Pileup: Towards the end, the gambits of the entire cast all come crashing together, oftentimes literally. It'south simply in the last scene that anybody figures out how many lies Pseudolus was telling, and what his motive was.
• Girl Next Door: Hero loves Philia. Albeit, Philia is a courtesan, simply she's a virginal one...
• Grande Matriarch: Domina, who is the stereotypical matrona of the Roman theater.
• Greek Chorus: The Proteans, three men (commonly) who "play many parts" — non included in the movie.
• Hear Me the Money: Upon their first visit to the bath house, Pseudolus gets Lycus to pay attention by jingling a purse of coins.

  Lycus: I know that sound... and I beloved it!

• Henpecked Husband: Senex gets verbally abused past his wife for everything, including for things he only might have done or might potentially do. At one betoken, Senex is screamed at for looking at Lycus and his brothel for too long.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: Pseudolus and Hysterium.
• Hilarity Ensues: Essentially a two-word summary of the play. Pseudolus hatches a scheme to buy Philia and so that Hero volition gratuitous Pseudolus from slavery. However, the demand to go on anyone else from finding out about this scheme results in a massive Gambit Pileup past the end.
• Loftier-Class Call Girl: The courtesans, available for hundreds of mina. Role of the reason Hero and Pseudolus can't merely purchase Philia from Miles is because they don't have enough money.
• Hypercompetent Sidekick: Hero and Pseudolus are a textbook instance of the "stupid master/smart servant" trope. Pseudolus is far more intelligent and book-smart than Hero, but Hero's the one with the power to free Pseudolus from slavery.
• "I Am" Song: "Lovely" for Philia and Hysterium; "I'k Calm" for Hysterium.
• I Just Want to Be Free: Pseudolus, as heard in his "I Want" Song. More than anything else, he wants his freedom from Hero and his family. This results in his scheme to buy Philia for Hero, but it gets incredibly complicated past the play's conclusion.
• Incredibly Long Annotation: At the end of Miles Gloriosus's Villain Vocal. Followed immediately by Intermission.
• Incoming Ham: Miles Gloriosus gets an entire song defended only to his entrance.

  "Stand aside, anybody! I take large steps."

• Innocent Soprano: Philia, a Brainless Dazzler who is an Affectionate Parody of the traditional Purity Personified love interest, sings in the soprano range.
• Interruption: Pseudolus triggers the intermission by maxim it'southward the only affair that tin get him out of his current prepare.
• Insane Troll Logic: "That'll show him," in which Philia claims she'll get revenge on Miles Gloriosus for taking her abroad from her love interest, Hero... by marrying Miles and loving him.

  When I kiss him, I'll be kissing you

  Then I'll kiss him morning time and night

  That'll show him!

  [...]

  I'll sit down on his knee

  Get to know him intimately

  That'll show him how much I really honey you lot

• "I Want" Song: "Bring Me My Bride" for Miles Gloriosus; "Costless" for Pseudolus.
• Jerkass Has a Indicate: Miles Gloriosus is non exactly a great guy, only the simply reason he's bothering the protagonists at all is because they're attempting to take the helpmate he paid for away from him. Pseudolus even points out that they legally have no standing to take Philia away from Miles, meaning they'll have to call back of something else.
• Karma Houdini: Miles Gloriosus, reputedly the monster who "raped Thrace thrice," and serves every bit the antagonist for a practiced part of the play. His ending: Married to beautiful twins and reunited with his long lost family.
• Karmic Death: Gusto the body snatcher immediately had his own body snatched upon his death.
• Big Ham:
  • Even considering the play is a World of Ham, Miles Gloriosus, the bombastic, egotistical captain who never has a scene without shouting at least in one case, manages to out-ham everyone else.
  • Pseudolus is quite a ham every bit well. Hilariously, ane New York Times review said that Nothing Mostel'southward movie performance was subdued adjacent to the stage version.
• Long-Lost Relative: Erronius finds his kids in the stop. Also qualifies under Oedipus Complex and Luke, I Am Your Father, as his children, Philia and Miles Gloriosus, were actually supposed to marry, but he decided to let Hero to marry Philia subsequently learning that she is actually his sister separated when they were kidnapped.
• Love at First Sight: Hero and Philia fall in dear at outset sight, though Hero's been pining for Philia for some time. Once the two of them actually get to know each other, they hit it off instantly.
• Dearest Potion: Actually it'southward a passion potion, and it causes its eventual drinker to run around the phase yelling "Osculation me! Somebody buss me, anybody!"
• Meaningful Name: if you know Latin and Greek, information technology'south like shooting fish in a barrel to gauge people'southward characters and roles. And, sometimes, even if yous don't. Case in point: one of the protagonists is named Hero.
• Meido: Philia's embrace story for being in the firm when Senex gets dwelling. Well, "Everybody Ought to Take a Maid".
• Miles Gloriosus: A character in the play has this proper noun, merely he's not exactly the stock grapheme. Rather, he's borrowed from the play of the same name past Plautus, which is as well the inspiration for the stock character's name. While fitting the "pompous, arrogant blowhard" part, it'south implied he also walks the walk.
• Mistaken for Special Guest: Pseudolus impersonates Marcus Lycus.
• Mistaken Identity: And how! Senex mistakes Philia for his new maid, Philia mistakes Senex for Miles, Miles mistakes Hysterium for a eunuch, Erronius mistakes Hysterium for a woman, Miles mistakes Domina for a courtesan, and in the concluding chase scene, anybody mistakes Hysterium and Domina for Philia, since all 3 are dressed identically. Most of these misunderstandings tin can be traced back to Pseudolus.
• Mr. Exposition: Pseudolus, at the pic's kickoff:

  Pseudolus: Our principal characters alive on this street, in a less stylish suburb of Rome, in these iii houses: Showtime, the business firm of Erronius, a addled quondam human being, abroad now in search of his children stolen in infancy by pirates. Second, the house of Lycus, a buyer and seller of the flesh of cute women; that'southward for those of yous who accept absolutely no involvement in pirates. And finally, the business firm of Senex, who lives here with his wife and son. Also in this house dwells Pseudolus, slave to his son. Pseudolus is my favorite character in the piece; a role of enormous diverseness and nuance, and played by an actor of such versatility, such magnificent range, such... Allow me put it this way: I play the part.

• Never Learned to Read: Pseudolus, naturally for a slave.

  Soldier: Practice you lot know what this is?

  Pseudolus: Of course I know what this is. This is...writing!

  Soldier: This is your contract with the captain.

  Pseudolus: And a pretty piece of work.

• No 4th Wall: Pseudolus does this a few times. He addresses the audience directly in the stage version, and the camera in the film. The vocal "Comedy This night" is addressed straight to the audition, and is almost the show itself. However, multiple characters break the fourth wall, especially in the play, such as Hysterium telling the audience never to autumn in love during a full eclipse.
• Nonverbal Miscommunication: Pseudolus pretends to be a fortune-teller, while Hysterium pantomimes the correct responses behind the subject's back. Or tries to, anyhow.

  Pseudolus: You accept two kids.

  (Hysterium pantomimes muscles)

  Pseudolus: A fine stiff boy...

  (Hysterium pantomimes a daughter sticking her hip out.)

  Pseudolus:...and a very strange boy.

• Noodle Incident: Why on Earth does a bodysnatcher owe Pseudolus a favor?
• Orphan's Plot Trinket: A ring with a gaggle of geese on it.
• Oscar Bait: defied. It's fairly obvious that this testify was never intended to woo critics. And nonetheless, every time it opens on Broadway, the person playing Pseudolus (kickoff Mostel, and so Silvers, and finally Nathan Lane in 1995) wins a Tony for it. In fact, as of this writing, Pseudolus is currently tied for the most rewarded role at the Tony awards.
  • Additionally, Jason Alexander won a Tony for his piece of work in Jerome Robbin'southward Broadway where he played the part performing a rendition of Comedy Tonight, meaning that there are really iv instances of an actor winning a Tony when they played Pseudolus. Although, this is absolutely non a pure example, as Alexander only performed ane part of the role and played various other characters throughout the production.
• Paper-Sparse Disguise:
  • In some productions, Hysterium's crossdressing disguise is far from convincing, which makes it fifty-fifty funnier when all the men are completely fooled by it.
  • In ane detail production, Hysterium had five o'clock shadow. He was going to shave it, but the director told him to keep it.
• Plotline Crossover: Of the works of Plautus.
• Professional Butt-Kisser: Hysterium got to be the head slave of Senex mostly by constantly kissing ass.
• Race Confronting the Clock: Miles Gloriosus gives Psedolus (as Lycus) half an hour to fetch Philia earlier he and his men ransack the unabridged neighborhood in retribution.
• Red Herring: The sleeping potion. It does go drunk a couple of times, but always by blow and never in a way that seriously affects the plot.
• Remembered Too Late: Pseudolus remembers he tin't read, but seems to forget that Hero can, so the latter takes the recipe for the potion.
• Rule of 3: "He raped Thrace thrice?"
• Scooby-Dooby Doors: The phase version can characteristic this during the closing chase scene.
• Shout-Out: Pseudolus and Miles Gloriosus are named for ii Plautus farces that formed the basis the of the musical'south story.
• Servile Snarker: Pseudolus is ever using his wit subtly—or sometimes non subtly—on his masters.
• Someday This Will Come up in Handy: Among the actually few skills of Pseudolous at that place'south the accented mastery of a peculiar grade of sign linguistic communication, spoken by a small population of mute amazons (on the "Isle of Silent Women"), one of whom was his nanny as a kid. Guess where his Dear at Showtime Sight comes from and what linguistic communication she uses — Gymnasia the Silent!
• The Speechless: Gymnasia, Pseudolous' dearest interest.
• Spoof Aesop: the last sung lines:

  What is the moral? Must be a moral.

  Here is the moral, wrong or correct:

• Suicide as Comedy:
  • When Hero first learns that Philia has been sold, he tries to stab himself, only to miss (he gets the office of the toga under his arm instead). He tries again a minute later, only for Pseudolus to snatch the dagger and tell him to knock it off.
  • Besides spoofed when it turns out it'due south against Roman law to commit suicide. Y'all get the death sentence.
• Surprise Incest: Almost happens with Miles Gloriosus who is engaged to Philia, with Erronius discovering that Miles and Philia are brother and sister earlier annihilation intimate happens.
• Tenor Male child: Hero. (In the film, he was played by an unbelievably immature Michael Crawford.)
• Throw Information technology In: Done In-Universe... in a way. At one point Pseudolus pretends to be a Fortune Teller to distract Erronius. He will sometimes turn to the audience and ask for help. (In 1 version, Erronius' reply was, "Is that your final answer?")
  • The testify beingness the celebration of absurdity it is, there'south a lot more grounds to play this than other shows might offering. One case: 2 characters, who are eventually revealed to exist blood siblings, were spotted beingness played in a community product in Oakland, CA past a white adult female and a blackness homo. And, completely aside of other considerations, this made The Reveal of aforementioned even funnier.
  • A 2011 production at Cal Tech had Pseudolus fighting off a soldier with spells from Harry Potter.
• Tiny Guy, Huge Daughter: In the pic version, Pseudolus ends up with Gymnasia.
• The Trickster: Pseudolus, then much then that when Lycus rails that he's been cheated by the "lyingist, cheatingist, sloppiest slave in Rome", his friend immediately replies:

  "Ah. Pseudolus."

• Twin Threesome Fantasy: Lycus' house has twins. Miles buys them at the end... but as far as he'southward concerned, the fantasy should be theirs.

  "I get the twins, they become the all-time!"

• Villain Vocal: "Bring Me My Bride" contains numerous lines where Miles brags well-nigh his atrocities.
• Vitriolic All-time Buds: Pseudolus and Hysterium.
• "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: A final song is devoted to Tying Upward Romantic Loose Ends and otherwise clarifying what happened to everyone. Information technology'southward pretty necessary.
• World of Ham: Being a farce, there are very few subtle characters.
• Y'all Don't Desire to Catch This: Used twice — first Pseudolus claims that Philia has the plague in order to get her from Lycus for free; then Lycus pretends to be a leper when he'south hiding from Miles.

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Source: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Theatre/AFunnyThingHappenedOnTheWayToTheForum

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