[a funny thing happened on the way to the forum - 2005]
 

Ah, Stephen Sondheim. Those who love his songs love them for his catchy motifs and witty lyrics. Those who have had to sing them in a show condemn him to hell for his impossible-to-learn motifs and and impossible-to-remember lyrics. This is how I got into this one...

Six months till opening night. I was not planning to be in the show, since I can't sing and don't generally like musicals (Lend Me A Tenor doesn't count, ha ha). There was an actor to play Pseudolus (the main character), and all was well.

Six weeks till opening night. Our Pseudolus had thrown a rod while he was lifting concrete, and had been replaced by a second Pseudolus. I had been cast as Hysterium, a second-tier character who only has one song. Dee, the director at The Cabaret Theatre and my dear friend, responds this way when you say you can't do her show: "So I'll see you at rehearsal tomorrow night, get some rest." All was still sort of well.

One WEEK till opening night. Dee calls to tell me our second Pseudolus has been shot out of the saddle. "That's bad," I say.

"You haven't heard the bad part yet," she says. "Sit down..."

So there I was, about eight days from opening night, with 80 pages of new lines to memorize, all new stage direction to absorb, and three new complex (thanks, Stephen!) songs to make my own.

Well, who WOULDN'T love that?

So I did as the Romans did. What I found out is that, contrary to what I had believed, A) I can sing, B) I DO like musicals, and C) when you have a great director, cast, and crew behind you, you can do anything. So that's what we did.

And we did it in togas.