A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM...

[xiphias]

You know, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is probably one of the funniest musicals about human trafficking in sexual slavery I've ever seen.

Comments

[jordan179.livejournal.com]

And the amusing / horrifying part is that it's based directly on real Roman comedies. The Romans took the sexual slavery part for granted, and found it funny. Even while expecting their audience to sympathize with the clever slave's goals.

Yep, they were simply that sadistic.

[bill_sheehan.livejournal.com]

Musicals and opera are similar in that regard. You can do the most appalling things, so long as you sing about it.

[gilana]

...how many have you seen?

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Well, mainly that one. But, come to think of it, the character of Dulcena in MAN OF LA MANCHA is kind of in a similar position.

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

There's also Madame Butterfly and Miss Saigon, which are far less funny.

[hobbitbabe.livejournal.com]

Yes. I worked on a production of that show last spring, and I kept thinking about that cognitive dissonance.

And I don't know which was more troubling for me, the Roman-times assumptions or the 1960s-era version of what was funny.

[firecat]

So funny that we performed it in high school.