Word: pseudolus
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Comedy tonight it is. Jeff Zax gives an excellent performance as Pseudolus, obsessed with one thing: getting his freedom. He conceives a plot to get the girl for his master Hero and his life for himself, circumventing Roman tradition and the captain Miles Gloriosus (among others) in the process. Zax has about one sober moment on stage when, as Prologus, he sets the scene and asks for the blessing of Thespis. But there is a nuttiness in his eyes which leaves you with the feeling that he's not all that serious. It turns out that he wasn...
...Forum has nothing more to offer than good acting, mad cavorting on stage, fine singing, Stephen Sondeim songs and Shevelove-Gelbart one-liners delivered with perfect timing--well; sit back and be entertained by it all. Forget the silly story line; don't look for morals. As the slave Pseudolus sings, "Morals tomorrow, comedy tonight...
...rest of the cast is just about as proficient. Mark Szpak as Hero, Pseudolus's master who falls in love with a woman from the House of Lycus who is to be sold as a courtesan, plays the part well as a Roman Holden Caulfield, rolling and tumbling all over himself in first love. Yet there's another side to him too, cajoling Pseudolus into risking his relatively safe position--for freedom to be sure--but also for Hero. The song "Free" is a real high-point, spotlighting the two best male singers n the cast. Pseudolus has convinced himself...
...rest of the cast is proficient, but mostly a backdrop for these three. David Levy as Hysterium, the slave-in-chief on whom Pseudolus has leverage because of his collection of pornographic pottery, is suitably hysterical, in all senses of the word. He runs about like a Skinner-box mouse on Thorazine. Taking time out to sing "I'm Calm," he shows he's as cool under fire as barbecue sauce in a heat wave. Andy Borowitz is on target too, in his characterization of Lycus, a gentleman and procurer. He adds just the right dash of street...
...adept burlesque performances of several cast members make the show. Though not the evening's best, Kenneth Kanter's Pseudolus is engagingly energetic. With girth rivalling that of the man who made the part famous, he successfully imitates some of Zero Mostel's protean expressions and lascivious gestures. He does not do as well vocally. As the starry-eyed lovers, John Lundeen and Lisa Landis--he callow, she nubile--are, appropriately, vacuously charming. But the real delight comes from the supporting cast. In the role of chief slave, Hysterium, at the beleagured household, Thomas Hann clowns in an epicene manner...