The North Riverside Recreation Community Theater
Presents
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Directed by Jay Fontanetta
Limited Engagement Opens October 5, 2007

Something for Everyone: NRRCT Produces A Comedy Tonight!

North Riverside, IL – North Riverside Recreation Community Theater’s (NRRCT) latest musical comedy, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, promises things familiar, peculiar, gaudy and bawdy … and loads of laughs!
The story centers on Pseudolous, a Roman slave who will stop at nothing to gain his freedom. When Pseudolous is left in charge of his master’s young son, Hero, chaos ensues. Hero, after falling madly in love with a beautiful courtesan, promises Pseudolous his freedom. The catch: Pseudolous must first convince the maiden to marry his young master. Of course, she is also already promised to a Roman warrior!
This classic 1963 Tony Award-winning production is filled with zany characters, a hysterical script (book by Larry Gelbart and Burt Shevelove), and clever songs by the famed Stephen Sondheim. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum has long been recognized as one of Broadway’s funniest musical comedies.
Director Jay Fontanetta believes A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum has universal appeal. “Audiences love farce,” explained Fontanetta. “Comedies that entwine plays on words, mistaken identity, and cross-dressing date back to Shakespearean times. It worked back then and it works now.” It helps that Fontenetta thinks the show is hilariously funny and that “I have the right personality to make the most of its comedy and innuendo.”
Fontanetta directed The Wizard of Oz (Spring 2007) and Grease (Spring 2006) for NRRCT. Other directing credits include Lanford Wilson's The Rimers of Eldritch, Guys and Dolls, Pippin and Hair for Elmwood Park Community Theater, When You Comin’ Back Red Ryder and the Midwest premiere of Frank Pugliese's Aven'U Boys for Circle Theatre, Buried Child for Wright College, The Marriage of Bette and Boo for Columbia College, and A Midsummer Night's Dream for Elmwood Park high school. He is a member of the Illinois Theatre Association and a frequent contributor to the Illinois High School Theatre Festival.
The cast includes Frank Petrovic, Jason Czajka, Josh Czajka, Al Meyer and Sam Buonomo from North Riverside, Colleen Stahnke from Berwyn, Adam Fontanetta, Cathy Sorenson, and Mallory Jandrists from Chicago, Benny Affetto and Gianna Capra from Melrose Park, Dee Hamilton from Bridgeview, Elizabeth Diaz, Jagoda Borkiewicz, and Lauren Morgese from Elmwood Park, Jim Heatherly from Bloomingdale, Matt Murphy from Evergreen Park, and Sarah DePillo from Des Plaines.
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum opens on Friday, October 5th and continues through Sunday, October 14th at the North Riverside Village Commons located at 2401 S. Des Plaines Avenue, North Riverside, Illinois. Performances will be Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30pm and Sundays at 2:00pm. Ticket prices are $15 for adults, $13 for seniors and students with ID, and $7 for children under 12.  Group rates are also available. For tickets, call Terri at 708-447-1297.
The North Riverside Recreation Community Theater (www.nrrct.com) is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1989 with the goal of expanding appreciation of the arts by presenting quality theater at affordable prices.  Since its inception, the group has produced 31 shows, ranging from time-honored classics such as Hello, Dolly! and The Music Man, to modern shows such as Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Little Shop of Horrors, to six original scripts written by NRRCT members.