Ithaca, NY - The Hangar Theatre will present A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum as this season's musical from June 29 until July 15, 2017. The musical combines the classical Broadway fare, the comedy of ancient Rome, and a healthy shake of vaudeville. A witty and hilarious book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart is accompanied by upbeat and beautiful music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. With classic numbers like "Comedy Tonight" and "Everybody Ought to Have a Maid" Forum turns the ancient Roman farces into a big, spectacular, Broadway musical you won't want to miss. A Funny Things Happened on the Way to the Forumwill be directed by the Hangar's Artistic Director Michael Barakiva and choreographed by Mimi Quillin. Join the cast, crew, and Hangar staff on opening night, Friday, June 30th at 8pm at the Hangar Theatre, located at 801 Taughannock Blvd, Ithaca, NY 14850 in Cass Park.
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum follows Pseudolus, a Roman slave who bargains for his freedom by assisting his master, Hero, in wooing the girl next door, Philia. The bawdy tale that ensues is complete with mistaken identity, slamming doors, and clever satire- promising "something for everyone".
In the role of the freedom seeking Pseudolus, making his Hangar Theatre debut, is Michael Goldstrom, has been seen on Broadway in Mambo Kings and off-Broadway in Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), Kitty Kitty Kitty, Can-Can, and A Soldier's Tale (Carnegie Hall). Ithaca based actor Aundre Seals joins Golstrom as his fellow plebian, Hysterium. Seals' local credits include Peter and the Starcatcher, and Hand to God (Kitchen Theatre) and most recently as Aldolpho in The Drowsy Chaperone at the Cider Mill Playhouse.
Herndon Lackey and Linda Marie Larson, both making their Hangar Theatre debuts, play the master and mistress of the house. Lackey's Broadway credits include Erich Geibel in LoveMusik, Hugh Dorsey in Parade, and Tom Davenport in Inherit the Wind. Larson, who has previously collaborated with director Barakiva on a regional production of The Clean House, has Broadway credits including Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Deuce, Jackie: An American Life.
The young lovers, Hero and Philia, are played by Ithaca College Theatre Arts alumni Jacob Shipley and Alexandra Nicopoulos both of whom are also making their Hangar Theatre debuts. Shipley was most recently Willmore in the Ithaca College production of The Rover and was previously seen at the Infinity Theatre Company in Baby and Ring of Fire: The Music of Johnny Cash and at the Mac-Haydn Theatre in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and Les Misérables. Nicopoulus was most recently Joanne in the Ithaca College production of Company. Her other recent credits include Loves Labours Lost, Tis Pity She's a Whore, and Bat Boy: the Musical, all at 4615 Theater Company in Washington D.C.
Robyn Payne, who very recently made her Hangar debut as Jory in Disgraced earlier this month, will be playing the gender-swapped madam in the local house of ill-repute, Marcia Lycus, usually portrayed as Marcus Lycus. Chris White, who plays the Roman captain Miles Gloriosus, was most recently seen touring the country in Of Ebony Embers, a one-man play chronicling the trials of four Harlem Renaissance artists. Rounding out the cast is Ithaca native Greg Bostwick who was last seen on the Hangar stage in 2014 in Other Desert Cities.
Take your theatrical experience to the next level, enjoy free programming before and after our Mainstage performances. Join us for a pre-show discussion at our Prologue 45 minutes before every Mainstage performance. Post-show discussions happen every Tuesday at our Tuesday Talkbacks featuring an interactive discussion between the audience and the cast and crew of the production.
Tickets start at $22 and can be purchased online at www.HangarTheatre.org, by phone at (607) 273-ARTS (2787), or in person Hangar Theatre Box Office at the theatre (Mon-Sat between 12pm and 6pm) and one hour before curtain time. Hangar Theatre is located at 801 Taughannock Blvd, Ithaca, NY 14850.
The Hangar Theatre is committed to making theatre accessible to the entire community though its Pay What You Can (PWYC) program. Patrons may pay what they can afford to see a show at the first Saturday matinee performance of each Mainstage production. A limited number of tickets are available for PWYC thanks to the generosity of our Mainstage PWYC sponsor Schlather, Stumbar, Parks & Salk, LLP.
Hangar Theatre gratefully acknowledges 2017 Partners in Flight sponsorship from CFCU Community Credit Union and Cayuga Radio Group. Premier sponsorship for A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is provided by Tompkins Trust Company, and associate sponsorship provided by Ithaca Times.
The Hangar Theatreis dedicated to providing exceptional theatre experiences of high professional quality to enrich, enlighten, educate, and entertain the diverse audience in the Finger Lakes region and beyond. Strong educational and training programs are central parts of our commitment to the local and national artistic communities. Visit our website at www.HangarTheatre.org
BIOGRAPHIES
MICHAEL BARAKIVA (Director) is an Armenian/Israeli-American theater director and writer based in New York City. His first novel, One Man Guy, published by Macmillan (Farrar, Straus & Giroux), was ranked the #1 Gay Young Adult novel on Goodreads in 2014, named to the Rainbow List and Family Equality Council's Book Nook, and released in Brazil by LeYa. Michael also serves as the Artistic Director of The Upstart Creatures (UpstartCreatures.com), a theater company dedicated to creating (meta) physical feasts combining theater and food. As a director, Michael has worked in New York City and across the country developing new plays and staging classics. Off-Broadway credits include Perfect Arrangement by Topher Payne (Primary Stages), and White People by Neil Cuthbert and They Float Up by Jacquelyn Reingold (Ensemble Studio Theatre). Regional credits include Up by Bridget Carpenter (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); Burn This by Lanford Wilson (Shakespeare Santa Cruz); and The Clean House by Sarah Ruhl, The Turn of the Screw by Jeffrey Hatcher, and Blithe Spirit by Noel Coward (Syracuse Stage). Michael served as Interim Artistic Director at the Hangar Theatre for the 2016 season, where he directed I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti by Jacques Lamarre (based on the memoir by Giulia Melucci) and Third by Wendy Wasserstein - the original production of which he also directed in a one-act form. When not writing or directing, Michael can be found playing board games and soccer. He is a proud recipient of the 2012 Most Improved Player Award from the New York Ramblers, the world's first gay-friendly soccer team. Michael is a recipient of the David Merrick Prize in Drama, a Drama League Summer Fellowship, a Granada Fellowship at UC Davis, and the Phil Killian Fellowship in Directing at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He is a graduate of Vassar College and the Juilliard School, where he studied as an Andrew W. Mellon Fellow in Directing.
Greg Bostwick (Erronius) is a professor of acting at Ithaca College where he has directed scores of plays (including last season's The Rover), ranging from classics and operas to contemporary scripts and musicals. He has also directed extensively in the region, including at Cornell University. Since 1977 he has performed regionally in a myriad of roles at the Hangar Theatre (most recently Other Desert Cities), the Merry-Go-Round Playhouse, the Kitchen Theatre, the Homecoming Players, Theatre Cornell, Cortland Repertory Theatre, and the Cider Mill Playhouse. He also works as a dialect coach, and has produced, directed and acted in several educational and corporate videos as an adjunct actor and director with the Cornell Interactive Theatre Ensemble. Mr. Bostwick's appearance is made possible in part by the generous and ongoing support of Julia C. Bonney and dedicated to Arno Selco.
Michael Goldstrom (Pseudolus): BWAY: Mambo Kings. OFF-BWAY: Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), Kitty Kitty Kitty, Can-Can, A Soldier's Tale (Carnegie Hall). REGIONAL: Metromaniacs, Merchant of Venice, LUV, Modern Orthodox, Old Wicked Songs, All in the Timing, A Solider's Tale, Peter and the Wolf (Walt Disney Concert Hall). FILM: Heights, Approaching Union Square, Freud's Magic Powder, Dance of Genghis Cohn, Press or Say '2'. TV: Netflix, Dreamworks, Disney, Comedy Central, NBC, HBO. Graduate: Juilliard, LAMDA, Columbia.
Herndon Lackey (Senex)'s Broadway credits include Erich Geibel in LoveMusik, Hugh Dorsey in Parade, Tom Davenport in Inherit the Wind, The Warden in Kiss of the Spider Woman, Inspector Javert in Les Misérables, Neville Landless in The Mystery of Edwin Drood, and the Squire of Dinidan in Camelot. Off-Broadway, he has been seen in Forbidden Broadway, Sarah, Plain and Tall, Richard Cory, Bloomer Girl, and The Audience. Regional theatre: the London production of Paradise Found at the Menier Chocolate Factory; The Opposite of Sex at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Bounce at the Goodman Theatre and the Kennedy Center, The Tavern at Milwaukee Repertory Theater, and 3hree at the Ahmanson Theatre.
Linda Marie Larson (Domina) is delighted to be making her Hangar Theatre debut, working once again with Michael Barakiva. Viva la Kiva!Broadway: Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Deuce, Jackie: An American Life. Off-B'dway: Anon (Atlantic); Bright Ideas, Five Women Wearing the Same Dress (MCC); Machinal (The Public). Regional: The Clean House, Dir. Michael Barakiva; House Arrest; The Smell of the Kill; The Servant of Two Masters; Three Tall Women. Film: A Most Violent Year, Labor Day, The Greatest Showman on Earth; TV: L&O: SVU, Masters of Sex.
Alexandra Nicopoulos (Philia) is so excited to be making her debut at the Hangar Theater this summer! Graduated from Ithaca College with a BFA in Musical Theater, she has most recently appeared in IC's MainStage production of Company as Joanne. Other credits include Loves Labours Lost (Princess of France), Tis Pity She's a Whore (Hippolita), and Bat Boy: the Musical (Meredith Parker), all at 4615 Theater Company in Washington D.C. www.alexandranicopoulos.com
Robyn Payne (Marcia Lycus) is truly delighted to be participating in the Hangar Theatre production of Disgraced. Originally from Indianapolis, Robyn attended Indiana University where she studied Opera and Musical Theatre. Broadway: The Lion King (Sarabi); Kismet (Encores!); 1st National Tour: Thoroughly Modern Millie (Miss Flannery); Off-Broadway: Sistas: The Musical (Gloria/Simone), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Titania/Hyppolita) Regional: Thoroughly Modern Millie (Reagle Music Theatre), nominated for an IRNE for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of Kala in Tarzan (North Shore Music Theatre), Beehive (Alabama Shakespeare), Les Misérables (Theatre Under The Stars), The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Two River Theatre Company), Zoot Suit (Goodman Theatre), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre at Navy Pier); On Camera: Luke Cage, House of Cards, Louie, Blue Bloods, Believe, White Collar, Fringe, Lipstick Jungle. Sincerest gratitude to the magnificent team at Wolf Talent Group as well as love to her family for their continued support, and Father God for His Faithfulness and Provision. 1 John 4:7,8. RobynPayne.com
Aundre Seals (Hysterium) is thrilled to be making his Hangar Theatre debut! After living and working in NYC for 8 years, Aundre moved to Ithaca in September of 2015 and was cast in Peter and the Starcatcher (Smee) and Hand to God (Pastor Greg) at the Kitchen Theatre. He currently serves as the Marketing and Development Associate at the Cider Mill Playhouse and also has stage credits with the Playhouse: Urinetown (Officer Lockstock), Baskerville (Watson) and Peter and the Starcatcher (Black Stache). While working in NYC as the Artistic Director of madCAP collective, he produced and directed the NYC premiere of Cartoon by Steve Yockey at the National Comedy Theatre. Aundre served as Associate Director with By The Mummers, a NYC based company that creates new works through improv and focused character building. Credits with BTM include Winterland, L8, and Blood. Blood was produced with the New York Musical Theatre Festival in 2011. BFA: Acting and BA: Comparative Literature, SUNY Fredonia.
Jacob Shipley (Hero) is a recent graduate of Ithaca College's Musical Theatre program and is honored and humbled to be making his Hangar Theatre debut! His past credits include Baby (Danny u/s, Ensemble) and Ring of Fire: The Music of Johnny Cash (Male Swing) at Infinity Theatre Company; The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (Edsel Mackey) and Les Misérables (Ensemble) at the Mac-Haydn Theatre; and The Rover (Willmore) and Aliens With Extraordinary Skills (Bob) at Ithaca College. Much love to Sara, Mark, Erin, and Gale, and thanks to Michael for this wonderful opportunity.
Chris White (Miles Gloriosus): Chris is elated to be part of Hangar's Forum family! He's toured the country in Of Ebony Embers, a one-man play chronicling the trials of four Harlem Renaissance artists. Musical theatre credits include The Mikado, Pirates of Penzance, Little Shop of Horrors, and Smokey Joe's Cafe. Favorite classical credits include leading roles in Love's Labour's Lost (Theater at Monmouth), Julius Caesar (Nebraska Shakespeare), and A Christmas Carol (North Carolina Shakespeare). Hold fast to dreams!
