A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: un vaudeville musical sur les Champs-Élysées

Finally a vaudeville on the Champs-Élysées! Suffice it to say, misunderstandings, slamming doors, chases and hugs. And in the style of a musical comedy, what’s more. We laugh, we sing. It's rare. This gem, completely out of tune with the times, is performed on the new Lido stage. And that's good. Completely renovated, the legendary establishment can now accommodate 1,100 spectators. In truth, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is a revival of a comedy created on May 8, 1962 at the Alvin Theater in New York and by Stephen Sondheim. If this new version respects the original text and music, the entirely new staging is designed by Cal McCrystal.

Here we are sent back to an America that still knew how to be totally crazy, told by a slayer of wasp prudishness. It's so irreverent that one might have thought it was inspired by Feydeau. However, it is in a joke by Plautus, well before Jesus Christ, that the author draws his idea. And it's delicious. We can regret that non-English speaking spectators, forced to read the subtitles on screen, miss some of the superb acting of the actors, and some tasty dialogues. But the whole thing is formidable, sung with a delightful opening scene. The first part sometimes stretches a little too much. But after the intermission, the ending, with happy end of course, is so funny! And we will not soon forget this incredible painting, where the dancers and eunuchs of the brothel are transformed into flowers. Nor the exhausting comings and goings between the three houses of the protagonists... In short, a joke, a comedy, a pirouette and some lightness you name it. Helzapoppinesque!Lido 2, Paris 8th, until February 4, 2024.