A Funny Thing Is Happening on the North Shore e v e r y w h e r e -- a l b e i t with timely revisions! O n e of the m o s t creative a d a p t a t i o n s a p p e a r e d in t h e e a r l y 1960s w h e n f a m e d c o m p o s e r a n d lyricist S t e p h e n S o n d h e i m updated t h e p l a y a n d t u r n e d it i n t o a w i d e l y popular Broadway musical. Rising to the challenge of making the p r o d u c t i o n relevant to today, the N S L O S h a s l i t e r a l l y spiced up the music by Traci Galbraith he's n o t t r y i n g t o l u r e a u d i e n c e s in o u t of any sense of duty to support pro- local t h e a t r e ; he just w a n t s t o vide entertainment. H e hopes " p e o p l e will enjoy and return to the Light O p e r a Society because they want to." A funny thing happened with into North and show. Isherwood explains: " W h e n S o n d h e i m ' s v e r s i o n f i r s t c a m e o u t , it w a s s e t in R o m a n t i m e s w i t h e l e ments of the sixties, so n o w w e are d o i n g it s e t in R o m a n t i m e s w i t h e l e ments of the nineties. F o r e x a m p l e , of o u r characters w h o are R o m a n cour- to Roger Nelson when he signed on to volunteer NSLOS--it involvement Shore Commission Commission snowballed with the Recreation (NSRC) eight years of heavy * W A Y _ > - t e s a n s , o n e o f t h e m has e l e m e n t s o f Xena.Warrior Princess, and a n o t h e r has elements of a Spice G i r l . " T h e changes don't stop there-- the North Shore Arts (see article one year page 22).With t h e N S L O S has a d d e d a m u s i c a l n u m b e r at the t o p o f the s h o w that introduces the actors before they left in a six-year term with NSRC, Nelson is ready to hang up his many hats. "Except one." he smiles. "I began with the Light Opera a p p e a r in c h a r a c t e r . It's a f i t t i n g a d d i t i o n t o a p l a y in w h i c h t h e c h a r a c t e r s frequently address and react to audience. A Funny Thing to the Forum Happened on the Way the Society and that's the one I'm going to end with." marks a departure for this 5 0 - y e a r - o l d N o r t h S h o r e theatre c o m p a n y . L a s t y e a r , it d e c i d e d t o # \ r e y o u a fan o f silly b u t c l e v e r c h a n g e t h e f o c u s f r o m light o p e r a t o a m o r e "anything g o e s " approach. Producer Mitchell Mackay describes t h e c h a n g e as a n e c e s s a r y o n e s i n c e the " a u d i e n c e f o r G i l b e r t and Sullivan w a s d y i n g off. L i k e a n y v o l u n t e e r o r g a n i z a t i o n , " h e a d d s , " y o u ' r e o n l y as g o o d as d o i n g s o m e t h i n g p e o p l e w a n t to see." This a p p r o a c h affords the a c t o r s ( n o n e o f w h o m a r e paid) t o perform than Tract Galbraith journalist. is a freelance Vancouver A Funny Thing H a p p e n e d o n the W a y t o t h e F o r u m runs at the Theatre 984-4484 contest March Centennial call F o r a p l a y M a c k a y d e s c r i b e s as a " s e x farce w i t h music," he shouldn't have t o o m u c h t r o u b l e a c c o m p l i s h i n g that goal. comedy? D o you need something to fill t h e c o m i c v o i d l e f t s i n c e Seinfeld c a l l e d it q u i t s ? S i m o n I s h e r w o o d h a s s o m e t h i n g f o r y o u . I s h e r w o o d is d i r e c t o r of the N o r t h S h o r e Light O p e r a Society's ( N S L O S ) latest p r o d u c t i o n , A funny the Way Thing Happened on 12 to 27. For tickets our to the Forum, a n d says "if y o u Python to or try to win a pair in (see next page). 0 l i k e a n y t h i n g f r o m Monty Seinfeld a n d Friends, you're going to g e t t h a t k i n d o f h u m o u r in t h i s show." T h a t m a y s e e m an o d d d e s c r i p t i o n f o r a play o r i g i n a l l y w r i t t e n by a man n a m e d Plautus w h o was born in m o r e e n s e m b l e w o r k s , r a t h e r b e i n g r e l e g a t e d t o t h e c h o r u s . "It's p r o b a b l y t h e play w i t h t h e most it, c o m e d i c characters written into a n d w e have an i n c r e d i b l e c a s t t o play w i t h it," s a y s I s h e r w o o d . W h e n asked why people should a t t e n d this p r o d u c t i o n , M a c k a y insists in 2 5 1 B C . B u t o v e r t h e m a n y y e a r s s i n c e t h e f i r s t p e r f o r m a n c e , it c o n tinues to entertain audiences