GOOD 'FORUM' EAST WEST PLAYERS GO FOR 'COMEDY TONIGHT'.

Byline: Evan Henerson Theater Critic

Another season, another Stephen Sondheim musical at East West Players, and further proof that this composer and this company make for consistently excellent bedfellows. Not that this will come as a news flash to frequent East West patrons. Director Tim Dang has directed five Sondheim productions since 1992, many of them (``Sweeney Todd,'' ``Follies'') of the darker variety.

Not this time. ``A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,'' Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart's spoof on the works of Plautus, is silly stuff, broadly rendered. The play's a showpiece for the enthusiastic (often hambone) actor who plays the canny slave Pseudolus. ``Weighty affairs will just have to wait,'' sings Pseudolus in the musical's opening number, ``Comedy Tonight,'' and the rest of the company had best take up the cue.

They do at East West, although it takes an entire act to really get the production humming. Reset in Polynesia despite a program note that says Rome, Dang's production is visually pleasing and dynamically paced. Musical director Scott Nagatani puts his five-piece band - and the singers - through the composer's lyrical acrobatics. ``Forum'' is one of Sondheim's easier scores, and one of his most accessible.

Synopsized succinctly (and you lispers out there, don't try this at home): Pseudolus, sick of servitude, seeks to secure his freedom by setting up an assignation between his master's son, Hero, and Philia, the courtesan from the brothel next door, before she is sold to a general. Complicating matters are Pseudolus' supervisor Hysterium, a bunch of courtesans with names like Panacea, Vibrata and Tintinabula, and the untimely return of Hero's randy father, Senex.

Like I said, camp is king here, in dialogue both spoken (``Who seeks the house of Marcus Lycus?'', ``I'm about to say a sooth'') and sung. Yumi Iwama makes sweet work of ``Lovely,'' Philia's ballad to beautiful stupidity, while a quartet of men has great fun with the double entendre-filled ``Everybody Ought to Have a Maid.'' Gone from this production is the lovely ``Echo Song,'' between Philia and Hero, but it's not especially missed.

Dang and set designer Victoria Petrovich create a nice visual palette as well. Instead of statues and amphitheater facades, they've given us three giant monolithic heads designed to represent the houses of Senex, Lycus and Erronius. Tattoos, grass adornments and garlands are an important element of Ken Takemoto's costume scheme. There are more than a few whimsical touches in Dang's staging, including the use of two shaven heads as eyeballs.

While he may not be the larger-than-life scene-swallower that past Pseudoluses (Pseudoli?) like Zero Mostel and, more recently, Nathan Lane have been, Gedde Watanabe (of ``Sixteen Candles,'' ``Gung Ho'' and ``ER'' fame) is game nonetheless. Scrappy and panicky, Watanabe gets plenty of mileage out of the part. He and Radmar Agana Jao's Hysterium are a choice comic duo.

All quite dopey, and, yes, charming as well.

``A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM''

Where: East West Players, 120 Judge John Aiso St., Los Angeles.

When: 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; through April 15. No performance at 8 p.m. April 1, but there will be an added performance at 7 p.m. April 2.

Tickets: $30 to $35. Call [phone].

Our rating: Three stars

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Photo:

The cast of ``A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum'' includes (standing, from left) Michelle Noh, Denise Iketani, Hisato Masuyama and Diana Toshiko, and (on floor) Kurt Kuniyoshi, left, Kim Montelibano, Gedde Watanabe and Michelle Ingkavet.