South Hills performers ready to steal scenes in Public Theater production
From at least as far back as Shakespeare’s Mercutio, playwrights have written parts for ostensibly minor characters that end up stealing scenes.
That’s the type of role Mt. Lebanon resident Jeff Howell particularly enjoys, and he’s ready to steal scenes as Marcus Lycus in Pittsburgh Public Theater’s upcoming production of the legendary musical comedy “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.”
In his best pitchman-type voice, Howell compared the character he’s portraying to that familiar, though not necessarily accurate, image of a used-car salesman:
“If you don’t like the sedan here, we’ve got a convertible. If you don’t want the convertible, we’ve got two others over here that you would like that go together. If you don’t like that, we’ve got a sports car. If you don’t like that, we’ve got one that’s even wilder.”
Of course, there were no motorized vehicles in Ancient Rome, the setting for the Broadway hit by Stephen Sondheim, Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart. And whether you’re familiar with the Broadway or film version, you know that Marcus is selling … well, the polite term is “courtesan.”
Stephanie Maloney
“Tintinabula is kind of the noisy one,” Stephanie Maloney said about the applicable character she plays, “with all the bells and whistles.”
She is the first of a series of dancers featured in the musical number, “The House of Marcus Lycus,” displaying the talents she has honed since she was growing up in Upper St. Clair with two parents, Kevin and Patty, having been members of Pittsburgh’s Dance Alloy repertory company.
Howell, who as Marcus introduces Tintinabula as having “the face of an idol, the arms of a willow tree and the pelvis of a camel,” complimented Maloney’s terpsichorean skills and said he’s gotten to know her through them working with one another in productions around Pittsburgh. And beyond.
“When I was working out in Sacramento last summer,” he said about performing in “Damn Yankees” with California Musical Theatre, “if you’re in one show, you can go see the show that’s running there while you’re rehearsing. I went to the theater and looked and the program and said, ‘I know Stephanie!'”
Here, she was part of the cast of “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.”
“I didn’t realize she was in it,” he recalled. “I come across the country, and I meet someone I know.”
Both since have returned to Western Pennsylvania for “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” Howell to where he has lived since 1980 and Maloney to where she graduated from Upper St. Clair High School in 2006. Now a New York City resident, she most recently performed in the Fulton Theatre’s production of “A Christmas Story” in Lancaster.
“We closed on New Year’s Eve,” Maloney said. “I traveled here on New Year’s Day, and we started rehearsals Jan. 2. But sometimes, that’s what we do.”
She and Howell both have worked previously with Pittsburgh Public Theater and longtime producing artistic director Ted Pappas, who is planning to step down at the conclusion of the 2017-18 season. He first staged “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” for the company 20 years ago as a guest director, and he has chosen it as the last musical he will direct in his current position.
“He brings together a nice, smart, loving family,” Maloney said about Pappas’ cast selections.
Howell then elaborated.
“Everybody, I think, has been beautifully cast, and everybody just brings their A-game to every rehearsal, which is fantastic,” he said. “It’s nice that Ted is doing the shows he wants to either do again or do for the first time, and he’s working with everyone he’s loved working with. He’s pulling everybody in that he likes.”
”A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” opens Jan. 25 and runs through Feb. 25 at the O’Reilly Theater, Pittsburgh Public Theater’s home in the Cultural District. For more information, visit ppt.org.