A Place of Brightness: Review of "A Funny Thing Happened at the Way to the Forum" at the Two River Theater in Red Bank, NJ

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Review of "A Funny Thing Happened at the Way to the Forum" at the Two River Theater in Red Bank, NJ

I took my Latin III and IV classes to a performance of the musical "A Funny Thing Happened at the Way to the Forum" at the Two River Theater in Red Bank, NJ today.

First off, the theater staff were enormously helpful with accommodating our group. Jill Merriman, the group and advertising manager, was attentive and welcoming to our group. I simply cannot praise the theater staff enough.

In the course of my Latin classes, we watch the 1966 (the year I was born!) movie version of "A Funny Thing Happened at the Way to the Forum" when we complete Stage 5 of Book 1 of the Cambridge Latin Course.

It's a great movie, but when one of my students found that a live performance of the musical was happening one hour from our school, a field trip was organized (much more by her than me).

The show we saw today was a string of huge smiles and belly laughs. The actors--by a fun twist all male, even when playing female characters--were a revelation. Director Jessica Stone created a fresh and welcome take on this show.

As I write this, the show runs only two more days. But I am confident that the talented actors I was so richly entertained by today will be appearing on other stages regularly.

But I want to repeat, the stage at the Two River Theater in Red Bank, NJ is worthy of the greatest talent. As it was today.

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In Saecula Saeculorum, the 4th Novel in the Valquist Series

In this fourth novel of the Valquist Series, Andrew Valquist is retired (?) from the National Security Agency and teaching Latin at a Classical Academy in the Washington DC area. But in the world of espionage, looks can be deceiving. He's not necessarily happy with the role he has played in all this, but the school was actually a joint NSA/MI-6 Project in which four young people have been unwittingly prepared for a mission to travel back in time to ancient Rome to retrieve information from a library that may save the modern world from certain destruction. They know they have to at least try to save humanity, but can they also save each other?

Next Stop: Spanish, the 3rd Novel in the Valquist Series

This third novel in the Valquist Series can be read as an espionage action-adventure in its own right, but also you can use it as a way to either brush up on your Spanish or learn functional Spanish for the first time! John Valquist needs to learn Spanish. But he's in luck, since his uncle Andrew is a language expert and a former (?) spy who is taking him on a vacation to Spain so he can study the language. In Next Stop: Spanish, you have the chance to see and study the words John studies, and then watch him add more and more Spanish into his dialogue as the story progresses. During this vacation, they get pulled into espionage intrigue (why do these things always happen to the Valquist family?). In the dramatic conclusion, John will need to put together everything he has learned to save his uncle!

Amor Vincit Omnia: the 2nd Novel in the Valquist Series

In this second novel of the Valquist Series, Keith Massey takes you into the halls of the National Security Agency, where he himself worked for four years after 9/11 and an Arabic linguist. You follow our hero Andrew Valquist, as he starts work as a new recruit at the NSA. Little does he know that on his first on the job, he's about to fly off on an unexpected overseas assignment. He'll be even more surprised when he learns that his background in ancient Latin will be crucial to the mission!

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Review of "A Funny Thing Happened at the Way to the Forum" at the Two River Theater in Red Bank, NJ

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