You can always count on suburban community theater for presenting the basics in stage productions. Steel Magnolias? Grease? All coming up around town soon. These aren't the places you go to find edgy works with full-frontal nudity or abundant profanity. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.) For some good, classic funny, take the upcoming production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum</i>...probably one of the most hilarious musicals out there. Forum is set in Ancient Rome where the hero is a slaveoff to a funny start, right? Brilliantly written, the story follows Pseudolus as he tries to earn his freedom by marrying off his master's son to a prostitute while singing Sondheim all the way. With an opening to rival all others, the bawdy comedy takes the uninitiated by surprise with "Comedy Tonight" into a carousing rollercoaster of tear-inducing laughs. Well, it did for me anyway. ONSTAGE in Bedford presents A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum through August 25 at the Trinity Arts Theater, 2819 Forest Ridge Drive. For tickets, call 817-354-6444 or visit ONSTAGEInBedford.org.
Fridays, Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 2 p.m. Starts: Aug. 17. Continues through Aug. 25