A funny thing happened on the way to the forum — James Corden took another job.
The news this week that Corden, a Tony winner for “One Man, Two Guvnors,” will presumably replace Craig Ferguson on CBS’ “The Late Late Show” was a blow to the producers of the upcoming revival of Stephen Sondheim’s “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.”
Corden’s team tried to downplay the “Forum” news, saying he never signed a contract. In fact, he was deep in negotiations, including about where he was going to live in New York during his yearlong run in the musical.
But the CBS offer was simply too rich to pass up. I’m told Corden stands to make $28 million over four years as the “Late Late Show” host.
Who’s going to say no to that kind of dough?
Corden was apologetic about his decision, and since he’s such a nice guy, nobody’s angry with him. He was especially worried about how Sondheim would react, since they became friendly during the filming of “Into the Woods,” out Dec. 25. (Corden is playing The Baker.)
But sources say Sondheim’s no stranger to the ups and downs of showbiz, and took the news in stride.
The producers insist the revival, to be directed by flavor-of-the-moment Alex Timbers, is still on track to open on Broadway in April.
And they’ve put out feelers to several TV stars to play Pseudolus, the Roman slave who yearns to be free.
It’s one of the great roles in American musical theater. Zero Mostel played it in the original 1962 production, followed, in revivals, by Phil Silvers and Nathan Lane.
If I were the producers, I’d call out to . . . Craig Ferguson. He’s available!
But I haven’t heard he’s on the list.
Names that have cropped up are Jim Parsons (“The Big Bang Theory”) and Jesse Tyler Ferguson (“Modern Family”).
The problem is, they’ll both be shooting their TV shows in the spring, and won’t be available until the summer.
So the producers might go with a theater name, Josh Gad (“Book of Mormon”), say, for a few months and then swap Parsons or Ferguson in during the summer to soak up the tourist business.
“Everything’s up in the air,” a source says. “The good thing is that a lot of great people would love to play the role because it’s so much fun. We might end up doing three-month stints with a lot of different actors.”
And don’t rule out a woman.
Whoopi Goldberg took over for Lane in the 1996 revival and had a jolly time.
Tina Fey, anyone? Amy Schumer? Heck, I think Joan Rivers would be a hoot.
Another thing the show has going for it is the title. High schools, colleges and community theaters have been doing it forever. The score’s great, and the jokes, by Larry Gelbart and Burt Shevelove, are hilarious.
With or without a major star, a solid production of “Forum” is always welcome on Broadway.