"Pretty Little Picture"

Frank Cotham's drawing for the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #457

The drawing for last week's New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest by Frank Cotham got me to thinking about a Broadway score I've been familiar with for as long as I can remember. While galley slaves show up from time to time as a cartoon trope, they also make a darkly humorous appearance in a song by Stephen Sondheim. Early in the musical "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," the Roman slave Pseudolus paints a romantic "Pretty Little Picture" for an eager young couple in the hopes of being able to win his own freedom.

"Pretty Little Picture"

"A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum"

Original Broadway Cast Recording (1962)

Zero Mostel as Pseudolus

Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

Note:  Be sure to explore this blog's archives for posts about Broadway in general and about Stephen Sondheim in particular.

Posts about Frank Cotham's Cartoon Caption Contests are also worth a look, especially if you like to see my captions go down in flames.

01398