The Boys From Syracuse

Show Description:

“This is a drama of ancient Greece. It is a story of mistaken identity. If it’s good enough for Shakespeare, it’s good enough for us.” With these opening words, Rodgers and Hart’s The Boys from Syracuse ushered in a sequence of seminal shows (Kiss Me, Kate; West Side Story; Two Gentlemen of Verona) that brought the Bard front and center to the Broadway musical stage. The plot centers on identical twins, Antipholus of Ephesus and Antipholus of Syracuse, who were separated by a shipwreck shortly after birth and who, accompanied by their also separated twin servants—both named Dromio—find themselves together in Ephesus. Confusions, to put it mildly, erupt when Adriana and Luce, wives of Antipholus E. and Dromio E., mistake the men’s Syracusan twin counterparts for their own spouses. Add to this mix Adriana’s younger sister Luciana, who falls hard for Antipholus S., who she believes is her sister’s husband, and you have the makings of a zany day in the theater. The musical score captures Rodgers and Hart at the top of their game: the girl’s show-stopping trio “Sing for Your Supper,” the exuberant “This Can’t Be Love,” the unsparingly acerbic “What Can You Do with a Man?” and Adriana’s heavenly waltz “Falling in Love with Love.”