Dow, who played the Emcee in the 2008 Stratford production of Cabaret, has been a favorite with festival audiences for a decade. His roles there include Sancho Panza in Man of La Mancha, Nicely-Nicely in Guys and Dolls, Mr. Bumble in Oliver!, the Baker in Into the Woods and Luther Billis in South Pacific. He also played the servant Dromio of Syracuse in the 2007 production of The Comedy of Errors, a play which influenced the writers of Forum — Stephen Sondheim, Larry Gelbart and Burt Shevelove.
The production at the Avon Theatre, in Stratford, Ontario, will also feature Stephen Ouimette as Hysterium, Dan Chameroy as Miles Gloriosus, Randy Hughson as Senex and Mike Nadajewski as Hero.
"These are some of our company's finest comic performers — ideal to deliver this bold, brash, risqué and hilariously funny musical," McAnuff stated.
Ouimette will return for his 17th season, after his interpretation of Baptista Minola in The Taming of the Shrew and Lafew in All's Well That Ends Well. His other Stratford credits include the title roles in Hamlet, Richard III, Amadeus and King John, as well as Estragon in Waiting for Godot, Touchstone in As You Like It, Grumio in The Taming of the Shrew and Thersites in Troilus and Cressida. Ouimette has received a Gemini Award, for his part in the television series "Slings and Arrows," three Doras, a Sterling and a Blizzard award, as well as the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal.
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum will run in the Avon Theatre June 11-Nov. 1, 2009, opening June 20. The Stratford Shakespeare Festival has already announced key casting for 2009's Macbeth; Julius Caesar; A Midsummer Night's Dream; Cyrano de Bergerac; The Importance of Being Earnest; Ever Yours, Oscar; Phedre; and Three Sisters. Further casting announcements will be made as details become available.
The 2009 season will also feature West Side Story; Bartholomew Fair; The Trespassers; Rice Boy and Zastrozzi.
McAnuff directed Broadway's The Who's Tommy, The Farnsworth Invention, Jersey Boys and more. He won a 1993 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for Tommy. In early 2009, he will direct a Broadway revival of Guys and Dolls, prior to the start of the Stratford season.
For more information, visit www.stratfordfestival.ca.
