| Forbidden Broadway | |
| Music: | Various |
| Lyrics: | Gerard Alessandrini |
| Basis: | Broadway musicals |
| Productions: | 1982 Off-Broadway |
Forbidden Broadway is an Off-Broadway revue parodying musical theatre, particularly Broadway musicals. It was conceived, written and directed by Gerard Alessandrini and has been updated many times to parody new musicals and productions. Typically, the revue is performed by a cast of four with a piano. Versions of the show have been seen in more than 200 cities in the U.S., as well as London, Tokyo and elsewhere.
The original version of the revue opened on January 15, 1982, at Palsson's Supper Club in New York City and ran for 2,332 performances.[1] Alessandrini has rewritten the show more than a dozen times over the years to include parodies of newer shows. In the original iteration of the show, Alessandrini was one of the original actors alongside the actress Nora Mae Lyng, whom Alessandrini said he "created it for.".[2] Michael Chapman directed and produced. In 1982, Jeff Martin succeeded Chapman as director. Alessandrini assumed the directing position subsequently, with Phillip George, Alessandrini's long-time collaborator, co-directing or directing all of the editions of the revue since 2004.
The show, in its various editions, received over 9,000 performances by 2009 and has been seen in more than 200 U.S. cities as well as playing in London, Tokyo, Singapore and Sydney.[3]
The show is a cabaret revue sharply spoofing show tunes, characters and plots of contemporary and current Broadway musicals. Forbidden Broadway and its many sequels have mocked popular shows like The Phantom of the Opera, Wicked, Les Misérables, The Lion King, Spamalot, Annie, , Rent, and Newsies. The revue also targets famous Broadway actors, writers, composers, directors, choreographers and producers, including Julie Andrews, Mel Brooks, Carol Channing, Kristin Chenoweth, Michael Crawford, Harvey Fierstein, Bob Fosse, Whoopi Goldberg, Robert Goulet, Jerry Herman, Dustin Hoffman, Elton John, Angela Lansbury, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Patti LuPone, Cameron Mackintosh, Mary Martin, Ethel Merman, Liza Minnelli, Rita Moreno, Mandy Patinkin, Bernadette Peters, Chita Rivera, Stephen Sondheim, Barbra Streisand, Julie Taymor, and Gwen Verdon.[4] [5] [6]
Forbidden Broadway is performed as a four or five-person show, with two men, two women (and in at least one production, a teen), with piano accompaniment. Forbidden Broadway has released more than a dozen albums, as well as Forbidden Hollywood, spoofing cinematic topics. The New York and Los Angeles-based companies of both Forbidden incarnations have served as a workshop for rising talent to hone their skills. Alumni include Jason Alexander,[7] Brad Oscar,[8] Christine Pedi, Bryan Batt,[9] Michael McGrath,[10] Chloe Webb,[7] Barbara Walsh,[11] Ann Morrison,[7] and many more.
In 2006, the show and Alessandrini were awarded Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre.[12] It has been nominated five times for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revue, winning three times (2001, 2005 and 2008).[13] [14] [15] It also won Drama Desk Special Awards in 1985[16] and 2009.[17] Forbidden Broadway Goes to Rehab ended its run Off-Broadway on March 1, 2009.[5] In 2009 a book of "Best of" lyrics and the show's history was published under the title Forbidden Broadway: Behind The Mylar Curtain.[18]
The show, in its various editions through 2009, received over 9,000 performances and been seen in more than 200 U.S. cities as well as in London, Tokyo, Singapore[3] and Adelaide, Australia, where it played for the only time with an orchestra at the 2002 Adelaide Cabaret Festival.[19] A 2009 review of the London production, in Britain's The Independent, commented: "Actors have always poked fun at the foibles of commercial theatre. ... Usually, though, they keep their parodies to themselves. It takes a touch of genius to turn them into something saleable, but writer Gerald Alessandrini has that Midas touch."[6] The original artwork advertising the show was designed by caricaturist Ken Fallin, who suggested the actors find the name "Nina" written on their bodies as an homage to Al Hirschfeld, who was known for working his daughter's name into his drawings.[20]
A 2012/13 version of the show, Forbidden Broadway: Alive and Kicking!, played in New York[21] and was revived in 2014.[22] Another Off-Broadway version, Forbidden Broadway Comes Out Swinging, played in 2014 at the Davenport Theatre.[23] A London edition in 2014 began at the Menier Chocolate Factory[24] and transferred to the Vaudeville Theatre, starring Christina Bianco, Anna-Jane Casey, Damian Humbley and Ben Lewis, with Phillip George directing.[25] In 2019, Forbidden Broadway Salutes Carol Channing played a celebration show for the late Carol Channing in New York.[26]
Forbidden Broadway: The Next Generation began previews on September 18, 2019, and opened on October 16, 2019, at New York's The Triad Theatre.[27] The show was conceived, created and written and directed by Alessandrini[28] It closed on December 1, 2019, and played a limited engagement at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, from December 27 to 31, 2019.[29] On January 15, 2020, it resumed performances at the York Theatre.[30] The plays and musicals parodied in this version included Dear Evan Hansen, Moulin Rouge!, Tootsie, The Ferryman, Hadestown, Fiddler on the Roof, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Oklahoma, Mary Poppins, The Prom, and Fosse/Verdon. The personalities portrayed included Lin-Manuel Miranda, Judy Garland, Billy Porter and Harold Prince.[31] [30]
A production of Forbidden Broadway was intended to play for the first time on Broadway, at the Helen Hayes Theatre, in 2024, as Forbidden Broadway on Broadway: Merrily We Stole a Song. In addition to the usual four-person cast and pianist, the show was expected to have a guest star each week.[32] [33] Producers later announced that a Broadway run is postponed, but Forbidden Broadway: Merrily We Stole a Song is scheduled to play off-Broadway at Theater 555 with previews starting on August 23 before an official opening on September 12, directed by Alessandrini, with musical staging by Gerry McIntyre; it is expected to target recent Broadway productions for parody, including Merrily We Roll Along.[34]