Forbidden Broadway
| Forbidden Broadway | |
|---|---|
 Logo | |
| Music | Various |
| Lyrics | Gerard Alessandrini |
| Book | Gerard Alessandrini |
| Basis | Broadway musicals |
| Productions | 1982 off-Broadway |
Forbidden Broadway is an off-Broadway revue parodying musical theatre, particularly Broadway musicals. Conceived, written, and directed by Gerard Alessandrini, the show has been updated many times to parody new musicals and productions. The revue is typically performed by a cast of four with a piano. Versions of the show have been staged in more than 200 U.S. cities, as well as London, Tokyo and elsewhere around the world.
Background
[edit]The original version of Forbidden Broadway opened on January 15, 1982, at Palsson's Supper Club in New York City and ran there for 2,332 performances.[1] Alessandrini has updated and rewritten the revue more than two dozen times over the years to include parodies of newer shows. In the original iteration at Palsson's, Alessandrini performed alongside Nora Mae Lyng, for whom Alessandrini has said he created the show.[2] Michael Chapman was briefly the director of Forbidden Broadway, but later in 1982, Jeff Martin became director. In 1983 Alessandrini left the cast and assumed the directing position, with Phillip George often co-directing or directing various editions through 2016.[3] Since then, Alessandrini has written, created and directed all subsequent editions.
Through the decades, there have been thousands of performances of Forbidden Broadway in New York City, and the show has been seen in more than 200 U.S. cities as well as playing in London, Tokyo, Singapore and Sydney.[4]
Description
[edit]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, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, 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.[5][6][7]
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