Forbidden Broadway (1982). A very small‐scale revue that spoofed Broadway shows and Broadway stars, it was first presented at Palsson's, a supper club in 1982, and for over twenty years the revue moved from location to location, changing its title (one version was called 2001: A Spoof Odyssey), and updating its satire as the seasons went by. While most of the music was borrowed from shows being kidded, the lyrical spoofs were by Gerard Alessandrini. A parallel program called Forbidden Hollywood was attempted in the early 1990s, but it failed to catch on.
Forbidden Broadway
| American Theater Guide: Forbidden Broadway |
| Album Review: Forbidden Broadway |
- Artist:
Original Cast - Rating:
- Release Date: 1984 06
- Type: Cast (Broadway, television or movie)
- Genre: Soundtrack
Review
The first Forbidden Broadway album is a modest affair in which writer/director Gerard Alessandrini pokes fun at some contemporary Broadway efforts and some longtime Broadway stars. Using familiar music, he pens parody lyrics in which a Patti LuPone soundalike complains that, despite starring in Evita on Broadway, she won't get to do the movie (true) and predicts that Barbra Streisand will (false, but intriguing); "Kevin Kline" expounds on the wonders of being Kevin Kline to the tune of Gilbert and Sullivan's "Pirate King," and "Annie" sings a version of "Tomorrow" that ends up declaring, "Redundant, redundant, this song is redundant." Much of the album is given over to making fun of Broadway divas like Ethel Merman, Mary Martin, and Carol Channing, impersonations that actually live better than some of the inside jokes that make up many of the lyrics. Theater aficionados will love the album, not only for the timely material, but also for perennial bits such as the complaint from a rehearsal pianist set to the tune of "They're Playing Our Song" ("I'm Sick of Playing Their Songs") and an explanation of the life of working actors set to the tune of Fiddler on the Roof's "Tradition" ("Ambition"). ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music GuideTracks
| Track Title | Composers | Performers | Time |
| Forbidden Broadway | (2:07) | ||
| Non Plu Andral | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | (2:33) | |
| Don't Cry for Me Argentina | Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice | (3:32) | |
| Tomorrow | (1:05) | ||
| Pirates of Penzance Sequence | (5:54) | ||
| Be Italian/Be a Catholic | (2:00) | ||
| Triplets | Howard Dietz, Arthur Schwartz | (2:14) | |
| Beautiful Girls/That's Entertainment! | Stephen Sondheim | (2:41) | |
| Angela Lansbury Sequence: Mame/If He Walked into My Life | Jerry Herman | (3:04) | |
| Audition Sequence: Soliloquy from Carousel/They're Playing Our Song | Carole Bayer Sager, Marvin Hamlisch, Oscar Hammerstein II | (2:11) | |
| Merman & Martin Sequence: It's de-Lovely/My Heart Belongs to Daddy/Mu | Cole Porter | (3:40) | |
| Carol Channing Sequence: Call on Dolly/Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Fri | Jerry Herman, |
(3:35) | |
| Tradition/Climb Ev'ry Mountain | Richard Rodgers, Sheldon Harnick, Jerry Bock, Oscar Hammerstein II | (4:52) | |
| Forbidden Broadway (Reprise) | (:34) |
Credits
Mary Martin (?), Carol Channing (?),| Wikipedia: Forbidden Broadway |
| Forbidden Broadway | |
| Music | Various |
|---|---|
| Lyrics | Gerard Alessandrini |
| Book | Gerard Alessandrini |
| Basis | Broadway parodies |
| Productions | 1982 Off-Broadway |
Forbidden Broadway is an Off-Broadway satirical revue created and written by Gerard Alessandrini and directed by Alessandrini and long-time collaborator Phillip George. It opened on January 15, 1982 at Palsson's Supper Club in New York City and ran for 2,332 performances.[1] It has subsequently been rewritten several times to include parodies of newer shows.
The show is a cabaret revue sharply spoofing show tunes, characters and plots of contemporary and current Broadway musicals. Forbidden Broadway has mocked popular shows like The Phantom of the Opera, Wicked, Les Misérables, Annie Get Your Gun, Hairspray, The Lion King, The Music Man, Miss Saigon, and Rent, to name a few. It also targets famous Broadway actors, writers, composers, directors, choreographers and producers, including Carol Channing, Kristin Chenoweth, Bob Fosse, Elton John, Jennifer Holliday, Bernadette Peters, Patti LuPone, Mary Martin, Idina Menzel, Ethel Merman, Ann Miller, Mandy Patinkin, Stephen Sondheim, Harvey Fierstein, Barbra Streisand and Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Forbidden Broadway is a four-person show, with two men and two women that has run for over twenty-five years. Forbidden Broadway has released eight albums, as well as one entitled Forbidden Hollywood, a soundtrack of the show of the same title by Alessandrini. Like Forbidden Broadway, Forbidden Hollywood is made up of parodies, except that it targets movies rather than musicals. 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, Brad Oscar, singer/impressionist Christine Pedi, actor Bryan Batt (of AMC's "Mad Men"), Spamalot's Michael McGrath, Chloe Webb (Sid and Nancy), Ed Staudenmayer (Fame Becomes Me), Barbara Walsh (Company, Ragtime), Ann Morrison (Merrily We Roll Along, LoveMusik) and many more.
In 2006, the show and Alessandrini were awarded Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre. The 25th Anniversary production: Forbidden Broadway: Rude Awakening won the 2008 Drama Desk Award for outstanding revue with a cast recording recorded on October 18, 2007 and released on January 22, 2008. It starred Jared Bradshaw, Janet Dickinson, James Donegan and Valerie Fagan The final incarnation, Forbidden Broadway Goes to Rehab, ended its run at the 47th Street Theatre in New York on March 1, 2009. It starred Christina Bianco, Jared Bradshaw, Gina Kreiezmar, and Michael West, with David Caldwell at the piano.
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.[1]
Cast Album Recordings of "Forbidden Broadway" and "Forbidden Hollywood" music
- Forbidden Broadway, Vol. 1 · 1984
- Forbidden Broadway, Vol. 2 · 1991
- Forbidden Broadway, Vol. 3 · 1994
- Forbidden Hollywood · 1995
- Forbidden Broadway Strikes Back · 1996
- Forbidden Broadway Cleans Up Its Act · 1999
- Forbidden Broadway: 20th Anniversary Edition · 2000
- Forbidden Broadway 2001: A Spoof Odyssey · 2001
- Forbidden Broadway: Special Victims Unit · 2005
- Forbidden Broadway: Rude Awakening · 2008
- Forbidden Broadway Goes to Rehab - 2009
References
- ^ Caricaturist Captures the Corporate Market, Biz Bash Orlando, August 11, 2008.
External links
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
Learn More
 | Forbidden Broadway, Vols. 1-4 (1997 Album by Various Artists) |
| Forbidden Broadway, musical revue (Classical Work) |
| Alvin Colt (American Theater) |
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 | American Theater Guide. The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. Copyright © 2004 by Oxford University Press, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Album Review. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Forbidden Broadway". Read more |
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Mentioned in
- Forbidden Broadway, Vols. 1-4 (1997 Album by Various Artists)
- Forbidden Broadway, musical revue (Classical Work)
- Alvin Colt (American Theater)
- Forbidden Broadway: 20th Anniversary Edition (2000 Album by Original Off-Broadway Cast)
- Forbidden Broadway: Rude Awakening (2008 Album by Original Cast Recording)
- Forbidden Broadway 2001: A Spoof Odyssey (2001 Album by Original Soundtrack)
- Forbidden Broadway, Vol. 2 [Bonus Tracks] (1991 Album by Original Cast)
- Les Branquignols (1949 Comedy Film)
- Forbidden Broadway, Vol. 7: 2001 - A Spoof Odyssey (Classical Album)
- Forbidden Broadway Goes to Rehab (2009 Album by Original Cast Recording)
- Forbidden Broadway Strikes Back (1997 Album by Original Cast Recording)
- Forbidden Broadway, Vol. 3 (1994 Album by Original Cast)
- Forbidden Broadway: Special Victims Unit (2005 Album by Original Off-Broadway Cast)
- Forbidden Broadway, Vol. 8: Special Victims Unit (Classical Album)
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