Valerie Fagan, Janet Dickinson and Jared Bradshaw in ‘Spring Awakening’ parody number ‘Parental Advisory,’ part of ‘Forbidden Broadway: Rude Awakening.’ Photo: Carol Rosegg.
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By Jonathan Warman
Friday, October 05, 2007
In a fall season when very few Broadway musicals are opening (just “Young Frankenstein” and “The Little Mermaid” if I’m reading my schedules right), it’s hardly surprising that Broadway’s resident satirist Gerard Alessandrini has come up with an edition of his always riotously funny “Forbidden Broadway” that spoofs mostly shows from last season, including the closed “Company” and “Grey Gardens.” This 25th anniversary edition also includes some classic bits from the show’s past quarter century—“Les Mis” being back on Broadway means that Alessandrini can draw on 20-some years of material about the show he has most loved to hate!
“Forbidden Broadway” has relentlessly and lovingly assaulted the Great White Way since 1982, when Alessandrini, then a struggling singer-actor, created the first edition for himself and his friends to perform. It lampooned the Broadway shows and stars of the day—to put things in perspective that was the year “Cats” (another top Alessandrini target) opened, and Ethel Merman (who has turned up frequently in the revue over the years) still had two years to live.
The show, as always, is wickedly clever from the start: Two conservative audience members find themselves disgusted by the thoroughly oversexed subject matter of “Spring Awakening.” This edition actually takes its subtitle “Rude Awakening” from the hit Sheik-Sater show, and Alessandrini clearly thinks that “Spring” marks a truly new direction for musicals—and therefore is especially ripe for parody. He also gives the thumbs up to “Grey Gardens” in “The Evolution of the Musical Today” in which “Christine Ebersole” (the ultra-flexible Janet Dickenson) surveys a theatrical landscape where a creative show like “Gardens” can make it to Broadway, but has a difficult time staying open there.
And so forth—if you follow Broadway, you’ll be laughing and nodding non-stop. Some other fave moments: “Being Intense,” a roast of Raul Esparza; a new “Les Mis” number that mines the iPhone for a few laughs; a preemptive assault on “Little Mermaid”; and the finale, a love note to both “A Chorus Line” and the future of musical theater. Alessandrini seems to see plenty of hope, and that’s a very good sign.
“Forbidden Broadway: Rude Awakening,” 8:15 p.m. Mon., Tue., Fri. & Sat., 2:30 p.m. Wed., 4 p.m. Sat., and 3:30 p.m. & 7:30 p.m. at the 47th Street Theatre, 304 W. 47 St., $60–$65, 212-239-6200, forbiddenbroadway.com.
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