Forbidden Broadway
At the Royal George Cabaret Theatre
By Dan Zeff
CHICAGO—The unhappiest news of the autumn theater season comes from Gerard Alessandrini, who announced he is shutting down his “Forbidden Broadway” franchise, at least for the short term. Alessandrini can’t find enough material in the current bleak Broadway scene to supply sufficient ammunition to feed his priceless satirical revues.
Just how great a loss will be the absence of “Forbidden Broadway?” Consider the glorious production of “Forbidden Broadway: Dances with the Stars” at the Royal George Cabaret Theatre. It’s heartbreaking that we will be deprived of so much wit and intelligence in our theatrical future.
This is the second visit of “Forbidden Broadway” to the Royal George. The first show, “Forbidden Broadway: Special Victims Unit,” turned into an unexpected hit last year. The format remains the same, four supremely talented performers nailing the personalities and shows of Broadway with wicked high spirits and insight. The pace is fast and the jovial cynicism unrelenting. There are a few echoes of the previous revue, but most of the sketches and songs are mint fresh.
Alessandrini vents his satirical spleen against pretentiousness, whether in a show or in a performer. He reserves special hostility for the dumbing down of Broadway, singling out the Disney Corporation for special censure for pandering to the lowest common denominator in audience taste with such shows as “Mary Poppins” and “The Little Mermaid” (he even aims shots at the iconic “The Lion King”).
Alessandrini is the revue’s creator and writer and its co-director with William Selby. The man’s skill with song lyrics is dazzling, to be mentioned in the same breath with Stephen Sondheim (there is a Sondheim sketch that is one of the evening’s highlights). Alessandrini’s ability to come up with one clever and pungent rhyme after another is astounding. His skill at shaping those rhymes to score a continuous flow of satirical points is beyond astounding. And he’s just as ingenious with a non-musical bit, like a send-up of the Steppenwolf “Osage County” hit reduced to a no-holds-barred boxing match between the story’s mother and daughter.
In one sense, “Forbidden Broadway” is a continuous in-joke. As I noted in commenting on the first revue, one doesn’t have to be knowledgeable about the Broadway scene to enjoy the show. Still, it helps in order to fully appreciate Alessandrini’s blasts at the new Latino hip-hop musical “In the Heights” and the Lincoln Center revival of “South Pacific” along with lampooning the excesses and mannerisms of Mandy Patinkin, Patti LuPone, Kristin Chenoweth, and Sarah Brightman.
A viewer unfamiliar with these productions and performers obviously won’t be able to savor the full effect of Alessandrini’s eviscerations. But it’s likely that the audience attracted to “Forbidden Broadway” will be in touch with the material. Indeed, the opening night audience was punctuated, and marred, by numerous spectators eager to applaud and shout their approval of each skit, just to announce how hip they were to the satirical thrusts on stage.
The show takes no prisoners, even with Broadway’s biggest hits. Alessandrini has some deliciously negative views of “Wicked” and “Les Miserables” and “Hairspray.” And viewers may be forced to rethink their adulation for “Jersey Boys” after watching his disembowelment of the show.
The revue is served up by two men and two women, each of whom seems as talented as the performers they ridicule. Valerie Fagan as Sarah Brightman, Leisa Mather as Kristin Chenoweth, Mark David Kaplan as Mandy Patinkin, Kevin McGlynn as the gay stud star of “Xanadu”—all are at least on a par with the celebrities they so cheerfully skewer.
The show’s production values reside in the witty props and the riotous bull’s-eye costumes designed by Alvin Colt and David Moyer. The costume changes, including wigs and facial hair, off stage are timed in microseconds, but nary a cue was missed. Eric Walton provides the expert on-stage piano accompaniment.
Local audiences fortunately can get a double dose of “Forbidden Broadway.” The “Dancing with Stars” revue runs through through November 30. “A Forbidden Broadway Christmas” then takes over for a month starting December 3.
“Forbidden Broadway” runs through January 4 at the Royal George Cabaret Theatre, 1641 North Halsted Street. Performance times vary throughout the run. Tickets are $40 to $55. Call 312 988 9000 or visit theroyalgeorgetheatre.com .
The show gets a rating of four stars. OCT. 2008
Contact Dan at zeffdaniel@yahoo.com.