NY1 Theater Review: "Forbidden Broadway Goes To Rehab"
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I've seen “Forbidden Broadway almost every year since I started at NY1 16 years ago. Yet never has it seemed stale and always it's a highlight of the season for me.
So I'm saddened by the news that Gerard Alessandrini, its inspired creator, is going to take a much-needed hiatus. He has been at the helm of this ingenious little show since 1982 and has certainly earned the rest but as for the rest of us, those bright lights of Broadway will seem a little dim next year.
No matter how big the show - monster hits “Jersey Boys,” “August: Osage County” and “South Pacific” included - Alessandrini cuts them all down to size. Yet as biting as he can be, it's clearly a loving hand that guides these irreverent sketches. Alessandrini's winning formula has never wavered and it's in abundant display in the latest "Forbidden Broadway Goes To Rehab."
He has an uncanny knack for distilling each show down to it essence, poking fun and mixing in disparate elements. For example, Daniel Radcliffe of “Harry Potter” fame is getting a lot of attention in Equus for an extended nude scene. Alessandrini has his Radcliffe make a nervous striptease to a parody of “Let Me Entertain You” from “Gypsy.”
Jared Bradshaw is one of four gifted performers who fill the other half of the “Forbidden Broadway” formula - casting supreme talents who can equal and even in some cases outshine the stars they're portraying. Michael West is hilarious in his send-up of Lin-Manuel Miranda of "In The Heights."
The women of “Forbidden Broadway” often have the scene-stealing numbers and this year is no exception. Christina Biano matches Kristen Chenoweth's vocal virtuosity in a spoof on “Wicked,” and Gina Kreiezmar is sensationally on target as both Patti LuPone and the nearly-incomparable Liza Minnelli.
So now the curtain is coming down indefinitely and “Forbidden Broadway,” where nothing is sacred and everything is fair game, will be sorely missed.
I can only hope that Alessandrini, the Energizer Bunny of off-Broadway, recharges his batteries soon. While “Forbidden Broadway” goes to rehab, we'll be suffering withdrawal.