Forbidden Broadway, the award-winning hit satirical revue, ran Off-Broadway for more than twenty-five years. Opening on January 15, 1982, at Palsson's Supper Club on New York's Upper West Side, Forbidden Broadway was created and written by Gerard Alessandrini and directed by Alessandrini with long-time collaborator Phillip George. The show brilliantly spoofs the show tunes, characters and plots of contemporary Broadway musicals, as well as the leading ladies and gentlemen of the Great White Way. It also satirizes famous Broadway composers, directors, choreographers, authors and producers. The four-person show, featuring two male and two female vocalists, has released eleven albums to critical acclaim. A veritable who's who of theatrical performers has paraded through the fabulous costumes of the Forbidden Broadway productions through the years.
Alessandrini has created numerous versions, parodies and editions of the show that have run almost continuously for 25 years with productions in New York City and around the world. In 2006, Mr. Alessandrini and the show 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. Its latest Off-Broadway incarnation, "Forbidden Broadway Goes to Rehab," ended its run at the 47th Street Theatre in New York on March 1, 2009 ... read full bio
Forbidden Broadway, the award-winning hit satirical revue, ran Off-Broadway for more than twenty-five years. Opening on January 15, 1982, at Palsson's Supper Club on New York's Upper West Side, Forbidden Broadway was created and written by Gerard Alessandrini and directed by Alessandrini with long-time collaborator Phillip George. The show brilliantly spoofs the show tunes, characters and plots of contemporary Broadway musicals, as well as the leading ladies and gentlemen of the Great White Way. It also satirizes famous Broadway composers, directors, choreographers, authors and producers. The four-person show, featuring two male and two female vocalists, has released eleven albums to critical acclaim. A veritable who's who of theatrical performers has paraded through the fabulous costumes of the Forbidden Broadway productions through the years.
Alessandrini has created numerous versions, parodies and editions of the show that have run almost continuously for 25 years with productions in New York City and around the world. In 2006, Mr. Alessandrini and the show 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. Its latest Off-Broadway incarnation, "Forbidden Broadway Goes to Rehab," ended its run at the 47th Street Theatre in New York on March 1, 2009.
Forbidden Broadway's Symphonic Pops Edition was created in 1998 for the Hartford Symphony and has enjoyed huge success with the Minnesota Orchestra, the Adelaide Cabaret Festival, the Rochester Philharmonic and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Scored for full orchestra, the symphonic concert program parodies 25 years of Broadway's showstoppers and biggest stars, celebrating the greatest hits of the Forbidden Broadway catalog.
In 2009 Forbidden Broadway premieres the Symphonic Pops adaptation of "A Forbidden Broadway Christmas" with the University of Las Vegas Performing Arts Center. Highlights from the program will also be presented as part of the Long Island Philharmonic's annual New Years Eve celebration.
Gerard Alessandrini is a multi-talented award winning American playwright, actor, parodist and theatre director. He is best known for creating the award-winning Off-Broadway musical theatre revue "Forbidden Broadway." Boston born, he grew up in the suburbs and later graduated from the Boston Conservatory of Music. Alessandrini started his theatre career as an actor in summer stock, regional theater, dinner theater and work Off-Broadway. In late 1981, Alessandrini, in collaboration with Phillip George, created a musical parody revue featuring spoofs of songs from Broadway musicals on which he had been working. He can be heard on five of the "Forbidden Broadway" cast albums, as well as the soundtracks of Disney's Aladdin and Pocahontas. Alessandrini has also written for television. He is the recipient of a Tony Honor for Excellence in Theatre, an Obie Award, six Drama Desk Awards (including the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics and the Drama Desk Special Award), an Outer Critics Circle Award and two Lucille Lortel Awards, as well as the Drama League Award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theatre. A new book, Forbidden Broadway: Behind the Mylar Curtain, written by Gerard Alessandrini with Michael Portantiere, hit the stands in November 2009. Published by Applause Theatre & Cinema Books (an imprint of Hal Leonard) the book is a loving, hilarious, no-holds-barred history of the award-winning musical revue that has delighted critics and audiences around the world. The book offers a backstage, behind-the scenes look at the evolution of the show in its 20 incarnations.
Last updated November 2009. Contact Opus 3 Artists for the most up-to-date version.
