Hilarious greatest send-ups skewer Broadway musicals
Forbidden Broadway was a New York showbiz institution for 27 years: It ended its hilarious run in March, having spoofed big Broadway musicals - the bigger, the spoofier - to the delight of audiences, as well as the stars who came to see themselves satiriz
Forbidden Broadway was a New York showbiz institution for 27 years: It ended its hilarious run in March, having spoofed big Broadway musicals - the bigger, the spoofier - to the delight of audiences, as well as the stars who came to see themselves satirized. Gerard Alessandrini wrote and directed the revue, winning the Tony for excellence in theater. The installment I saw in 2005 was Forbidden Broadway: Special Victims Unit; the last installment was called Forbidden Broadway Goes to Rehab.
Walnut Street Theatre's Independence Studio on 3 gives us Forbidden Broadway's Greatest Hits, the funniest musical skits from the past shows. All that's required to have an entertaining evening is that you know enough Broadway musicals to "get" the send-ups and that you check your reverence at the door - if you cannot bear to see Liza or Barbra mocked, this is not the show for you. Bruce Lumpkin directs with obvious glee.
They bash all the huge hits: Phantom of the Opera, Mamma Mia!, Cats and more. There are lyrics that are almost as complicated as the songs they parody: They skewer Steven Sondheim with "Into the Words" and Cameron Mackintosh with souvenir-hawking (toy helicopters, cat tails, chandelier crystals, T-shirts).
Four talented performers give it their all, each with a different kind of comic shamelessness. (No vanity is possible in these numbers, so you sympathize with their taking curtain calls while holding their glamorous 8x10 headshot.)
Jennie Eisenhower's megawatt smile and mobile face make her perfect for comedy - not to overlook her gorgeous and far-ranging singing voice. Wait until you see her do Carol Channing or Ethel Merman or the Idina Menzel in Wicked.
Tiny Ellie Mooney, with her big eyes and great sense of timing (her impression of a stage turntable in Les Miz is way beyond funny), does a great Barbra - idiosyncratic pronunciation, quirky gestures and all.
The two guys provide their own kind of hilarity: Marcus Stevens is the suave one (who sings Phantom with an "air" voice), and Sonny Leo is the hairy tattooed one who does a great dueling Latina diva with Mooney in "Chita and Rita" (think West Side Story). The ensemble numbers are terrific: Hairspray, Les Miserables, Fiddler on the Roof, Rent. "Glossy Fosse" is the best satire of Chicago imaginable.
Gina Giachero provides the music, Michelle Gaudette the choreography, Colleen Grady the excellent costumes, Robert Kramer the adorable set design, and Adam Macks even gets a laugh out of the lighting.
Forbidden Broadway's Greatest Hits
Through June 28 at the Walnut Street Theatre's Independence Studio on 3, Ninth and Walnut Streets. Tickets $30. Information: 215-574-3550 or 800-982-2787
or www.WalnutStreetTheatre.org.EndText