“Forbidden Broadway” is back – yet again.
Back in 2008, the folks behind “Forbidden Broadway” announced that following numerous on-and-off runs at various Off-Broadway theaters and nightclub spaces dating back to 1982, the intimate (with just a handful of performers, an onstage pianist, and many costume changes), cheeky but affectionate spoof of Broadway (including its classic and contemporary shows and stars) would finally shutter for good.
Nevertheless, “Forbidden Broadway” returned with new editions in 2012 and 2014. Another update (“Forbidden Broadway: The Next Generation”) premiered in 2019, just prior to the pandemic shutdown, and an edition dedicated solely to the memory of Stephen Sondheim played a few performances a few months ago.
But here comes the big news: not only is “Forbidden Broadway” coming back this summer (with the subtitle “Merrily We Stole a Song”), it will finally play Broadway itself, with a limited run at the Hayes Theater beginning July 29.
In addition to a five-member cast, the Broadway edition will also feature weekly guest stars, who perhaps may be performers who performed in “Forbidden Broadway” years ago and then went on to appear on Broadway, such as Bryan Batt and Jennifer Simard.
The move to Broadway appears to make sense. The warped economics of commercial theater have changed so fundamentally over the past 40 years that the show’s producers may stand a better chance of breaking even by playing a small Broadway theater (with higher costs but higher ticket prices and better visibility) rather than a Off-Broadway space of comparable size.
“Forbidden Broadway” has also become relatively mainstream at this point – even beloved by the Broadway institutions that it pokes fun at. Gerard Alessandrini, the show’s creator, writer (providing original lyrics that are combined with music from each show being parodied), and director, even received a special Tony Award in 2006 to recognize the show’s excellence and unique contribution to the theater scene.
Wherever it plays, it is good to have the show back. The Broadway community needs to be able to laugh at itself – and so do the theatergoers who attend all its shows. “Forbidden Broadway” is like a good-spirited antidote for both disastrous flops and successes that are taken too seriously.
While one might have imagined that the new Broadway edition would serve as a showcase of old favorites (of which there would be many to choose from), “Forbidden Broadway on Broadway: Merrily We Stole a Song” will instead, as always, target the newest Broadway musicals, including “The Great Gatsby,” “The Notebook,” “Water for Elephants,” “Hell’s Kitchen” and “Back to the Future,” plus revivals of such as “Merrily We Roll Along” and “Sweeney Todd.”
For the record, my personal favorite “Forbidden Broadway” parody (which I do not believe was recorded on any of the cast albums) was a late addition to “Forbidden Broadway: Special Victims Unit” in 2005, which targeted the late Robert Goulet as replacement casting in the first Broadway revival of “La Cage aux Folles.” As played by Ron Bohmer, a dazed and inebriated Goulet stammered his way through “Song on the Sand” from “La Cage” with bits and pieces from “If Ever I Would Leave You” and “Some Enchanted Evening.”
