Forbidden Broadway is alive and kicking again, but this time… it’s coming for the new (and old) musicals of 2024! Gerard Alessandrini’s beloved tradition is back this season with Forbidden Broadway: Merrily We Stole a Song, which opened just last week at THEATER555.
How did this New York theatre institution get its start? “We would go to piano bars and sing. And I thought, ‘Well, everybody hears young actors in New York singing theatre music with the real lyrics…’ I thought it would be different to hear it with parody lyrics,” explained Alessandrini. “I actually have a folder of parody lyrics that I kept called ‘Forbidden Broadway’! Usually I’d sing them to friends for a laugh.”
This edition skewers the latest deluge of Broadway offerings including Hell’s Kitchen, Suffs, The Outsiders, Cabaret, The Great Gatsby, Back to the Future, &Juliet, The Wiz, and of course, Merrily We Roll Along. In addition, there will be sendups of Roger Bart, Patti LuPone, Eddie Redmayne, Daniel Radcliffe, Ariana DeBose and Jeremy Jordan, among others. This up-to-the-minute version will also roast the 2024 Tony Awards, and will include some of the most popular numbers from Alessandrini’s recent Forbidden Sondheim.
“I hope that audiences will find a lot of joy- a joy of their love of theatre and joy from the great music that we use,” he added. “I hope they will feel happier and that theatre is a celebration. As theatregoers, they are part of that party. We’re all a part of it.”
Watch as he chats more about the Forbidden Broadway legacy in this video and check out highlights from Merrily We Stole a Song!
