FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
GERARD ALESSANDRINI’S FORBIDDEN BROADWAY
RETURNS TO NEW YORK
FOR A LIMITED ENGAGEMENT
WITH
FORBIDDEN BROADWAY:
ALIVE AND KICKING
NOW IN PREVIEWS
AT THE 47TH STREET THEATRE
OPENING SET FOR SEPTEMBER 6TH
After a three-year absence, Gerard Alessandrini’s FORBIDDEN BROADWAY, one of NYC’s best-loved and highly anticipated productions, returns to the 47th Street Theatre (304 West 47th Street – just west of Eighth Avenue) with a brand new edition, FORBIDDEN BROADWAY: ALIVE AND KICKING. The show is now in previews, with an opening set for Thursday, September 6th. FORBIDDEN BROADWAY; ALIVE AND KICKING will play a limited engagement through January 6, 2013. This production will mark FORBIDDEN BROADWAY’s 30th Anniversary, as well as its 21st edition.
FORBIDDEN BROADWAY; ALIVE AND KICKING returns with Gerard Alessandrini’s take on Porgy and Bess, Once, Evita, Anything Goes, Follies, Spiderman, Newsies, Book of Mormon, Nice Work if You Can Get It, and Death of a Salesman, among others.
Featured in the cast are Natalie Charlé Ellis, Scott Richard Foster, Jenny Lee Stern and Marcus Stevens.
In a statement, Gerard Alessandrini said: “Over the past three years, I sat through show after show, with no outlet at all. Finally, I couldn’t take it any more. Now I have 3 years worth of pent-up parodies, and am blessed with a season that has practically written itself. We were able to get our favorite Forbidden Broadway theatre again, but only for a limited chunk of time. But that should more than long enough to say everything we have to say, and then come back to New York again, from time to time. ”
This edition is created and written by Gerard Alessandrini, and directed by Mr. Alessandrini and Phillip George, with musical direction by David Caldwell. Costumes are designed by Philip Heckman, with set design by Jesse Poleshuck, lighting design by Mark T. Simpson and wig design by Bobbie Cliffton Zlotnik. The show is produced by John Freedson, Harriet Yellin and Paul Bartz, in association with Paul G. Rice, Carol Ostrow, Paxton Quigley, Robert Driemeyer, Jamie DeRoy, Lawrence Poster and Tweiss Productions.
FORBIDDEN BROADWAY has been an unstoppable force in theatre since 1982, when Gerard Alessandrini created the first edition that lampooned the Broadway shows and stars of the day. It has been a favorite among theatre lovers, as well as the Broadway stars themselves (Carol Channing, Angela Lansbury, Patti Lupone, Stephen Sondheim, Raul Esparza, Tyne Daly, Christine Ebersole, Bernadette Peters, Whoopi Goldberg Cameron Mackintosh, and Hal Prince, to name a few) who often stop by to laugh at themselves alongside the public. FORBIDDEN BROADWAY has won numerous awards in its history including a Special Tony® Award as well as Drama Critics’ Circle, Obie, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Drama League, and Lucille Lortel Awards. A theatrical institution, FORBIDDEN BROADWAY has received national and international notoriety having performed in over 200 US cities as well as engagements in Tokyo, Singapore, Sydney and London’s Meniere Chocolate Factory.
GERARD ALESSANDRINI (Creator, Writer & Director) is best known for writing and directing all the editions of Forbidden Broadway and Forbidden Hollywood in New York, Los Angeles, and London and around the world. He was also a member of the original cast of Forbidden Broadway. Gerard is from Needham, Massachusetts and the Boston area, where he graduated from the Boston Conservatory of Music. In 1982, he created Forbidden Broadway, which has spawned 18 editions, 8 cast albums and a record-breaking 30-year- run in New York. Television credits include writing comedy specials for Bob Hope and Angela Lansbury on NBC, Carol Burnett on CBS and “Masterpiece Tonight,” a satirical revue saluting “Masterpiece Theatre” on PBS. He can be heard on four of the eight FB cast albums and on the soundtracks of Disney’s Aladdin & Pocahontas. Directing credits include many corporate industrials and regional musicals, including a production of Maury Yeston’s musical In the Beginning. Gerard also co-directed a revival of Irving Berlin’s final musical Mr. President, which he updated & “politically corrected.” Gerard is the recipient of an Obie Award, an Outer Critics Circle Award, two Lucille Lortel Awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Drama League and three Drama Desk Awards for Best Lyrics for Forbidden Broadway. He received the 2006 Tony® Honor for Excellence in the Theatre. Most recently his Madame X: The Musical won acclaim and multiple awards at the 2011 NYMF Festival; his holiday extravaganza The Nutcracker and I, written with Peter Brash was a smash at the George Street Theatre, and he is currently collaborating with Paul Mazursky and Bill Conti on a musical version of Mr. Mazursky’s film Moon Over Parador.
PHILLIP GEORGE (Director) is a director and writer. As director Off-Broadway: Shout!, The Road to Qatar (York Theatre Company), Forbidden Broadway Goes to Rehab, Forbidden Broadway SVU, Forbidden Hollywood, Whoop-Dee-Doo (Drama Desk Award, Best Musical Revue), Forbidden Broadway Twentieth Anniversary Edition, and many other editions of this infamous revue series. Along the way, Forbidden Broadway was also honored with a special Tony for long time achievement. He has also directed musicals in London, Los Angeles, Toronto, Boston, etc., with Forbidden Broadway transferring to the West End. With his longstanding collaborator Peter Morris, Phill also wrote Frankly Scarlett, which played at the Kings Head Theatre in London. In addition to his directing assignments, he is also one of the writers of High Hair and Jalapenos, which skewers all things Texas and is currently preparing for the fifth edition. When not directing and writing, Phill is on the staff of the American Musical and Dramatics Academy where he passes on some of the wisdom he acquired along the way.
DAVID CALDWELL (Music Director) has been the music director of Forbidden Broadway since 2004. He composed music and lyrics for All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten and Uh-Oh Here Comes Christmas, both based on the writing of Robert Fulghum. He also composed music for Fulghum’s novel Third Wish. He conducted the American premiere of Stephen Schwartz’s Children of Eden. He recently music-directed two shows in China, with Inner Mongolian authors and casts. He arranged and orchestrated Marvin Hamlisch’s new song “I’m Really Dancing” for Career Transitions for Dancers’ 25th Anniversary Gala, featuring Angela Lansbury, Chita Rivera and Bebe Neuwirth. His new show, Gotta Getta Girl, was featured in the NYMF Reading Series. He is interviewed at length in Oliver Sacks’ book about music and the brain, Musicophilia.
PHILIP HECKMAN (Costume Designer) is an Emmy-nominated costume designer for daytime television’s As the World Turns. He recently completed the New York run of My Big Gay Italian Wedding. Other Off-Broadway credits include SHOUT! The Mod Musical, Go-Go Beach, We’re Still Hot!, Are You There God? It’s Me, Ann-Margret, Marry Me A Little, I Love My Wife, Enough About Me and The Very Worst of Varla Jean Merman (Garland Award). Television credits include commercials, promos and shorts for LOGO, MTV, and VH1. Philip has also worked on several Broadway productions as a costume design assistant including Born Yesterday, The Boy From Oz, Chicago, Cry Baby, Democracy, Flower Drum Song, Follies, Frost/Nixon, The Graduate, Kiss Me Kate, Mamma Mia, Sideshow and Spamalot. Philip received his MFA in costume design from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.
The playing schedule for FORBIDDEN BROADWAY: ALIVE AND KICKING is as follows: Tuesdays through Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 7:30pm, with matinees on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 2pm. Tickets are $29-$79. Premium Tickets are available at $110.Tickets can be purchased by calling Telecharge at (212) 239-6200 or by visiting www.telecharge.com