Friends and Neighbors

Forbidden Broadway is a show made primarily for such a specific audience of theatre nerds that I’m a little surprised to see it being put on by a group in this area. However, I very much am a part of that specific audience of theatre nerds, so I had a jolly good time watching it.

The show is a revue – there’s no plot or story to speak of – a series of production numbers parodying Broadway musicals. The targets are everything from shows like Chicago and Cats to personalities like Carol Channing and Liza Minelli to creatives like Stephen Sondheim and Cameron MacIntosh. Most of them directly lampoon the show the song comes from, while other times, they use the song as a jumping-off point to satirize something else, such as the parody of “You’re Can’t Stop the Beat” from Hairspray poking fun at the preponderance of campy stage musicals based on popular movies. Some of the song parodies have such specific references in their lyrics that you risk missing the jokes if you don’t listen carefully (occasionally weak projection from the actors also causes the lyrics to sound muddled) while others are broad and silly enough that anybody can get them, while most of the others fall somewhere in the middle. The presentation of these various sketches and songs are so fast-paced and the transitions so simple that I was genuinely surprised the show was presented in two acts with an intermission. The production as a whole only runs about 90 minutes, though, so maybe the intermission is a way of keeping the show’s energy from feeling too madcap

The energy on display is undeniable, though, thanks in large part to the enthusiasm of the cast. The 17-member ensemble never lets the pace ease up for a moment, with everybody throwing themselves into the comedy whenever they’re onstage. Whether it’s a solo (the Mandy Patinkin number lampooning his sometimes pretentious persona is hilarious) a duet (the Act II opener between The Phantom of the Opera and Ethel Merman was unexpectedly delightful) or one of the large-scale fully-choreographed ensemble numbers poking fun at shows like Les Miserables, Mamma Mia, and Fiddler on the Roof, there’s an undeniable sense that everyone on stage is having the time of their lives.

That sense of fun is definitely infectious, and while the audience I was with took a sketch or two to key into what the show was doing, before too long everybody was laughing and enjoying themselves and were fully caught up in the energy by the second act. If you’re a theatre buff, or simply in the mood for some silly, funny musical comedy, Forbidden Broadway is definitely worth your time.

FORBIDDEN BROADWAY plays at the Franklin Center for the Arts through March 1st