After Canceled Broadway Run, Forbidden Broadway Will Open Off-Broadway
(Photo: Carol Rosegg)
After its Broadway run was indefinitely postponed, Forbidden Broadway: Merrily We Stole a Song will now open off-Broadway. Directed by creator Gerard Alessandrini with musical staging by Gerry McIntyre, performances will begin August 23 at Theater 555 with an official opening set for September 12.
“I am thrilled that this latest incarnation of the show that I had been preparing for more than a year can now open off-Broadway, where Forbidden Broadway has felt at home for over 40 years," Alessandrini said in a statement. "The exciting new Broadway season has inspired me to create a barrage of theatrical zingers, and I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to present this edition in New York after all.”
Past Forbidden Broadway performers Chris Collins-Pisano and Jenny Lee Stern will lead the cast, with musical direction and piano accompaniment by Fred Barton. Additional casting and creative team members are to be announced. Alessandrini's targets this year will purportedly include Stereophonic, The Great Gatsby, The Notebook, Water for Elephants, Hell’s Kitchen, Back to the Future and Merrily We Roll Along, along with performers Roger Bart, Patti LuPone, Daniel Radcliffe, Ariana DeBose and Jeremy Jordan, among others. Numbers from Alessandrini’s recent Forbidden Sondheim will also be included, with a few extra jabs thrown at the 2024 Tony Awards.
The Broadway run was originally scheduled to begin at the Hayes Theater on July 25 ahead of an August 5 opening, with plans to run through November 1.
Created in 1982, when it played to Palsson’s Supper Club on 72nd Street, Forbidden Broadway has spawned several editions, gone on to play in over 200 cities around the world and given rise to such classic numbers as “Be Depressed” (sung to the tune of “Be Our Guest), “You Can't Stop the Camp” (sung to the tune of “You Can’t Stop the Beat”) and “Ladies Who Screech” (to the tune of “Ladies Who Lunch”). The show and Alessandrini were awarded Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre in 2006.