Forbidden Broadway Goes to Rehab

Rehab, schmehab: Forbidden Broadway is flying high, and taking everyone along for the trip. In recent seasons, Gerard Alessandrini’s satirical revue—a perennial mecca for show-tune addicts—slid into a mild depression; its spoofs of Broadway shows lacked bite, and its performers sometimes seemed less concerned with punching lines than with punching the clock. But the latest edition is the best in years. Alessandrini’s zingers burst with fresh vim, and the delightful new cast delivers them with wit, energy and just the right mixture of winking and bile. The show has a spit-polish gleam.

Since many of the jokes involve parodic surprise, I will resist the urge to quote them—though I am still chuckling, days later, at some of the well-aimed barbs that Alessandrini lobs as he travels through Young Frankenstein, Mary Poppins, In the Heights, Equus and other Great White Way stations. The women stand out most vividly: Gina Kreiezmar is a hoot as Liza Minnelli and Patti LuPone; and the petite Christina Bianco, a comic firecracker with a pyrotechnic voice, drives the audience wild in a send-up of Kristin Chenoweth’s “Glitter and Be Gay.” But the men, Jared Bradshaw and Michael West, are also impressive in less showy roles. (West pulls out an uncanny imitation of Gypsy’s Boyd Gaines.) Forbidden Broadway is scheduled to end its 27-year run in January, and now is an excellent time to see it. Alessandrini is exiting with a bang-up show.