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Among St. Louis theater fans, I am a heretic: I do not like musicals. I do not hate them but given a choice for an evening of theater, the popular musical is near the bottom of my list, just above that art world insult to theater, performance art. In St. Louis, this is near sacrilege, as the musical is so pervasive that there are many people who seem to think it is the only kind of theater. So perhaps it is surprising that I enjoyed the musical performed at the Touhill Center this weekend, "Forbidden Broadway Shoots For the Stars."
"Forbidden Broadway" actually does more shooting at the stars, as it uses hilarious parody lyrics to hit songs and biting satire to skewer the modern Broadway musical in a revue that is part comedy "roast" and part "A Chorus Line" with sour grapes. Four performers staged a number of short, sometimes risqué, always funny parody pieces based on such popular works as "Phantom of the Opera," "Mama Mia", and "Hairspray," and poked fun directly at several stars in a number of withering spoofs. The four performers in this night of comedy and music were David Benoit, Valerie Fagan, Jennifer Simard, and Michael West. Each performer takes several roles but the four also played certain stock types, such as the handsome leading man, the sexpot, or the ingénue.
Like any "roast," some of it may seem a tad mean-spirited but it is all aimed to make the audience gasp and laugh. A basic requirement to enjoy this show is to know something about hit musicals of recent years but that just makes it a perfect piece for musical-mad St. Louis. The revue proceeds at a lightning pace, with quick costume changes and the performers racing on and off stage constantly. This rapid-fire comedy leaves hardly any time to gasp between laughing at one comedy punch before some other actor or play takes another humorous body blow. There is no time to overthink any of the jokes and one has to be struck by the energy and sheer physical flexibility of the actors. The actors give a total performance: they sing, dance, joke and even perform stunts in the high-energy show.
Clearly this troop loves the old style and history of Broadway and decries the way it has faded into productions that are either more about moving sets or revival kitsch than about memorable music and great lyrics. The Broadway musical evolved along with vaudeville but unlike its now vanished contemporary that was destroyed by the rise of film, Broadway has continued in a feedback relationship with Hollywood. In the good old days, Broadway held the power and prestige as it was the home to the creative talent that fed performers and material to the movies. Now the situation is reversed, with movies remade as musicals and fading film stars treading the boards of New York and London. Decrying this change, the folks in "Forbidden Broadway" are mad as heck and not going to taking it any more but fortunately for the audience, they are also very funny and talented.
Each performer was excellent in their part of the ensemble show but the one that stood out most was Valerie Fagan, whose sense of comic timing and all-round talent garnered the biggest laughs and longest applause. Her impression of Kathleen Turner was particularly funny, as was the duet she did with Jennifer Simard as dueling Latin spitfires Chita Rivera and Rita Moreno. Other highlights of the show were a very funny bit that parodied the moving stage and complicated story of "Les Miserable," a bit which started with a very funny French vamp song performed by Fagan decked out with pink beret and feather boa. Michael West's parody of the "Lion King's" unwieldy costumes and equally "unwieldy" impersonation of Harvey Firestein in "Hairspray" were also comedy highpoints. Actually, the whole show was so good that anyone in the audiences is certain to have another set of personal favorites. Another favorite was the finale, in which the folks on stage addressed why they are still in the New York theater despite the sad state of Broadway. The parody of the song "Tradition" from "Fiddler on the Roof," now called "Ambition," was a rousing end to a Yom Kippur performance.
This show is actually the latest incarnation of a long running parody created by Gerard Alessandrini. The show has been re-invented and adapted to new shows over the past twenty years and continues to evolve. The performance here was a three-day run from Friday night, September 24 to Sunday afternoon, September 26. The New York-based show tours the country and you can check their schedule of performances at their website, www.forbiddenbroadway.com.\
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