Forbidden Broadway
written and conceived by Gerard Alessandrini
The Tony award-winning Forbidden Broadway is a hilarious night of sketch comedy that parodies musicals that have been hits on the Great White Way! The show is so funny and fast-moving that Forbidden Broadway has been called “The Saturday Night Live of Broadway” by The Today Show. The cast of Forbidden Broadway is made up of fantastic local performers who are audience favorites in Key West. All performers play multiple roles in the show, sometimes even in one number! In Forbidden Broadway, there are countless musical sketches and 75 costume changes, all handled seamlessly by the amazing cast of Eric Cole, J.B. McLendon, Gayla Morgan and Marjorie Paul-Shook.
The Legend of Forbidden Broadway
Forbidden Broadway was first seen at Palsson’s Supper Club on New York’s Upper West Side in January, 1982. An unemployed actor, Gerard Alessandrini, wanted a showcase for his talents and decided to assemble some of the musical parodies of Broadway shows he had written since childhood into a nightclub act. Critics and audiences were wowed and it has since become New York’s longest running musical comedy revue. Forbidden Broadway has won Drama Desk, Obie and Outer Critics Circle awards and a special Tony award as well. Updated regularly, Forbidden Broadway has had several editions, countless revisions, three New York City performance spaces, several national and international tours, and thousands of special performances. Looking back at Forbidden Broadway provides an informal and very funny history of the American musical theatre. Forbidden Broadway has remained one of the funniest evenings on or Off-Broadway and now Key West can enjoy it live at the Red Barn Theatre!
About the Cast
Eric Cole has most recently hit the Key West stage as Freddy in the hit musical Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. He has worked in numerous theatres throughout the country and on Broadway as pit keyboardist for Grease! at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre. J.B. McLendon was in the Broadway show Dame Edna: The Royal Tour. Key Westers have seen him most recently as André Thibault in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and as his alter ego “Gassy Winds” at the 801 Upstairs Cabaret Lounge and Aqua. Gayla Morgan played Muriel in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and is also a musical theater writer. Her first full-length musical was a finalist in the 2010 O’Neill competition and she recently received an Equity reading at the York Theater in NYC for her work Mary: A Musical. Marjorie Paul-Shook studied at the American Conservatory Theatre and has been treading the boards of all of Key West’s theaters for more than twenty years. Favorite roles include Charity in Sweet Charity, Nellie in South Pacific and Adelaide in Guys and Dolls.
The Director
Becky Barta returns to Key West from New York City, having been seen on the Barn stage previously in Honky-Tonk Angels with Marjorie Paul-Shook under the direction of Red Barn Theatre Artistic Director Joy Hawkins. It is through Becky’s long friendship with Joy, having appeared together in a number of productions of Always, Patsy Cline, that Becky was able to come to the island and direct this regional premiere of Forbidden Broadway. For more than 20 years, Becky has assisted various editions of Forbidden Broadway in direction, recording and performance in productions Off-Broadway, in Los Angeles and across the country and Canada. In addition to her involvement with Forbidden Broadway, Becky has also appeared on Broadway in Les Misérables and at Radio City Music Hall as Mrs. Claus in the Radio City Christmas Spectacular.
The Music Director
Sam Willmott returns to Key West and the Red Barn Theatre after previously appearing in last year’s smash hit Sister Robert Anne’s Cabaret Class. Sam’s work as a music director and arranger has taken him from Radio City Music Hall to Abu Dhabi, UAE, to Seoul, Korea, with many other stops along the way. When not music directing, Sam works primarily as a theatre composer, lyricist and bookwriter; his published and award-winning work (including Standardized Testing – The Musical!!!!, Scarlet Takes a Tumble, and, with lyricist Marcus Stevens, Yo, Vikings!) has been seen at the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Joe’s Pub at the Public Theatre, the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, and other venues around the country.
Opening Night
Forbidden Broadway opens Tuesday night, December 13 and runs through January 14 at the Red Barn Theatre, located at 319 Duval Street in Old Town, Key West. Get your tickets now as they are going fast! Tickets for opening night include a fabulous post-show party with the cast and creative team in the beautiful Zabar’s Courtyard after the show. Enjoy cocktails and amazing food from Conch Republic Seafood, the Grand Cafe and Luigi’s Secret Recipes as you mingle with the stars under the stars. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.redbarntheatre.com or call the box office at 305-296-9911 between 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. daily.
