Read Forbidden Broadway: Behind the Mylar Curtain for Free Online Page A

in other cities. So
Bill, Chloe, Fred, Dee Hoty (replacing Nora, who
was expecting her second child), and I went off
to do it in L.A. Jason Alexander joined the New
York company, as did Ann Morrison. Both had
recently co-starred in Merrily We Roll
Along-the show that had inspired our
original logo design. It became clear
that super-talented actors such as Jason
and Ann could keep the show going like
gangbusters.
    Gerard Alessandrini at work, writing Forbidden Broadway.
    In L.A., we did the show at The Comedy Store, but it was only moderately
successful. That really wasn't the best
venue for us, because we had to work
around the club's schedule. I remember that we couldn't do a show on Saturdays at 8:00 because Jim Carrey had
that spot. When we played in L.A. in
later years, it was in actual theaters,
and the show was a huge hit. There
is a theatrical community there, even
though it's much smaller than in New York. And by the time we came back to L.A., we had the imprimatur of being a hit in
New York, so that helped us bring in an audience.

    1983: Ann Morrison, Jason Alexander, and Marilyn Pasekoff sing "Be a Catholic."
    I remember that Vincente Minnelli, Robert Stack, and their wives came to see the
show twice. I wish I'd had the chance to talk with them more. When Minnelli came, I
thought, "Thank God we don't have a Liza number." But after he left, I started to think,
"Maybe we should have a Liza number." As soon as we got back to New York, I wrote
"Liza One-Note," and we put it in the show. Vincente Minnelli never came back to see
Forbidden Broadway again.
    By the fall of '83, 1 was back in New York, and we had a fabulous new cast that included Marilyn Pasekoff, Ian Neuberger, and the supremely gifted Patrick Quinn in all
his glory. Patrick was one of the quintessential Forbidden Broadway leading men; he
had all the experience and expertise of delivering a big baritone performance but he knew how to heighten everything just enough to make it look absurd. He also oozed
a sense of, "I know everything about theater and I know who's sleeping with whom!"
Especially for Patrick, I wrote a parody of Alfred Drake, a legendary stage star who had
recently appeared in the movie Trading Places with Eddie Murphy.

    Left: The cast of Forbidden Broadway '84 (clockwise from left): Marilyn Pasekoff, Patrick Quinn, Jan Neuberger,
and Doug Voet. Right: Patrick Quinn, as Richard Burton in Camelot, happily displays his $1.95 cardboard crown.
    I wrote the Drake parody lyrics to Fred/Petruchio's songs from Kiss Me, Kate. Patrick knew those songs well; I believe he had performed the role himself once. In our
show, the first time he did the number, he entered in a tight lavender doublet, looking
ridiculous. He knowingly smiled ... and then proceeded to sing the entire song with
all of the original Cole Porter lyrics. His eyes glazed over, and I could see the sweat
dripping from his red face. With great bravado and impeccable diction, Patrick sang
"Where Is the Life That Late I Led?" to a very confused audience. He finished with a
big flourish, and with his doublet soaking wet. The audience sat there silently, but I
was doubled over in laughter.
    Since there was so much activity on Broadway, we made a lot of changes to the
show and decided to present a new edition, titled Forbidden Broadway 1984. I finally
wrote that Liza Minnelli number, "Liza One-Note," and I loved setting my own lyrics to George Gershwin's music for our spoof
of My One and Only.

    Even though I was back in New York, I
stopped performing in the show myself so
I could concentrate more on writing and
directing. Besides, how could 1 compete
with the likes of Jason Alexander and Patrick Quinn? I started to pay more attention to honing the show and routining the
numbers. It became clear how important
it was to place each number properly in
the running order, according to whether
it was broad or wordy or ballad-y, so everything would work