photo: Carol Rosegg
“DEVASTATINGLY FUNNY!
MERRY MUSICAL LARCENY WITH FLAGRANT
AND FUNNY ABANDON!”
- Wall Street Journal
“IT’S GLORIOUS, AS REFRESHING
AS IT IS HYSTERICAL!
Within the first 15 minutes of the show, the audience is uproarious in its laughter, with polished voices across the board, spot-on comedic timing, and occasional vocal gymnastics (looking at you, Jenny Lee Stern) render it bewildering how exceptional these performers are even when they’re cracking jokes. Danny Hayward and Chris Collins-Pisano are a dream team in their shared farces onstage, Nicole Vanessa Ortiz nails her takes on Six and & Juliet, and, as stated parenthetically above, Stern certainly knows how to channel that Broadway diva power — even when she’s not playing Bernadette Peters. Merrily We Stole A Song, is punchier than ever.”
–Theatermania
“A WITTY AND HILARIOUS LOVE LETTER!
This musical revue comes fully loaded to giddily poke fun at the current Broadway landscape. The tireless and fabulously resourceful quartet of actors — Nicole Vanessa Ortiz, Danny Hayward, Jenny Lee Stern, and Chris Collins-Pisano — are a pure joy to behold. Each are brilliant comedians and versatile singers whose renditions often compare favorably to the performances of the subjects they are parodying (e.g., Sterns’ impersonations of Patti LuPone and Bernadette Peters are priceless). Indeed, for fans of Broadway musicals, the occasion is something to relish and a reason to rejoice.”
–Interludes
“MAD MAGAZINE WITH JAZZ HANDS!
Broadway shows, especially recent ones take a jolly beating in Forbidden Broadway: Merrily We Stole a Song, the new batch of sung spoofs and malicious medleys by the master satirist, Gerard Alessandrini. It features a cast of wildly talented mimics skewering the current Broadway season. Forbidden Broadway is a goof, but a virtuosic and stylish one, with infectious comic verve and lyrics. It’s Mad Magazine with jazz hands; "Saturday Night Live" with people who can actually sing and dance; the antidote to hate watching; and a much-needed immunization for the season.”
—The Observer
“THE LONG-RUNNING SATIRE SLINGS
ITS AFFECTIONATE ARROWS
In the best bits, a sequence about the current revival of “Cabaret” features Danny Hayward as a series of Emcees as they grow progressively more vulgar and unpleasant. Jenny Lee Stern does a scathing take on Gayle Rankin’s psychotic Sally Bowles. A running gag has Doc Brown and Marty McFly visit Broadway past and future. Nicole Vanessa Ortiz nails Alicia Keys for its heavily fictionalized autobiography in an elaborate and eye-opening “Hell’s Kitchen”. Turning “Girl on Fire” into “Pants on Fire” Of Ariana DeBose’s recent award show hosting, Alessandrini writes: “A girl like that/Could kill the Tonys.” Chris Collins-Pisano does a deadly Ben Platt channeling Liza at the Palace in his recent run there. And the music direction by Fred Barton is, as always, top-notch.”
—The New York Times
“SPOT-ON SPOOFS, NON-STOP LAUGHS!”
—DC Theater Arts