Forbidden Broadway: Behind the Mylar Curtain (135 page)

For our first recording, I believe Hugh Fordin worked for about a year and got individual clearances to record each song as a parody. Some of the rights were denied,
like the Kander and Ebb number for Lauren Bacall and some of the Rodgers and
Ilammerstein material. Later, Hugh realized he could secure the rights much more
easily by paying the usual fees for each song as if we were going to record them in full
without changing the lyrics. Luckily for us, the rules for song parodies are much looser
than they used to be, thanks to people like "Weird Al" Yankovic.

By the time we finally got all the clearances to record our first album, it was the
spring of 1984. We didn't record all of the numbers in the show-partly because we
didn't have all the clearances, and partly because it was still the vinyl era and we could
only fit forty-five minutes worth of material onto an LE Twenty-seven years later, Nora,
Fred, and I went back into the studio and recorded nearly all of the missing material
for inclusion on a remastered version of the original album.

I served as stage manager for more than 3,000 performances of Forbidden Broadway,
from 1983 to 1993, at Palsson's and Theatre East. Most of the shows went off without
a single hitch, but there were always times when something went wrong, either in
rehearsal or in performance. I remember:

• The color wheel used for the "Blurry Hues" number falling into the dinner
plate of the ambassador from Iceland the night he was hosted by Sella
Palsson.

• An actor needing to break down a door one night in order to make his
entrance in Cats.

• The actress who was all set to enter as Lauren Bacall-except that she was
supposed to be Carol Channing.

• An actor entering as Kevin Kline-a number early.

• An actress fleeing a rehearsal in tears under the mistaken impression that
Gerard had written a number proclaiming Andrew Lloyd Webber to be
more important than Jesus.

• The snowfall effect for the last moment of the Christmas show on the
stage of Theatre East-where I, a short man, could stand on tiptoes and
touch the ceiling-producing an "Awwww!" from the audience at every
performance. Except for the one where the snow pipe came loose from its
moorings and hit an actor on the head. (Fortunately, the pipe was made
of PVC.)

• The Saturday afternoon when an emergency replacement from the Boston
cast was flown in after a frantic morning of phone calls resulted in her
being located in Washington. With no time for a complete run-through
before curtain, no one realized she didn't know the pastiche tune Gerard
had written for the Mary Martin-Ethel Merman duet. (At the time, he had
permission to use "Old-Fashioned Ballad" in the Boston show but not in
New York; after Irving Berlin died, the distinguished composer became
much easier to deal with.) When the two actresses began singing two different melodies, the result was the most avant-garde performance of the
duet in history. For the second show that night, we cut the number.

My daughter Rachel grew up with Forbidden Broadway, first attending rehearsals in
her stroller. This could cause the occasional problem; her second-grade teacher didn't
seem to be amused when Rachel sang "I Sleep with Everyone," Gerard's parody of
"Love Changes Everything" from Aspects of Love. Still, it was a joy for a child to grow
up in that world of imagination.

Both Palsson's and Theatre East are gone now. But it was a good time. And except
for doing eight shows a week at Palsson's for the munificent sum of $175, 1 would do
it all again.

Over the years, Forbidden Broadway has received numerous honors. Here is a partial
list of the major awards:

2009 Drama Desk award to Forbidden Broadway's creators, casts, and designers,
who made the show an unparalleled New York institution

2009 New York Drama Critics Special Citation to Gerard Alessandrini for Forbidden
Broadway

2008 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revue to Forbidden Broadway: Rude
Awakening

Gerard and his mom with Angela Lansbury, who presented Gerard
with a 2006 Tony Honor for Excellence in the Theatre.

2006 Tony Honor to Forbidden
BroadwaylGerard Alessandrini for
Excellence in the Theatre

2005 Drama Desk Award for
Outstanding Revue to Forbidden
Broadway: Special Victims Unit

2002 Drama Desk Award for
Outstanding Revue to Forbidden
Broadway 2001: A Spoof Odyssey

1998 Drama Desk Award to Gerard
Alessandrini for Best Lyrics,
Forbidden Broadway Cleans Up Its Act

1997 Drama Desk Award to Gerard Alessandrini for Best Lyrics, Forbidden
Broadway Strikes Back!

1997 Drama League Award to Gerard Alessandrini for Lifetime Achievement

1997 Lucille Lortel Award to Gerard Alessandrini for Outstanding Body of Work

1993 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Musical to Forbidden Broadway 1993

1991-1992 Obie Award in Recognition of Outstanding Achievement in OffBroadway Theatre

1991 Elliot Norton Award to Gerard Alessandrini for Lifetime Achievement

1991 Joseph Jefferson Award to Gerard Alessandrini for Best Director, Forbidden
Broadway 1990

1986 New England Theatre Conference Special Recognition Award to Gerard
Alessandrini, creator of Forbidden Broadway

1985 Drama Desk Special Award to Gerard Alessandrini and Forbidden Broadway

1985 Outer Critics Circle Award to Gerard Alessandrini

Gerard and his family devour his Tony Honor. Left: Cousins Linda Pirro and Madeleine Minotti. Right: Gerard
with his parents, Aldo and Florinda.

Mary Martin, George Burns, and Carol Channing with Gerard.

Top: Michael Berresse and his [title of show] guys with our [title of show] guys.
Middle: Elaine Paige and 2008 cast. Bottom: Shirley Maclaine was a frequent
visitor to Forbidden Broadway.

Clockwise from top: Mayor Ed Koch with
the 1985 cast. Carol Charming and Imogene
Coca with Gerard. Ann Miller sings "That's
Entertainment!" with Gerard, Fred, and Nora.