Forbidden Broadway: Behind the Mylar Curtain (45 page)

The Who's Tommy, Kiss of the Spider Woman, and Blood Brothers opened in 1993,
but they didn't run all that long. It was particularly hard for us to spoof Tommy because
that show was so much about the high-tech production.

In addition to the shows mentioned above, the early and mid-'90s brought us such
huge flops as Ain't Broadway Grand and The Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public. Even Sondheim's brilliant Passion, which won the Best Musical Tony, only lasted about six
months. Broadway was trying to find a new voice, but it couldn't. One of the few minor
exceptions was Once on This Island, by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens, but that
show wasn't a major commercial hit.

That's how we got to be the Bad Boy of Broadway for 10 years running. And to
celebrate, we've put together a special 10th Anniversary Edition compiling our
greatest hits of all time. It's the best of the best. The funniest of the funniest. And it
begins January 7. So order your tickets now by calling (212) 838-9090 or visit the
Theatre East Box office at 211 East 60th St. Because, before you know it, this will be
the show on everyone's hit list.

A newspaper ad for the last edition of the show at Theatre East.

Like Broadway, Forbidden Broadway was in transition. Our East Side venue wasn't
as popular as it had been in 1988. The theatre district was being cleaned up, and
most New York theatregoers and tourists were likely to want to see shows there; the
era of people going downtown, uptown, or crosstown to see an Off-Broadway show was ending. Jonathan Scharer, our producer at Theatre East, tried valiantly to create
a new market for us by using outlandish ads and gimmicks, and the pressure was
on me to write more new editions of the show. In hindsight, I think those editions
came too close together, because there wasn't enough activity on Broadway to warrant them.

Forbidden Broadway needed a rest, and so did I. We took the last edition of the
show that we did at Theatre East to L.A. for a run there. The cast was stellar: Brad Oscar, Christine Pedi, Susanne Blakeslee, and Craig Wells. We hadn't been in L.A. since
1983, so I was able to build an edition using all of the best material from the previous
twelve years.

Ironically, the big new musical of the day was also playing in L.A. at the time: Sunset
Boulevard, starring Glenn Close. No sooner had we added an elaborate spoof of that
show than Miss Close and the entire cast showed up to see Forbidden Broadway. Our
spoof made fun of many aspects of the show, including the star's high hairline: "The
audience response is so hot, it's nearly scalding / I'm perfect for this part because
I'm balding." After the performance, Miss Close was very gracious with the cast, but
when introduced to me, she said: "So, you think I'm balding?" I blurted out, "Oh no,
Miss Close, I just needed a word to rhyme with 'scalding."' All she said was "Mmm-
hmmm," then she nodded and walked away.

At this time, John Freedson and Harriet Yellin took over producing Forbidden
Broadway from Jonathan Scharer, who had apparently lost interest. We followed
our successful run in L.A. with Forbidden Hollywood. Our time on the West Coast
turned out to be incredibly creative and tremendously fun, especially with Susanne and Christine as part of the family, later joined by Jason Graae and Gerry
McIntyre.

It was also around this time when the legendary Alvin Colt became our costumer.
He had joined us part-time in 1991, but by 1994 he was our full-time designer.
Alvin's costumes for Forbidden Hollywood were among the most spectacular he
ever created.

Phill George and I continued to collaborate closely, even through the rocky years
of our personal relationship and despite whatever backstage drama there was. At
one point, I remember, we were trying to strangle each other over some Broadway
minutiae regarding Des McAnuff. We ended up knocking over the costume rack and
rolling around on the floor in a pile of dirty costumes. Mary Denise Bentley, one of
the sweetest girls we ever had in the show, suddenly turned into a prison matron
and screamed at us: "YOU BOYS STOP THAT RIGHT NOW!" Phill and I were very
embarrassed-but somehow we always managed to maintain our friendship and
come up with a show that was full of laughs and love.

"Teeny Todd"

SWEENEYTODD

[BEGGAR WOMAN enters and sings.]

BEGGAR WOMAN

[THE BEADLE and MRS. LOVETT enter and join in
singing.]

ALL

MRS. LOVETT

ALL