Forbidden Broadway

So come with us on an omnibus
To a theatre-goers' soiree
To that Neverland where the hits get panned
Forbidden Broadway!

—Volume 1 Opening Theme

Forbidden Broadway is a parody revue show written and directed by Gerard Alessandrini that has run more or less continuously off-Broadway since 1982. The early incarnations of the show spoofed musicals from the Golden Age and iconic performers like Ethel Merman and Carol Channing, but the format was quickly adapted to Pastiche works in the current Broadway season. As the revue gained reputation, it became a point of honor in the theatre community to have one's work parodied by Forbidden Broadway.

Forbidden Broadway is typically performed by a cast of two men and two women, with piano accompaniment.

See also Forbidden Hollywood, Alessandrini's "tribute" to famous musical numbers from film.

Editions of Forbidden Broadway as of July 2020

Forbidden Broadway (May 4, 1982 – August 30, 1987)
Forbidden Broadway 1988/1989 (September 15, 1988 – December 24, 1989)
Forbidden Broadway 1990 (January 23, 1990 – June 9, 1991)
Forbidden Broadway 1991½ (June 20, 1991 – January 12, 1992)
Forbidden Broadway 1992 (April 6, 1992 – November 30, 1992)
Forbidden Broadway Featuring Forbidden Christmas (December 1, 1992 – December 27, 1992)
Forbidden Broadway 1993 (January 12, 1993 – September 19, 1993)
Forbidden Broadway 1994 (November 11, 1993 – January 2, 1994)
Forbidden Broadway Strikes Back (October 17, 1996 – September 20, 1998)
Forbidden Broadway Cleans Up Its Act (November 17, 1998 – August 30, 2000)
Forbidden Broadway 2001: A Spoof Odyssey (December 6, 2000 – 2001)
Forbidden Broadway 20th Anniversary Celebration (May 10, 2001 – 2004)
Forbidden Broadway Summer Shock! (July 5, 2004 – September 15, 2004)
Forbidden Broadway: Special Victims Unit (December 16, 2004 – April 15, 2007)
Forbidden Broadway: The Roast of Utopia (June 13, 2007 – August 22, 2007)
Forbidden Broadway: Rude Awakening (October 2, 2007 – March 24, 2008)
Forbidden Broadway Dances With the Stars! (June 28, 2008 – September 2008)
Forbidden Broadway Goes to Rehab (September 17, 2008 – March 1, 2009)
Forbidden Broadway: Alive and Kicking! (July 24, 2012 – April 28, 2013)
Forbidden Broadway Comes Out Swinging (February 22, 2014 – July 20, 2014)
Forbidden Broadway: West End (September 9, 2014 – November 22, 2014)
Forbidden Broadway: The Next Generation (September 18, 2019 – present)

Tropes used in Forbidden Broadway include:

Affectionate Parody
Better Than a Bare Bulb: As always, but in particular the act of hanging a lampshade on the lampshading in "The Song That Goes Like This" from Spamalot.
City Shout Outs: In "Ambition", there's a line that on the cast album that goes, "But here in our little village of Manhattan, there are over 50,000 actors, all trying their best not to end up in Baltimore." When on tour, "Baltimore" usually gets changed to the town they are in.
Musical Pastiche
Painted-On Pants: The Rent parody includes a song called "Ouch, They're Tight!"
Sincerest Form of Flattery: The real Carol Channing appears on Volume 3 to get a little advice on her Carol Channing impersonation.
Spin-Off: Forbidden Hollywood in The Nineties and Forbidden Vegas at the Turn of the Millennium.
Strange Syntax Speaker: Mag in "How Are Things In Irish Drama?", the parody of Martin McDonagh's The Beauty Queen of Leenan.
Suspiciously Similar Song: Alessandrini has occasionally written ersatz versions of songs he couldn't get permission to parody.
That's All Folks: Every version of the show has ended with one of these, some longer than others.
Truck Driver's Gear Change: Inverted in "I Couldn't Hit The Note". Spoofing how Julie Andrews can't hit high notes anymore, the song keeps modulating down. This became Harsher in Hindsight when Forbidden Broadway continued to perform the number after Andrews lost most of her range in a botched throat surgery.