Forbidden Broadway, Volume 2 is the second album released for Forbidden Broadway (FB), an off-Broadway musical that spoofs Broadway's latest musicals. The album was recorded and mixed in February 1991 in New York at Sear Sound.
In the liner notes, Gerard Alessandrini, the show's creator, gives an insight on the show. He explains first why Volume 2 is labeled as the "Unoriginal Cast Recording": firstly, there is already an FB original cast recording; secondly, Alessandri points out that very little about FB is original. He also explains the purpose of releasing a new album: the show had had six different editions, so after many requests by fans, a second volume seemed appropriate. The album includes their best from 1985, 1986 and 1990. All the lyrics and sketches for Forbidden Broadway Vol. 2 (and all other editions) are written by Gerard Alessandrini.
The musical numbers on the album are listed below. The names of the numbers are listed first, followed by the title of the spoofed song and the song's original composer, the latter two being in parentheses.
01 "Opening" (original, Alessandrini) 01 "Who Do They Know?" (original, Alessandrini)
Judy Kuhn is an American actress, singer and activist, known for her work in musical theatre. A four-time Tony Award nominee, she has released four studio albums and sang the title role in the 1995 film Pocahontas, including her rendition of the song "Colors of the Wind", which won its composers the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
John Owen-Jones is a Welsh musical theatre actor and singer, best known for his portrayals of Jean Valjean in Alain Boublil & Claude-Michel Schönberg's Les Misérables and The Phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera.
Hugh Panaro is an American actor and singer. He is best known for his work in Broadway stage musicals, most well known for his role in The Phantom of the Opera being in over 2,000 performances in the Broadway production.
Forbidden Broadway is an Off-Broadway revue parodying musical theatre, particularly Broadway musicals. It was conceived, written and directed by Gerard Alessandrini and has been updated many times to parody new musicals and productions. Typically, the revue is performed by a cast of four with a piano. Versions of the show have been seen in more than 200 cities in the U.S., as well as London, Tokyo and elsewhere. In 2024, after four decades of performances off-Broadway, a Broadway version of the revue is planned to be staged for the first time.
Forbidden Broadway, known also as Forbidden Broadway, Volume 1, is the first album released by Gerard Alessandrini, the creator of Forbidden Broadway. Because the album features the five cast members from the original show, the album bears the label "Original Cast Recording."
Forbidden Broadway, Volume 3 is the third album released to accompany Gerard Alessandrini's off-Broadway show Forbidden Broadway, which spoofs Broadway's latest musicals. Volume 3 was recorded at Sound On Sound, New York City, November 11 & 15, 1993; mixed at DSW Mastering Studios, NYC, and released in 1994.
Forbidden Hollywood is a parody show that opened Off-Off-Broadway and was taped live in Hollywood. It was created by Gerard Alessandrini, who also created the popular series of Off-Broadway parodies of Broadway theatre, Forbidden Broadway. But this production, instead of spoofing Broadway, lampooned popular films such as Forrest Gump, Sense and Sensibility, Pulp Fiction, Casablanca, The Wizard of Oz and Disney's Aladdin, and songs featured in them, although most of the score consists of songs from musicals used to comment on the films. It also spoofs movie stars like Tom Hanks, Keanu Reeves, Barbra Streisand, Ann-Margret and Whoopi Goldberg. A New York Times reviewer wrote that although the production had funny moments, "the tone that defines the show is a glib disaffection for Hollywood", lamenting that the show missed the opportunity to use more songs from films, and concluding: "It's fine if Mr. Alessandrini wants to see Hollywood as the enemy, but you have to know your enemy to take good aim at it."
Forbidden Broadway Strikes Back is a version of Forbidden Broadway created by Gerard Alessandrini. It previewed September 5, 1996 and opened at the Triad Theater October 16, 1996. The show won Alessandrini the 1997 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics and was nominated for the 1997 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revue.
Forbidden Broadway Cleans Up Its Act is the fifth incarnation of Gerard Alessandrini's Forbidden Broadway, his popular off-Broadway musical revue spoofing "the best of Broadway". The parody lyrics were written by Gerard Alessandrini. This version was co-directed by Alessandrini and his long-time collaborator Phillip George. George had up till then only been credited with "Musical Staging" and as "Assistant Director". George also contributed many of the more successful ideas and dialogue sketches to the more recent Forbidden Broadway editions. The show played in the basement of Ellen's Stardust Diner, and the album is the fifth volume in the series. It was recorded 17 and 18 December 1998 for release in March 1999.
A show tune is a song originally written as part of the score of a work of musical theatre or musical film, especially if the piece in question has become a standard, more or less detached in most people's minds from the original context.
Forbidden Broadway: 20th Anniversary Edition is the sixth volume in the Forbidden Broadway Cast Albums. Although there isn't a show with the same title, the CD has twenty-five of Forbidden Broadway's best songs, including eight previously unreleased tracks. It was conceived, created and written by Gerard Alessandrini.
Forbidden Broadway 2001: A Spoof Odyssey is the 21st century's first incarnation of the Off-Broadway revue Forbidden Broadway. It was conceived, created and written by Gerard Alessandrini and satirizes Broadway's latest shows and stars. Phillip George co-directed with Alessandrini, with Catherine Stornetta the musical director and piano accompanist. George contributed some of the ideas and dialogue for the sketches.
Forbidden Broadway: Special Victims Unit is the ninth incarnation of Gerard Alessandrini's musical revue. The revue ran Off-Broadway from 2004 to 2007.
Showstoppers is an album by singer-songwriter Barry Manilow, released in 1991. It was his first album to not feature any original music.
Norm Lewis is an American actor and baritone singer. He has appeared on Broadway, in the West End, film, television, recordings and regional theatre. He’s also noted for his wide vocal range. Lewis was the second African-American actor after Robert Guillaume to perform in the title role in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera and the first one to do so in the Broadway production. In 2023, he reprised the role in the show's sequel, Love Never Dies, in London's West End.
Gerard Alessandrini is an American playwright, parodist, actor and theatre director best known for creating the award-winning off-Broadway musical theatre parody revue Forbidden Broadway. He is the recipient of Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre, an Obie Award, four Drama Desk Awards, an Outer Critics Circle Award, and two Lucille Lortel Awards, as well as the Drama League Award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theatre.
Forbidden Broadway: Rude Awakening is the 2007 incarnation of Gerard Alessandrini's long-running hit Off-Broadway musical revue Forbidden Broadway, which parodies notable current Broadway and Off-Broadway musicals.
Forbidden Broadway Goes to Rehab is the 2008 incarnation of Gerard Alessandrini's long-running hit Off-Broadway musical revue Forbidden Broadway, which parodies notable current Broadway and Off-Broadway musicals. It was initially announced that this would be the final version of the show, until the franchise was revived with Forbidden Broadway: Alive & Kicking! in 2012 and Forbidden Broadway Comes Out Swinging! in 2014.
Mathis on Broadway is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on April 25, 2000, by Columbia Records and focuses upon songs included in musicals from the previous two decades.
Spamilton: An American Parody is a musical parody of the Broadway show Hamilton. Written by Gerard Alessandrini, creator of the parody revue Forbidden Broadway, Spamilton also parodies several other musicals, including Gypsy, Chicago, The King and I, Assassins, Camelot, The Book of Mormon and Sweeney Todd, and personalities, like Patti LuPone, Audra McDonald, Stephen Sondheim, Stephen Schwartz, Barbra Streisand, Bernadette Peters, Carol Channing and Liza Minnelli.
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