Gerard Alessandrini | |
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Born | Boston, Massachusetts, United States | November 27, 1953
Occupation | Playwright, composer |
Alma mater | Xaverian Brothers High School Boston Conservatory of Music |
Notable works | Forbidden Broadway (2001) Spamilton (2016) |
Notable awards | -Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre -Obie Award -Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics -Drama Desk Special Award) -Outer Critics Circle Award -Lucille Lortel Awards -Drama League Award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theatre |
Gerard Alessandrini (born November 27, 1953) 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 (including the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics and the Drama Desk Special Award), an Outer Critics Circle Award, and two Lucille Lortel Awards, as well as the Drama League Award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theatre.
Alessandrini was born in Boston, Massachusetts, grew up in suburban Needham, and graduated from Xaverian Brothers High School in 1972. After graduating from the Boston Conservatory of Music in 1976, he moved to New York City. As a young actor in summer stock, regional theater and dinner theater, he starred in The Fantasticks , Oklahoma and Carousel , among others. He also worked at the off-Broadway Light Opera of Manhattan.
In late 1981, Alessandrini conceived and wrote a musical parody revue featuring spoofs of songs from Broadway musicals on which he had been working for some time. After a few months of weekend performances starring Alessandrini and a few friends at Palsson's Supper Club, the show evolved into Forbidden Broadway , which opened on January 15, 1982, at Palsson's, directed by Alessandrini. He continued to appear in the revue, which caught the theatergoing public's attention after Rex Reed published a rave review [1] and ultimately ran for 2,332 performances in a number of venues. [2] It has subsequently been rewritten several times to include parodies of newer shows and ran almost continuously for 25 years with productions both in and outside New York. In 2006, the show and Alessandrini won Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre. The last incarnation, called Forbidden Broadway Comes Out Swinging played Off-Broadway's Davenport Theatre in 2014.
Alessandrini can be heard on five of the eight Forbidden Broadway cast albums, as well as the soundtracks of Disney's animated films Aladdin and Pocahontas . His directorial credits include Equity Library Theatre's revival of Gigi and Maury Yeston's 1998 show In the Beginning. In 1991, he co-wrote, directed and performed in the television parody Masterpiece Tonight, a satirical salute to the 20th anniversary of Masterpiece Theatre . In 1995, some of his sketches were featured in Carol Burnett’s CBS special, Men, Movies and Carol. He has also written comedy specials for Bob Hope and Angela Lansbury for NBC.
During summer 2001, Alessandrini introduced his Gongcores series with a tongue-in-cheek production of the 1962 Irving Berlin musical Mr. President . In 2011, he co-created the musical comedy, The Nutcracker and I, with music by Tchaikovsky, book by Peter Brash and lyrics by Alessandrini. The musical debuted at the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, New Jersey during the 2011 Christmas season, directed by the theatre's artistic director, David Saint. [3]
In 2016, Alessandrini wrote the revue Spamilton , which premiered at the Triad Theater in New York and also plays at the Royal George Theatre in Chicago. It parodies Hamilton and other Broadway shows and caricatures various Broadway stars. [4] [5]
James Elliot Lapine is an American stage director, playwright, screenwriter, and librettist. He has won the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical three times, for Into the Woods, Falsettos, and Passion. He has frequently collaborated with Stephen Sondheim and William Finn.
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.
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.
David Joel Zippel is an American musical theatre lyricist, director, and producer.
Forbidden Broadway: Special Victims Unit is the ninth incarnation of Gerard Alessandrini's musical revue which ran Off-Broadway from 2004 to 2007.
Paper Mill Playhouse is a regional theater containing approximately 1,200 seats located in Millburn, within Essex County, New Jersey, United States, on the banks of the Rahway River. Due to its relative proximity to Manhattan, the theater draws from the pool of actors who live in New York City. Paper Mill was officially designated as the "State Theater of New Jersey". From 1971 to 2008, Paper Mill held the New Jersey Ballet as its resident ballet company, with the annual production of Nutcracker until the premiere 25th Anniversary tour of Les Misérables took up the ballet's performance slot. Mark S. Hoebee serves as the producing artistic director, and is often credited as saving the Paper Mill during the financial crisis in 2008.
Newsical is a musical with music, lyrics, and book written by Rick Crom. In ever-changing songs and sketches, it lampoons current events, hot topics, celebrities, politicians, and other well-known entities. New songs are added on a continual basis to keep up with the headlines.
Fred Barton is an American composer, lyricist, director, actor, singer, arranger, conductor, and pianist. He made his New York debut in 1982 as co-creator-arranger-performer-pianist in the original company of the long-running revue Forbidden Broadway, appearing in the New York, Los Angeles and Boston productions for 2,000 performances, and on the cast album for DRG Records. In 1985 the show won a Drama Desk Award. Forbidden Broadway ran for 27 years off-Broadway, and won a special Tony Award in 2006.
Christine Pedi, is an American television and theatre actress, as well as a cabaret performer and radio personality.
Jason Graae is an American musical theater actor, best known for his musical theater performances but with a varied career spanning Broadway, opera, television and film. He has won four Bistro Awards, two Ovation Awards, two New York Nightlife Awards, the Theatre Bay Area Award for Best Actor in a Musical and the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Joel Hirschhorn Award for Outstanding Achievement in Musical Theatre.
Barbara Walsh is an American musical theatre actress who has appeared in several prominent Broadway productions. Walsh is known for her Drama Desk Award and Tony Award nominated role as Trina in the original Broadway production of Falsettos, as well as her turn as Joanne in the 2006 Broadway Revival of Stephen Sondheim's musical Company.
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.
Stafford Arima is a Canadian-born theatre director. Arima studied at York University in Toronto, where he was the recipient of the Dean's Prize for Excellence in Creative Work. He is a member of the SDC and CAEA. In April 2017, he became the artistic director of Theatre Calgary.
Peter Kellogg is a musical theater book writer and lyricist. He wrote the lyrics and the book for the 1992 production of the Broadway musical Anna Karenina, for which he received two 1993 Tony Award nominations, one for Best Book of a musical and one for the Best Original Score. He also wrote the lyrics and book for the musicals Chasing Nicolette, Desperate Measures, Lincoln In Love, Stunt Girl, Money Talks, and The Rivals which have been read and produced regionally. Kellogg also received the New York Musical Theatre Festival 2006 award for Excellence in Musical Theatre Writing (Book) for Desperate Measures. On June 3, 2018, Kellogg won the 2018 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics for Desperate Measures.
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.
KT Sullivan is an American singer and actress known for her performances in cabaret and musical theatre.
Melissa van der Schyff is a Canadian American award-winning actress, singer, comedian and songwriter who is best known for her work on Broadway. She was nominated for a 2012 Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics Circle Award for "Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical" for originating the role of Blanche Barrow in the Broadway Musical Bonnie & Clyde, which opened at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre in New York City on 1 December 2011.
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.
47th Street Theatre is an Off Broadway theatre venue at 304 West 47th Street in New York City's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood. Built as Fire Engine Company No. 54 in 1888, it was designed by Napoleon LeBrun & Sons for the New York City Fire Department. It is a New York City designated landmark.