Forbidden Broadway: Greatest Hits

Forbidden Broadway is a cabaret show which pokes fun at the Broadway genre by changing the words of well-known numbers. I fondly remember a professional production a couple of decades ago and haven’t caught another one since.

So I was really looking forward to this production, and I wasn’t disappointed. Though not at the standard of the professionals I’d seen previously, there was an enthusiasm and sense of fun that was contagious.

The cast of eight were kept busy. There were no sets or props here, though there were several very fast costume changes. The various cast members performed confidently, and easily switched between the various characters. The Barbra Streisand impersonation was particularly impressive, and there was some lovely harmony singing.

There have been hundreds of songs from Forbidden Broadway created over the decades, and I was quite surprised at how many I remembered from my previous encounter: “This Song’s Too High” (“Bring Him Home”) and “Ambition” (“Tradition” from Fiddler on the Roof). However, Smartphones didn’t exist then, so there was a new variation of “On My Own” in the Les Miserables segment: “On My Phone”.

The keyboard accompanist was also the narrator. The accompaniment was effective, though sometimes a little loud, and words were lost.

Amateur companies generally perform with large casts to generate ticket sales, so this program is rarely performed. Broadway aficionados will not want to miss this highly entertaining show.

Graham Ford