Rude Awakening: New Edition of Forbidden Broadway Opens Oct. 2
By Andrew Gans
02 Oct 2007
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(l.-r.) Janet Dickinson, James Donegan and Valerie Fagan in Forbidden Broadway: Rude Awakening.
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| photo by Carol Rosegg | Forbidden Broadway: Rude Awakening — the 25th anniversary edition of the long-running, award-winning revue created by Gerard Alessandrini in 1982 — officially opens at Off-Broadway's 47th Street Theatre Oct. 2.
The production, which began previews Aug. 31, was originally scheduled to open Sept. 23; the musical revue delayed its opening by two weeks "to allow Alessandrini an additional week to add new material to the latest edition," according to a previous press statement.
To mark the occasion of the show's opening, Mayor Michael Bloomberg's Office of Theatre, Film and Television has named Oct. 2 "Forbidden Broadway Day." At 6 PM two-time Tony winner Chita Rivera will read a proclamation from the Mayor's office and unveil a street sign renaming West 47th Street "Forbidden Broadway." The opening-night curtain is scheduled for 7 PM.
Directed by creator Alessandrini and Phillip George, Rude Awakening offers spoofs of Spring Awakening, Curtains, A Chorus Line, Grease, Legally Blonde, Mary Poppins, Company and Grey Gardens, among others. The cast features Jared Thomas Bradshaw, Janet Dickinson, James Donegan and Valerie Fagan with Steve Saari on piano.
The design team includes Megan Halpern (set), Mark Janowitz (lights) and Alvin Colt (costumes).
Actress Dickinson, who gets to impersonate such Broadway favorites as Barbara Walsh, Donna Murphy and Laura Bell Bundy, says she is currently enjoying portraying recent Grey Gardens Tony winner Christine Ebersole. "[Ebersole] came to see the show one night and stayed afterwards to meet the cast," Dickinson recently told Playbill.com. "She was so gracious. I was nervous to do 'Christine' in front of Christine Ebersole, but no one has laughed more at the Grey Gardens number than she did that night." To read interviews with all of the current Forbidden cast, click here.
The previous edition of Forbidden Broadway, entitled The Roast of Utopia, played its final performance Aug. 22.
Alessandrini received a 2006 Tony Honor for his creation of Forbidden Broadway. The revue has also been honored with Obie, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Drama League and Lucille Lortel awards.
Show times are Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8:15 PM and Sundays at 7:30 PM with matinees Wednesdays at 2:30 PM, Saturdays at 4 PM and Sundays at 3:30 PM.
Tickets to Forbidden Broadway at the 47th Street Theatre, 304 West 47th Street, are available by calling (212) 239-6200. For more information visit forbiddenbroadway.com.
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Jared Bradshaw and Janet Dickinson in Forbidden Broadway: Rude Awakening.
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| photo by Carol Rosegg |
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