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Dustin Cross

Forbidden Broadway: Merrily We Stole a Song

September 30, 2024

The spate of Sondheim shows both this past season and opening this fall is given prime place in this musical revue. Unsurprisingly, the new "Merrily We Roll Along" which ran all of last season comes in for the most ribbing as the subtitle hints. Collins-Pisano plays Daniel Radcliffe in a parody of the show’s “Good Thing Going” and then is joined by Stern and Hayward as his co-stars Lindsay Mendez and Jonathan Groff as they review the troubled history of the show which famously flopped in its first Broadway iteration in 1981 in a revised version of the song “Old Friends.” Collins-Pisano sings to that show’s “Franklin Sheppard, Inc.” about Radcliffe's stage career after the Harry Potter films. This is followed by a tribute to "Company" which had a female Bobby to the tune of “Bobby, come on over for dinner.” Most if not all of the "Forbidden Broadway" revues have featured one of its actresses as the ubiquitous Patti LuPone and here we have Stern belting “The Ladies Who Crunch,” the scenery that is, satirizing "Company"’s most famous song. [more]

Love Actually? The Unauthorized Musical Parody

December 2, 2019

Now, New Yorkers who know the film (and who love it, hate it or partly love it and partly hate it) have a chance to see a streamlined (at 95 minutes) musical-theatrical spoof of the film, called "Love Actually? The Unauthorized Musical Parody." It’s a lively, silly and well-performed romp created by people who seem to have done a lot of this sort of thing: writers Bob and Tobly McSmith ("The Office! A Musical Parody") and director Tim Drucker ("Spidermusical"). The three previously worked together on "Friends! The Musical Parody." Basil Winterbottom has provided the engaging tunes and orchestrations for the McSmiths’ lyrics. [more]

Forbidden Broadway: The Next Generation

October 17, 2019

This is the latest edition of creator, writer and director Gerard Alessandrini’s enduring musical spoof skewering present and past NYC theater that he inaugurated- in 1982 and has had over 20 incarnations. Mr. Alessandrini’s erudite, affectionate and acerbic script once again lambasts Broadway while lovingly celebrating its history during its 20 numbers. “Theater isn’t art, unless it hurts.” It’s that aching sense of the collectively treasured memorable greatness of Broadway clashing with its mercenary concerns that enables each version of the show to resonate while entertaining. Plus, it’s very funny and offers a showcase for talented malleable performers. [more]

Reprise

May 27, 2017

Amidst Mr. Maierson’s barrage of mechanical set-ups and punch lines, there are a few amusing jokes and insightful observations. Reprise is in the tradition of substantive romantic comedies such as several of the works of Neil Simon and Bernard Slade’s Same Time, Next Year. However, it lacks the polish and depth of those perennials, and is also mired in bathos. [more]

A Class Act

July 30, 2016

While "A Class Act" covers material dramatized elsewhere, Norman Shabel’s play, seen at The Playroom earlier this year, is always absorbing, always unpredictable. The seven member cast is totally believable in their roles as lawyers and corporate bigwigs. This is a tense and enlightening evening in the theater that demonstrates the startling inner workings of the legal system even in what seems like an open and shut case. [more]

Copyright Jack Quinn, 2001-2023