A Review

Roasting & Toasting

By R. J. Donovan

After too long an absence, "Forbidden Broadway" has returned to Boston, thanks to the Calderwood Pavilion production presented by the Huntington Theatre.

Every season for more than two decades, "Forbidden Broadway" creator, writer, director (and Needham, MA, native) Gerard Alessandrini has updated his homage to Broadway's best and not-so-brightest with a pinch of arsenic and rhyme.

Like all previous versions of "FB," "Forbidden Broadway: Special Victims Unit" skewers the musical theatre genre with mischievous glee.

In the first thirty seconds of the show, timeless moppet "Annie" has turned a not so moppet-like 30-years-old and is promptly snuffed out.

Enter Jerry Orbach and B. D. Wong from "Law and Order" to "investigate crimes of a theatrical nature." And that's really all there is to the "SVU" badge. The rest of the two hours is unmercifully funny as it drags everybody from Bebe Neuwirth to Ethel Merman over the coals.

Sarah Brightman is a buck-toothed fright queen reaching for her high notes, Robert Goulet is a muddled mess searching for lost lyrics. And Kathleen Turner (left) is the throaty subject of an exorcism from the cast of "Doubt."

"Avenue Q" is ripped apart, Hugh Jackman's heterosexuality is laid bare, and Christina Applegate hobbles through "Sweet Charity" 'til someone more talented comes along.

There's a "Rent" rant, a "Spamalot" spew and a "Mamma Mia" meltdown (left).

The material requires chameleon-like performers, and Boston's four-person cast is more than up to it, accompanied by pianist Catherine Stornetta.

Kevin B. McGlynn is especially funny as Harvey Firestein in "Hairspray" and later in "Fiddler."

Valerie Fagan (in the green) is a hoot as Brightman, Neuwirth, Yoko Ono (taking over Broadway for a piece of the action), Idina Menzel and Merman.

Janet Dickinson (at left in pink) is a jewel as Glinda from "Wicked," Belle from "Beauty & The Beast," Julie Andrews, "Sweet" Christina and clench-jawed Cherry Jones (top photo) from "Doubt" (delivering a shot in the heart to the A.R.T.).

And Nick Verina is the previously mentioned Jackman, our own personal "Lion King," a man-eating "Little Shop of Horrors" and Valjean in "Les Miz," which is funnier than ever.

The more familiar you are with the shows, the funnier all this becomes. And truthfully, only die-hard musical theatre aficionados are going to get every slam.

That seemed clear from the "Light in the Piazza" send-up. The material was very clever and the performances were razor sharp, but the response was not uniform, at least from the Sunday afternoon crowd. And that may be due to the fact that while Adam Guettel's score has probably been heard by Boston audiences, not enough have seen the show itself at Lincoln Center to make the audience whoop with delight. (They had no idea what they were missing with Dickinson's right-on portrayal of the "challenged" daughter who's been kicked in the head.)

But no matter, there's enough rapid-fire tidbits in "Forbidden Broadway: SVU" to make any Broadway fan howl.

"Forbidden Broadway; Special Victims Unit" is at Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street in Boston, through March 12. For information, call 617-933-8600.

Photos: Eric Antoniou

-- OnStage Boston

01/13/06