In all my years of working in and reviewing theater, I have rarely seen an ensemble that reaches the level of the four amazing performers in the very splashy newest edition of Forbidden Broadway. Natalie Charlé Ellis, Scott Richard Foster, Jenny Lee Stern and Marcus Stevens, all superb physical comedians, extraordinary impressionists and top-level singers with great range, inflections and power, satirize most of what is playing on Broadway, give impressions of singing stars that are absurdly accurate, and all show a range of talent that is the best there is.
Philip Heckman’s costumes are inspired-- lush, stylized and, in a classy way, ridiculous. Set by Megan K. Halpern and lighting by Mark T. Simpson work perfectly, and wigs by Bobbie Cliffton Zlotnick are inspired. Gerard Alessandrini, who created the original, tops himself in the brilliance of the humor that he wrote for this rendition of Forbidden Broadway and as directed by him and Phillip George, it’s a laugh-filled show, performed by the best comic ensemble in town.
