The Fall Down Funny Roast Of Broadway!
Forbidden Broadway Comes to Ivoryton
by Gerard Alessandrini
May 27th – June 14th
Ivoryton Playhouse opens the 2020 season with a brand new version of one of off-Broadways most popular shows – FORBIDDEN BROADWAY COMES TO IVORYTON. In this long-running Off-Broadway hit musical revue, Broadway’s greatest musical legends meet Broadway’s greatest satirist in this hilarious, loving, and endlessly entertaining tribute to some of the theatre’s greatest stars and songwriters. The fall-down funny musical roast of Broadway that has picked up 9 Drama Desk Awards, a Special Tony®, an Obie, a Lucille Lortel and Drama League Award features outrageous costumes, hilarious rewrites of the songs you know, and dead-on impressions by a stellar cast!
Conceived, written and directed by Gerard Alessandrini, the original version of the revue opened on January 15, 1982, at Palsson’s Supper Club in New York City and ran for 2,332 performances. Alessandrini has rewritten the show more than a dozen times over the years to include parodies of newer shows. The show, in its various editions, has been seen in more than 200 U.S. cities as well as playing in London, Tokyo, Singapore and Sydney.
Forbidden Broadway “STICKS IT TO THE GREAT WOKE WAY!” raves the New York Times.
This fast and furious musical comedy, lovingly recreated for the Ivoryton Playhouse by writer and creator, Gerard Alessandrini, eviscerates the oldies but goodies – Annie, Oklahoma, Fiddler and many more – and then skewers some of Broadway’s newest arrivals – Tootsie, Oklahoma!, and Frozen, as well as Tony®-winning favorites Bernadette Peters, Hugh Jackman, Liza Minelli, and Lin Manuel, plus showbiz seen onscreen — “Fosse/Verdon” and Renée Zellweger as Judy Garland!
Whether you’re a seasoned theatre-goer or new to Broadway, FORBIDDEN BROADWAY COMES TO IVORYTON is your one-stop ticket to non-stop laughs!
The cast includes Playhouse alum Josh Powell* (MY WAY: THE FRANK SINATRA STORY and LOVE QUEST). Making their Playhouse debuts are Sandra Marante* Christopher Behmke* and Katheryne Penny. The show is directed by Gerard Alessandrini and choreographed by Gerry MacIntyre; musical directed by Josh Walker; set design by Glenn Bassett, lighting and sound design by Tate Burmeister and costumes by Elizabeth Saylor.
FORBIDDEN BROADWAY COMES TO IVORYTON opens at the Ivoryton Playhouse on May 27th and runs through June 14th 2020. Performance times are Wednesday and Sunday matinees at 2pm. Evening performances are Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30pm, Friday and Saturday at 8pm. There will be one Thursday matinee on May 28th.
Tickets are $55 adult / $50 senior / $25 student / $20 children 12 and are available by calling the Playhouse box office at 860-767-7318 or by visiting our website at www.ivorytonplayhouse.org (Group rates and subscriptions are available by calling the box office for information.) The Playhouse is located at 103 Main Street in Ivoryton.
*denotes member of Actors Equity
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Updated Monday, March 23, 2020
Dear Playhouse Family,
It is with great sadness that we are now forced to cancel the second production in our season – THE GREAT GATSBY. It was the only reasonable decision in the current circumstances. The roaring twenties will only be a whisper in Ivoryton this year. We hope to include the show in our 2021 season.
An early casualty of COVID -19 is the postponed production of FORBIDDEN BROADWAY COMES TO IVORYTON. The cast hung up their costumes on Sunday but, fingers crossed, they will be back on May 27th for 3 weeks of madness and mayhem.
For those of you who have tickets to any of the cancelled or postponed shows, you will be receiving a phone call from us very soon. Thank you for your patience; we are dealing with over 50 performances – that’s a lot of patrons we need to talk to. Please check our website for updates and information on upcoming shows.
FUTURE SHOWS ARE ON SALE!!! Guess what? You can still buy tickets on our website for shows that are in the summer and fall. Thank you so much for helping us to maintain some income over the next few months.
The generosity and kindness of our patrons and members warms my heart – so many people refusing refunds and sending donations – how lucky we are!
These are unprecedented times and our main concern, of course, is for the health of our patrons, volunteers, actors, staff, crew and board members.
I hope you are all well and staying healthy and I want you to know that our thoughts and best wishes are with you. Looking forward to seeing you at the Playhouse very soon.
“…And until we meet again, May God hold you in the palm of His hand”
Jacqui Hubbard
Executive / Artistic Director
If you would like to make a donation to help the Playhouse survive this challenging time, please follow this link to make a contribution online.
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Updated Thursday, March 19, 2020
From Jacqui Hubbard, Artistic Director:
As you are all so painfully aware right now, COVID-19 has spread from an isolated outbreak to a distressing global pandemic. Our immediate concern is always the health and safety of our patrons, staff and actors and therefore we have elected to postpone the opening show of our season – FORBIDDEN BROADWAY COMES TO IVORYTON and cancel THE GREAT GATSBY.
This decision brings with it great challenges to all of us that work at the Playhouse. Hours have been cut and some staff members will be laid off.
We will be offering free ticket exchanges into any other show of our 2020 season, including the cabaret nights, or you may donate the value of your tickets back to Ivoryton Playhouse as a tax-deductible donation. We would be so grateful if you would consider making this a charitable contribution to help us continue operating through this unprecedented crisis. The box office will be reaching out to all affected patrons. We ask patrons to await contact from the box office so that they can contact people for the opening performances first.
Our thoughts are also with you and your families at this time.
Stay safe, stay calm and look after each other.
We hope to see you at the Playhouse very soon.
Jacqui Hubbard
Executive / Artistic Director