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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
better to be "Lost in Space", December 30, 2001
First and foremost, this CD is really for diehard fans of Forbidden Broadway, those of us who want the good, the bad and the ugly on the cd rack. I was extremely unimpressed with the latest offering. While I agree with some of the other reviewers that there is some nice work, I don't know that Saturday Night Fiasco and Sondheim's Blues are sufficient to carry the rest of the tracks. Not much seems new or worse yet, important. Disney isn't new, nor is Les Miz. And while pointing out what is stale and pedestrian on Broadway was amusing on the last couple of releases, this Forbidden Broadway spoof clearly has joined the list of stale and pedestrian. While there is some nice material on this disc, I really didn't laugh out loud, and that is why I have always bought these in the past. If Alessandrini reduces the show to the same complaints of the same shows and then replaying lightly tweaked versions of past numbers, Trouble and Alan Cumming in Cabaret specifically, then he has himself is on the becoming a revival - and we know what he thinks of revivals. The repeats might even be acceptable if there was something fresh in the perfomance, but both were done much better on their respective discs. I think Danny Gurwin is a great comedian, but he doesn't shine in either of these numbers. We also need a recording with no Ethel Merman or Liza numbers - give them a rest already. And why bring back Streisand with such a poor imitation? The earlier Barbara's were dead on vocal impressions as well as speech patterns. If you aren't going to improve on it, then don't drag it back out. Alessandrini suggests that this is one of the best casts he has ever worked with. I don't know what he bases that on, but I beg to differ, either cast with Bryan Batt was significantly better, although they worked with fresh, clever material. Still, those recordings had verocious talent that brought Gerard's stinging wit to life for those of us who can't see every new production of FB. Maybe it is time to go to off Broadway productions, or to the radio or the movies for some new ideas. Or else promise no references to the Gap, Disney, or Chorus Boys, (way over used on this recording), along with a Merman and Liza free season. Start from scratch. That might give us hope that Forbidden Broadway too might not be dead.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
All FB albums are worth hearing, February 22, 2001
Gerard Alessandrini has certainly gone to the well many, many times with his "Forbidden Broadway" series. As such, the most timeless subjects have been more or less exhausted -- we certainly don't need another appearance by Ethel Merman in *every* new edition, and the concept of stars inappropriate for their roles (this time, Cheryl Ladd as Annie Oakley) is nothing new at all. The "Strikes Back" edition set a standard which worked extraordinarily well at the time, but Alessandrini has hewn perhaps too closely to that standard in subsequent editions.Still, the well isn't dry yet, and there are plenty of gems on this album. Notable among them: "Sondheim's Blues", the second half of the "Music Man" sequence, "Scars", "Beauty's Been Decreased" and the "Aida" sequence. A previous reviewer decried the Gwen Verdon number as tasteless; it was actually written to appear in the show and dropped immediately after her unexpected death, and was recorded as a tribute to her talent. That said, it is only mildly amusing, far less so than the brilliant "Contact" parody which was too visual to record, or even the numbers preserved from earlier editions of the show. On the whole, of course, people new to the series would be well advised to pick up volume 2 or volume 4 first -- while these parodies are fresh, they lack the thrill and bite of the ones included on those albums. I still laugh harder at the memory of number 4's "Shall We Boink?" than I have at anything here that I've just heard for close to the first time.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Do the Math, March 15, 2001
By A Customer
Four CDs cover the first 20 Years of Forbidden Broadway, Gerard Alessandrini's viciously witty satire of New York Theatre. The last year has seen Three new CDs, FB "Cleans Up Its Act" "20th Anniversary Edition" and now "2001 a Spoof Odyssey". Do the math. Alessandrini is running out of ideas, and is spreading the remaining ones too thin. . Sanitized Time Square - Been there. Disnified Broadway - Done that, and so many times. Asinine casting faux pas, plotless pointless set-monster musicals, and Ethel Merman and Liza. We've heard it all before - and last time, it was funnier. Now normally when a writer (or director or actor) has truly entertained me on numerous occasions, I'll forgive the odd show that disappoints. This would be the case here except for two things: Alessandrini is in the vicious parody business - he's never spared anyone else Besides, if he's going to actually include couplets like: "If lyrics are no longer witty... Then I don't want to go " he's inviting the pans. When you hear the AIDA lampoon, you'll be reminded of the dim bulb in Cyrano de Bergerac who taunts the hero with the brilliant witticism: Your nose is very large Yes, there are a few true Forbidden Broadway tracks on Spoof Odyssey. Dame Judi Dench singing "Why can't Americans do theatre like the Brits?" (with apologies to My Fair Lady), I Hate Ben (with apologies to Kiss Me Kate) and about 1/3 of "Let's Ruin Time Square Again" (no apologies necessary to Rocky Horror which understands how easy it is for good parody to go bad). Oh yes, there is one absolutely true Forbidden Broadway track: TROUBLE - yes, the same Trouble from Volume 3 which was just re-released on the 20th Anniversary compilation - and it's back again with a more hackneyed Robert Preston impersonation and all of 4 words changed. Granted it's one of the better bits, more worthy of rerunning than say, referring to Miss Saigon as Viet-Numb, but oh, he reran that gag too
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by Gerard Alessandrini 
