Gerard Alessandrini (born November 27, 1953) is an American playwright, parodist,

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

and

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

best known for creating the award-winning off-Broadway musical theatre parody

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own dur ...

Forbidden Broadway ''Forbidden Broadway'' is an Off-Broadway revue parodying musical theatre, particularly Broadway musicals. It was conceived, written and directed by Gerard Alessandrini. The original version of the revue opened on January 15, 1982, at Palsson's ...

''. He is the recipient of

Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre The Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre is a non-competitive award created by the American Theatre Wing in 1990. They are presented to institutions, individuals and/or organizations that have demonstrated extraordinary achievement in theatre, but ...

, an Obie Award, four Drama Desk Awards (including the

Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics is an annual award presented by Drama Desk in recognition of achievements in the theatre among Broadway, Off Broadway and Off-Off Broadway productions. Stephen Sondheim holds the record for most wins and ...

and the

Drama Desk Special Award The Drama Desk Special Award is an annual award presented by Drama Desk in recognition of achievements by an individual or an organization that has made a significant contribution to the theatre among Broadway, Off Broadway and Off-Off Broadway ...

), an Outer Critics Circle Award, and two Lucille Lortel Awards, as well as the Drama League Award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theatre.

Life and career

Alessandrini was born in Boston, Massachusetts, grew up in suburban Needham, and graduated from

Xaverian Brothers High School , motto_translation = To bear witness to the truth in brotherhood , accreditation = New England Association of Schools and Colleges , rival = St. John's Prep , mascot = Hawk , mascot image = , sports ...

in 1972. After graduating from the

Boston Conservatory of Music Boston Conservatory at Berklee (formerly The Boston Conservatory) is a private performing arts conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts. It grants undergraduate and graduate degrees in dance, music, and theater. Boston Conservatory was founde ...

in 1976, he moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. As a young actor in

summer stock In American theater, summer-stock theater is a theater that presents stage productions only in the summer. The name combines the season with the tradition of staging shows by a resident company, reusing stock scenery and costumes. Summer stock th ...

regional theater A regional theater or resident theater in the United States is a professional or semi-professional theater company that produces its own seasons. The term ''regional theater'' most often refers to a professional theater outside New York City. A reg ...

and

dinner theater Dinner theater (sometimes called dinner and a show) is a form of entertainment that combines a restaurant meal with a staged play or musical. "Dinner and a show" can also refer to a restaurant meal in combination with live concert music, where pat ...

, he starred in ''

The Fantasticks ''The Fantasticks'' is a 1960 musical with music by Harvey Schmidt and book and lyrics by Tom Jones. It tells an allegorical story, loosely based on the 1894 play ''The Romancers'' (''Les Romanesques'') by Edmond Rostand, concerning two neigh ...

'', '' Oklahoma'' and '' Carousel'', among others. He also worked at the off-Broadway

Light Opera of Manhattan Light Opera of Manhattan, known as LOOM, was an off-Broadway repertory theatre company that produced light operas, including the works of Gilbert and Sullivan and European and American operettas, 52 weeks per year, in New York City between 1968 ...

. In late 1981, Alessandrini conceived and wrote a musical parody revue featuring spoofs of songs from

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

musicals on which he had been working for some time. After a few months of weekend performances starring Alessandrini and a few friends at Palsson's Supper Club, the show evolved into ''

'', which opened on January 15, 1982, at Palsson's, directed by Alessandrini. He continued to appear in the revue, which caught the theatergoing public's attention after

Rex Reed Rex Taylor Reed (born October 2, 1938) is an American film critic, occasional actor, and television host. He writes the column "On the Town with Rex Reed" for '' The New York Observer''. Early life Reed was born on October 2, 1938, in Fort Wo ...

published a rave review and ultimately ran for 2,332 performances in a number of venues. It has subsequently been rewritten several times to include parodies of newer shows and ran almost continuously for 25 years with productions both in and outside New York. In 2006, the show and Alessandrini won

. The last incarnation, called ''Forbidden Broadway Comes Out Swinging'' played Off-Broadway's Davenport Theatre in 2014. Alessandrini can be heard on five of the eight ''Forbidden Broadway''

cast album A cast recording is a recording of a stage musical that is intended to document the songs as they were performed in the show and experienced by the audience. An original cast recording or OCR, as the name implies, features the voices of the sho ...

s, as well as the soundtracks of

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

films '' Aladdin'' and ''

Pocahontas Pocahontas (, ; born Amonute, known as Matoaka, 1596 – March 1617) was a Native American woman, belonging to the Powhatan people, notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter of ...

''. His directorial credits include Equity Library Theatre's revival of '' Gigi'' and

Maury Yeston Maury Yeston (born October 23, 1945) is an American composer, lyricist and music theorist. He is known as the initiator of new Broadway musicals and writing their music and lyrics, as well as a classical orchestral and ballet composer, Yale Uni ...

's 1998 show ''In the Beginning''. In 1991, he co-wrote, directed and performed in the television parody ''Masterpiece Tonight'', a satirical salute to the 20th anniversary of ''

Masterpiece Theatre ''Masterpiece'' (formerly known as ''Masterpiece Theatre'') is a drama anthology television series produced by WGBH Boston. It premiered on Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) on January 10, 1971. The series has presented numerous acclaimed Briti ...

''. In 1995, some of his sketches were featured in

Carol Burnett Carol Creighton Burnett (born April 26, 1933) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and writer. Her groundbreaking comedy variety show ''The Carol Burnett Show'', which originally aired on CBS was one of the first of its kind to be hosted ...

’s

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

special, ''Men, Movies and Carol''. He has also written comedy specials for

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in Bob Hope filmography, more than 70 short and ...

and

Angela Lansbury Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury (October 16, 1925 – October 11, 2022) was an Irish-British and American film, stage, and television actress. Her career spanned eight decades, much of it in the United States, and her work received a great deal ...

for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

. During summer 2001, Alessandrini introduced his ''Gongcores'' series with a tongue-in-cheek production of the 1962

Irving Berlin Irving Berlin (born Israel Beilin; yi, ישראל ביילין; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-American composer, songwriter and lyricist. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Born in Imperial Russ ...

musical '' Mr. President''. In 2011, he co-created the musical comedy, ''The Nutcracker and I'', with music by

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

, book by Peter Brash and lyrics by Alessandrini. The musical debuted at the

George Street Playhouse George Street Playhouse is a theater company in New Brunswick, New Jersey, in the city's Civic Square government and theater district. It's one of the state's preeminent professional theaters committed to the production of new and established ...

in New Brunswick, New Jersey during the 2011 Christmas season, directed by the theatre's artistic director, David Saint. In 2016, Alessandrini wrote the revue ''

Spamilton ''Spamilton: An American Parody'' is a musical parody of the Broadway show '' Hamilton''. Written by Gerard Alessandrini, creator of the parody revue ''Forbidden Broadway'', ''Spamilton'' also parodies several other musicals, including ''Gypsy'' ...

'', which premiered at the

Triad Theater The Triad Theater, formerly known as Palsson's Supper Club, Steve McGraw's, and Stage 72, is a cabaret-style performing arts venue located on West 72nd Street on New York's Upper West Side. The theatre has been the original home to some of the lon ...

in New York and also plays at the Royal George Theatre in Chicago. It parodies ''

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

'' and other Broadway shows and caricatures various Broadway stars."''Spamilton'' Extends Again, Will Continue Friendly Roast Off-Broadway Through December"
BroadwayWorld.com, September 15, 2016

References

External links

Official Forbidden Broadway websiteOfficial Spamilton website
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alessandrini, Gerard American musical theatre composers American musical theatre lyricists American theatre directors American male musical theatre actors 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights Writers from Boston 1953 births Living people Boston Conservatory at Berklee alumni Xaverian Brothers High School alumni