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REVIEW: A Forbidden Broadway Christmas
The Gem Theatre
From the New Monitor
Forbidden is good-natured fun
By Daniel Skora
It's anybody's guess what's worse for a celebrity: having their every public moment recorded by the cameras of the paparazzi, or having to endure countless impersonators who transform their iconic routines and mannerisms into imitation and parody.
Elvis may have been the King, but not just of rock n' roll. He is also the King of the impersonators, the hundreds if not thousands of imitators who keep his persona alive by putting on a sneer and a sequined jumpsuit and launching into a couple of bars of Suspicious Minds. There's an Elvis here, too, greatly exaggerated, among all of the other stars who get a visual and musical roasting in A Forbidden Broadway Christmas, the current revue on the stage of the Gem Theatre in downtown Detroit.
Forbidden Christmas is a lively mix of parodies of Christmas songs and the stars who have sung them, along with parodies of familiar Broadway shows. All of the blockbusters get skewered, favorites like The Sound of Music, Les Miserables, Annie, and Hairspray. Stars getting the parody treatment include Frank Sinatra, Julie Andrews, Tony Bennett and Celine Dion.
A talented cast of four sails briskly through more numbers than you would think possible for a nearly two-hour show. They appear on stage alone, in tandem, and as a group. Mark David Kaplan does a dynamite impression of Tevye from Fiddler on the Roof, singing the song that almost made it into the original show, If I Were a Gentile.
Kimberly Vanbiesbrouck displays her versatility with exceptional depictions of a broad range of entertainment icons, including Julie Andrews, Ann-Margret and Carol Channing. Jason Richards contributes a playfully teasing version of The Little Drummer Boy, while Janet Caine gives us an introspective Celine Dion relating how she prepares well in advance to hit the big note at the end of O Holy Night. Some of the funniest skits involve the animals from The Lion King and other Disney musicals.
The emphasis is on color and costumes. So important is the "look" of the faux celebrities, and the quick changes necessary to keep the show going, that it would be remiss not to credit the wardrobe department. Andrea Kannon is assisted by Nicola Davis and Jessica Williamson. Salomon DeWane is the wigmaster, of which there are a good many in the show, some exceptional beautiful, others intentionally funny. Carol Channing would be especially jealous of the wispy platinum blonde cloud piled high on the head of her alter ego Dolly Levi.
Forbidden Christmas is a delightfully funny show that pokes some good-natured fun at some of our most time-honored celebrities and entertainment institutions. It is never mean-spirited and would serve as the perfect pit stop in the midst of the holiday rush.
The show was created and written by Gerard Alessandrini. William Selby serves as director, while Ed Wells provides musical accompaniment on the piano.
SHOW DETAILS:
A Forbidden Broadway Christmas runs through Dec. 31. Tickets are available by calling the Gem Theatre box office at 313-963-9800 and through Ticketmaster at 248-645-6666, online at www.ticketmaster.com, or at all Ticketmaster Ticketcenter locations.
Reprinted with permission of the New Monitor, Dec. 10, 2009
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