Theater review: 'Forbidden Broadway' —a smart and compact retelling of theatrical productions

There is nothing here but four actors, a pianist, and a stage that works. Here is everything you need to cure a bad week. That laughter here can only be borne of intertextuality, one that’s particularly premised on Broadway theater productions, too many times removed from a spectator in Manila, is not a problem. 

There are many things wrong about globalization and transnational capital after all, but there is something to be said about how it has made it easier for cultural productions to breach the distances that used to keep us all, uh, less “cultured.” There’s always been Repertory Philippines of course, which might take credit for keeping this ball rolling even when it was alone in it. In recent years though our hands have been kept full by local theater companies that live off bringing in mostly Broadway and off-Broadway hits, something that should still warrant the question: why not do original Filipino plays?

 

Which doesn’t mean these local productions of foreign texts is any less valuable. In fact, what’s actually here is a great display of Filipino theatrical talent. Here, no matter that you might be watching a foreign text unfold, one’s faith is renewed in Filipino genius.

 

This holds truer for a production like “Forbidden Broadway.” In the age of YouTube after all it’s easy to see when a local staging decides to do a one-is-to-one-correspondence with – i.e., a copy of – foreign productions. We do plakado like no other, even in theater it seems. But for “Forbidden Broadway” it’s clear to see the hand of the director who knows of the kind of comic staging that will illicit the most laughter in this context. 

 

Yes, even when this is a show that necessarily falls back on, because it spoofs, Broadway productions and performances, singers and choreography. This is its possible undoing too, dependent as it is on an audience’s familiarity with these other texts, which might be expected for songs and characters from “Phantom of the Opera” and “Les Miserables.” But the breadth and scope of intertextuality that “Forbidden Broadway” demands of its audience cuts across “Into the Woods” to “Spamalot,” “Wicked” to “Rent,” Cameron Macintosh to Bob Fosse. 

 

Yet it might be through these less familiar texts that this production’s skillfulness and talent might also be better judged. For even when you might not know “Into The Woods” enough for “Into The Words” to make sense, or of Bob Fosse for “Glossy Fosse” to make sense, there is every reason to laugh still at the critical-comedic portrayal of Stephen Sondheim’s kind of lyricism in the former, and Fosse’s seemingly standardized sexy sleek choreography in the latter. While not everyone might know “Rent,” “Seasons of Love” can only be familiar, and as such “Seasons of Hype” can only work. Even the “West Side Story” sketch that has the Broadway Maria taking jabs at the movie Maria cannot help but be funny.

 

This is about the deftness with which this cast knew to handle these sketches, creating a variety show on crack, where impersonation is secondary to the task of actual parody that critiques these archetypal performances and the institution that is Broadway. Comic timing is a gift that all four members of this cast have, though some shine brighter than others. 

 

Liesl Batucan must take credit for the “West Side Story” sketch, as she should for the parodies of Barbra and Annie. Here, Batucan’s comedic streak is revealed to be premised on the ability at a diverse set of utterances that succeed equally and distinctly from each other. In another actress’ hands this could fall flat on its face; for Batucan these performances are the ones that resonate. 

 

Caisa Borromeo’s bright moment was her take on “Defying Chenoweth” – a spoof of “Defying Gravity” from “Wicked” – which brought the house down. Yet that sketch has OJ Mariano’s and Lorenz Martinez’s fantastic comedic timing to thank, too. 

 

This can be said as well for “Glossy Fosse,” which pokes fun at Fosse’s choreographic fame via “Razzle Dazzle” from “Chicago.” While at the center of this sketch was Borromeo, it could only be funnier with Mariano and Martinez as anonymous dancers that do the precise sazzy dancing Fosse requires. This Mariano and Martinez combo must also take credit for the Carol Channing skit with Batucan at its center, as these two actors would reveal that they might be the most exciting things to happen to Pinoy musical theater in a long time.

 

It’s not so much a surprise as it is these two exceeding expectations. When you’ve seen them shine in other productions dependent on ensembles, you almost know what to expect when you see them next. Except that you don’t. While working as member of the ensemble of four, Mariano’s comic timing was not only dependable, it would also rise above the three other actors onstage. From the “Do You Hear The People Sing?” from “Les Miserables” to “Ambition” (a spoof of “Tradition”) from “Fiddler on the Roof,” Mariano’s comedy in many-an-ensemble-sketch was not only undeniable, it would also be crucial to each one’s flourish.

 

His solos meanwhile shine because there is a lightness and litheness to him onstage, allowing a self-deprecation that works to irony’s advantage. His phantom in the “Phantom of the Musical” piece (taking from “The Phantom of the Opera”) could really only overshadow Borromeo’s take on Merman (from “Gypsy”). His “My Souvenir Things” (to the tune of “My Favorite Things” from “The Sound of Music”) is a spoof of Cameron Mackintosh’s, uh, entrepreneurial spirit that shamelessly sells every darn souvenir possible for any and all of his musicales. Then there is Mariano’s “Bring It Down” that pokes fun at the high notes of “Bring It Home” from “Les Miserables” in the process revealing precisely the kind of high notes he can reach.

 

Martinez meanwhile would get the bigger share of the comedy pie, and no apologies are in order. His “Somewhat Over Indulgent” (from “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”) might have been a spoof of Mandy Patinkin, who not everyone in the audience might know, but in Martinez’s hands that barely matters. With the right inflection and exaggeration that allow for parody to be text in itself, Martinez introduces us to someone we might not know, and banks on things that are familiar, and funnily so. The strange mash-up of a “Cats” costume and a spoof of “I Enjoy Being A Girl” from the “Flower Drum Song” could also only happen with Martinez, in the same way that his Tevye set the tone for the “Fiddler On The Roof” spoof “Ambition” with comic precision and some man boobs to boot. Martinez is a presence that’s difficult to beat onstage, though alongside Mariano, here is a duo that works, as members of an ensemble (Martinez’s Snoopy comes to mind, and Mariano’s “Rhythm of Life” in “Sweet Charity”) or as leads. 

 

And then for “Forbidden Broadway” it’s also clear that what might ultimately be unbeatable is this cast alongside a staging that obviously took pains to ascertain laughter on the one hand, and swiftness and creativity on the other. There is an efficiency to this production as there is a control that engages the audience in its making and refuses the possibility of becoming run-of-the-mill impersonations. Instead “Forbidden Broadway” is a smart and compact retelling of theatrical productions that in the end becomes its harshest critic, too. That we can’t help but laugh along is precisely our contribution to this critical stance. –KG, GMA News

 

"Forbidden Broadway" is by Gerard Alessandrini. The Manila run was directed by Joel Trinidad for Upstart Productions with musical director Onyl Torres and pianist Dingdong Fiel.