Dueling 'Broadways'

Anyone interested in catching "Forbidden Broadway" this season will have to ask, "Should I see it in the suburbs or the city?"

Two productions of "Forbidden Broadway," Gerard Alessandrini's long-running satirical off-Broadway revue famed for skewering the stars and shows of the Great White Way, are booked around Chicago.

First out of the gate is Steel Beam Theatre's licensed "Greatest Hits" version of "Forbidden Broadway" in St. Charles. Then the show waltzes back into Chicago's Royal George Theatre with a professional New York cast this October in an edition called "Forbidden Broadway: Dances With the Stars."

Based upon prices alone, Steel Beam's $25 tickets are a steal next to the Chicago price tag of $40-$55 per ticket. But comparing Steel Beam's "Forbidden Broadway" to the previous Chicago edition, the axiom "you get what you pay for" unfortunately applies.

"Forbidden Broadway" seems simple enough to stage. Usually a cast of four and an accompanist zip through numbers with barbered song lyrics and silly costumes looking like they were built on a shoestring budget.

But that simplicity is deceptive. Those multitudes of costumes bear a big brunt of the humor and must be easily removable offstage. Plus, those performers need to be credible enough to caricature stars ranging from a breathy Michael Crawford in "The Phantom of the Opera" to the gravel-scratched sound of "Hairspray's" Harvey Fierstein.

Steel Beam has the luxury of using six actors instead of four to rotate through the production. Yet director Ty Perry doesn't use the numbers to his advantage.

In professional "Forbidden Broadway" productions, one number typically begins immediately after the applause dies down for the previous one. For Steel Beam, long piano interludes are played by accompanist Michael Frain while the actors change out of Donna Steele's and Cynthia Hall's apt costumes. Though this happens only between a handful of numbers, it deadens what should be a snappy flow to the show.

Perry also hasn't coordinated the actors seamlessly with the microphones. Actors' sound levels jarringly fade in and out as they wander to and from the microphone stands.

The sound inconsistency makes you question why the actors don't just carry around the microphones, or why they didn't just dispense with microphones all together.

With the start-and-stop pacing and uneven sound, it's hard to just savor all the silliness at hand.

Christine Pfenninger is best all-around at delivering "Forbidden Broadway's" tone and humor at Steel Beam. Watching Pfenninger morph from a weird Carol Channing to an overgrown "Annie" to a brassy Ethel Merman to a whooped-up Liza Minnelli is a constant delight, showing off her stylistic versatility of singing and mimicry.

The rest of the cast doesn't consistently reach the comic heights of Pfenninger's performance, but many come close.

Steve Peebles may not look like Mandy Patinkin, but he does get enough of the Broadway crooner's odd performance ticks down while singing "Somewhat Overindulgent." Terry A. Christianson gets quite a few laughs with his take on Tim Curry's "Rocky Horror"-infused King Arthur in "Spamalot" and a lethargic-singing "Phantom of the Opera."

Heather Miller's spoof of a self-important Barbra Streisand recording Broadway standards is fun. So is Stephanie Herman's take on teen roles like a bored "Les Miserables" actress finding ways to pass the time "On My Phone," or being a bombastic Elphaba from "Wicked" as she goes about "Defying Subtlety."

Peter Sipla rounds out the cast, playing an actor who sings "I Enjoy Being a Cat" to show how happy he is to be gainfully employed, among others.

While technically fine, some of the performances lacked that extra bit of oomph to sell the songs to the audience. And with many song lyrics tied to the minutiae of Broadway trivia, you need the extra push to make sure that non-theatergoing audiences don't get left out.

So take into consideration the credentials of these two "Forbidden Broadway" before buying tickets. You can save ticket and gas money by supporting the home team, or pay the price for veteran pros.

"Forbidden Broadway"

Two stars (out of four)

Location: Steel Beam Theatre, 111 W. Main St., St. Charles

Times: 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 3 p.m. Sundays; through Nov. 2

Running time: About 90 minutes, no intermission

Tickets: $23-$25

Parking: Street parking available

Box office: (630) 587-8521 or thegifttheatre.org

Rating: For adults, contains some language, slightly risque staging