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TADA brings "Forbidden Broadway" to Loft
BY JEFF KORBELIK / Lincoln Journal Star
Friday, Mar 17, 2006 - 12:09:18 am CST

Ladd Wendelin recommends seeing “Forbidden Broadway” even if you caught the TADA production last year. “It’s the same kid, but with a different haircut,” the local performer said.

TADA is bringing the musical that parodies Broadway shows and personalities back after an extremely successful run last season. It opens Thursday at The Loft at The Mill.

The award-winning musical was first seen on New York’s upper west side in January 1982. Unemployed actor Gerard Alessandrini wanted to showcase his talents and decided to take the musical parodies he had written since childhood and assemble them into a nightclub act.

Critics and audiences loved it, and it has since become New York’s longest-running musical comedy revue. The latest version, “Forbidden Broadway: Special Victims Unit,” opened to rave reviews in December 2004.

TADA received the go-ahead to stage “Forbidden Broadway” again after the show’s producers came to Lincoln and saw the company’s production last year.

“We are privileged that we received the stamp of approval from the show’s creators and that they, as well as the Midwest audiences, responded so well to our interpretation of this hilarious production,” said Robert D. Rook, TADA managing artistic and show director.

This year’s edition again will feature an over-aged Annie lamenting a lack of work, Jean Valjean of “Les Miserables” tackling the high notes and Cris Rook’s dead-on take of Liza Minnelli.

There also will be new twists and numbers from “The Producers,” “Mamma Mia!,” “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” and “Avenue Q.”

Two shows parodied — “Rent” and “The Producers” — have made their way to the big screen since “Forbidden Broadway” was last in Lincoln.

“This gives an even broader perspective for audiences to enjoy the funny take on these numbers,” director Rook said.

Wendelin, 24, is one of three actors who return as performers, joining Cris Rook and Steve Pearson. Newcomers are Mindy Moritz and local theater veteran Bill Maltas. Sheri Ericksen will provide accompaniment.

The New York company of “Forbidden Broadway” again provides costumes designed by Tony Award winner Alvin Colt.

Wendelin said he jumped at the chance to do the show again. He will perform spoofs of the “Lion King” and actor Mandy Patinkin, the multi-talented star of the CBS television drama “Criminal Minds.”

“By far, the most challenging is Mandy,” said Wendelin, a former Concordia University student who began performing on Lincoln stages in spring 2004. “He’s probably the most physical. I have to put everything I have into that one.”

Wendelin calls the entire musical “smart” and a “crowd pleaser.”

“Even if you don’t know a lot about Broadway, you can get into it,” he said. “There’s something there for everybody, from the slightly knowledgeable to the seasoned theater patron.”

Reach Jeff Korbelik at 473-7213 or jkorbelik@journalstar.com.