Segerstrom Center Opens 2015-16 Spotlight Series with FORBIDDEN BROADWAY This Weekend

Segerstrom Center for the Arts' 2015 - 2016 Spotlight Series opens with the sidesplitting savagery known as Forbidden Broadway tonight, October 1 - 4, 2015. There will be just four performances of a special adaptation of their recent hit edition, Forbidden Broadway Alive and Kicking! The cast includes members of the Tony Award®-winning New York company, including Forbidden Broadway stalwarts Gina Kreiezmar, Marcus Stevens, Kevin B. McGlynn and Trisha Rapier (who hails from Orange County!). This touring edition is presented by John Freedson and Harriet Yellin.

Tickets to Forbidden Broadway Alive and Kicking! start at $79 and go on sale Sunday, August 30 at 10 a.m. PT. They will be available online at SCFTA.org, by calling (714) 556-2787 and at the Box Office at 600 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa. For inquiries about group ticket discounts, call the Group Services office at (714) 755-0236. The TTY number is (714) 556-2746.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts applauds Kia, the Official Automotive Partner of the Center. United Airlines is the Official Airline of the Center.

Every year the madly inventive Gerard Alessandrini updates his scathing homage to Broadway's biggest shows and brightest stars. Now celebrating its triumphant 33rd year, this year's edition features its own greatest hits, including The Book of Mormon, Jersey Boys, Once, Wicked and Chicago, as well as classics such as Into the Woods, Mamma Mia!, Disney's Beauty and the Beast and lots more Broadway past and present. Also on the burner are Mandy Patinken, Patti LuPone, Liza Minnelli, Hugh Jackman and Broadway grande dames Ethel Merman and Sarah Brightman.

Critical and audience reception for Forbidden Broadway: Alive and Kicking! has been overwhelming. Ben Brantley of The New York Times called the show "A Godsend." Joe Dziemianowicz of the NY Daily News exclaimed: "Riotous, biting and brilliant! For theatre lovers, it's like Halloween and Christmas both came early!" WCBS' Jim Taylor dubbed it "The funniest 100 minutes onstage today!" Jeremy Gerard of Bloomberg News raved: "Forbidden Broadway is spot on and superb," and Roma Torre of NY1 proclaimed it "A Glorious Celebration of Theatre...Irreverently and Hysterically funny!"

Alive and Kicking! was created and written by Gerard Alessandrini and directed by Alessandrini and Phillip George. Musical direction is by Catherine Stornetta and additional dialogue by Phillip George. Costumes are designed by Alvin Colt and Dustin Cross. The original cast CD is available on DRG Records.

What started as a small cabaret act at West 72nd Street's Palsson's Supper Club, is now one of New York City's best-loved and most highly anticipated musicals. Now celebrating its 33rd year, Forbidden Broadway is a theatrical institution, joining the ranks of A Chorus Line and The Phantom of the Opera as one of the longest-running shows in New York. Forbidden Broadway was born in 1982, when Alessandrini, a frustrated performer looking for a place to showcase himself and his friends, booked a weekend performance at Palsson's. The cast of five had no producer or backer and used costumes from the cast's own closets to spoof stars such as Yul Brynner and Ethel Merman. Hailed by critics, Forbidden Broadway became an overnight sensation, quickly expanding to eight performances a week and running at Palsson's for more than six years.

Needing a bigger venue, Forbidden Broadway moved to the 125-seat Theatre East, where it ran until 1994. Since then, Forbidden Broadway was presented at the Triad until 1997, the Stardust Theatre from 1997-2001, the Douglas Fairbanks Theatre from 2001-2005 and the 47th Street Theatre, where it opened in 2005. The show now returns to the 47th Street Theatre after a three-year absence. Forbidden Broadway has enjoyed both national and international success, performing more than 10,000 shows on four continents with engagements in more than 200 U.S. cities, at London's famed Menier Chocolate Factory and a concert version with major symphony orchestras. A recent production in Manila, Philippines guest-starred Lea Salonga and has been nominated for nine Ovation Awards in Los Angeles.

The show, which changes as often as Broadway, has been a favorite among theater lovers and Broadway stars, including Carol Channing, Angela Lansbury, Patti Lupone, Hal Prince, Raul Esparza, Tyne Daly, Mike Nichols, Christine Ebersole, Bernadette Peters, Joan Rivers, Stephen Sondheim, Harold Prince, Whoopi Goldberg and Cameron Mackintosh. Forbidden Broadway has also launched the careers of several previously unknown actors, including Jason Alexander, Bryan Batt, Michael McGrath, Chloe Webb, Barbara Walsh, Dee Hoty and Daniel Reichard. Many company alumni are currently appearing on Broadway. Forbidden Broadway has won numerous awards in its history including a special Tony® Award, nine Drama Desk Awards, the Drama Critics' Circle Award, an Obie, Outer Critics Circle, Drama League, and Lucille Lortel Awards.