Fred Barton News

The Ravinia Festival plans to reopen in July for the 2021 summer season. Now, the full lineup has been announced!

Featuring new performers with every show, the weekly, award-winning Piano Bar Live! (PBL!)streams this Tuesday, April 6 at 7:15 pm ET, with host Scott Barbarino and guests Mark-Alan, Fred Barton, Elena Bennett, Elaine Brier, Timothy Connell, Bobby Peaco and Rochelle Seldin, plus Mystery Guests and MORE!

Tony Award nominee Walter Willison and Tony Award winner Karen Ziemba will star in Two By Two: The 50th Anniversary Virtual Concert to benefit The Actors Fund. The virtual holiday event will premiere at 2:00 PM on Christmas Day, Friday, December 25 through Monday, December 28.

On this day in 2016, the Hamilton parody, Spamilton, opened off-Broadway!

Stars in the House continues today (8pm) for a FORBIDDEN BROADWAY reunion with Gerard Alessandrini, Bryan Batt, Fred Barton, Brad Ellis, Jason Graae, Gina Kreiezmar, Bill Selby, Jenny Lee Stern, Michael West and Guest Host Christine Pedi.

Today (August 5) in live streaming:Forbidden Broadway alumni unite on Stars in the House, Liz Callaway visits Backstage Live, and so much more!

Ben Cameron stopped by to visit the cast of the hit Off-Broadway production of Gerard Alessandrini's hilarious musical spoof of all things theatre Forbidden Broadway: The Next Generation, now in its final week of a return limited engagement at The York Theatre Company at Saint Peter's (entrance on East 54th Street, just east of Lexington Avenue) where performances resumed January 15, 2020 followed by an official re-opening on January 19, 2020. Forbidden Broadway: The Next Generation plays its final performance Sunday afternoon, February 16, 2020 at 2:30pm.

It's been only three months since the brilliant lyricist/director Gerard Alessandrini opened the latest edition of his Tony-honored satirical creation Forbidden Broadway at The Triad, but after a brief hiatus, the company has moved their antics east for a stint at The York.

The York Theatre Company (James Morgan, Producing Artistic Director; Evans Haile, Executive Director), dedicated to the development of new musicals and rediscovery of musical gems from the past, is presenting the return engagement of the Off-Broadway production of Gerard Alessandrini's hilarious musical spoof of all things theatre Forbidden Broadway: The Next Generation. Performances resumed Wednesday, January 15, 2020 at 7:00 p.m. for a limited engagement through Sunday afternoon, February 9, 2020 at The York Theatre Company at Saint Peter's (entrance on East 54th Street, just east of Lexington Avenue).

The York Theatre Company (James Morgan, Producing Artistic Director; Evans Haile, Executive Director), dedicated to the development of new musicals and rediscovery of musical gems from the past, will present the return engagement of Gerard Alessandrini's hilarious musical spoof of all things theatre Forbidden Broadway: The Next Generation.

The Boulet Brothers, whose a?oeDragulaa?? TV series is now in its third season on Netflix and OUTtv.ca, will be special guest hosts at the Saturday, Feb. 1, 10 PM performance of Tom Eyen's a?oeWomen Behind Barsa?? at the Montalban Theatre in Hollywood. Known individually as Dracmorda and Swanthula Boulet, they are internationally-known nightlife producers and hosts who developed the a?oeDragulaa?? TV series based loosely on their long-running club event of the same name, which ran monthly in Los Angeles and San Francisco, with special events in New York and Austin, Texas.

a?oeWomen Behind Bars,a?? the classic Tom Eyen comedy hit, will feature a live special introduction by Kathy Griffin at the Jan. 26 Sunday matinee performance, 3 PM at the Montalban Theatre in Hollywood.   

a?oeWomen Behind Bars,a?? the classic prison comedy by a?oeDreamgirlsa?? writer Tom Eyen, will have its first new Equity revival Jan. 24-Feb. 2, at the 900-seat Montalban Theatre in Hollywood (formerly the Doolittle).   It is being directed and co-produced by award-winning director-choreographer Scott Thompson.

Created by Gerard Alessandrini, the comic mastermind behind the long-running hit Forbidden Broadway and performed by a versatile cast of seven, Spamilton: An American Parody is a side-splitting new musical parody. After tearing it up in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and London, Spamilton: An American Parody will stage a singing, dancing, comedy revolution in Orlando.

Ginger Minj, a fan-favorite on a?oeRuPaul's Drag Racea?? and a?oeRuPaul's Drag Race All-Stars,a?? has joined the cast of the Los Angeles revival of Tom Eyen's cult prison comedy a?oeWomen Behind Bars,a?? playing the role of Ada.  The Equity production will run for eight performances only for two consecutive weekends, Jan. 24-Feb. 2, at the 900-seat Montalban Theatre in Hollywood (formerly the Doolittle), directed by Scott Thompson.  Minj replaces the previously-announced Thorgy Thor, who has withdrawn due to a conflict.  

SPAMILTON: An American Parody tour launched in December 2018 and has been playing several multi-week engagements, hip-hopping around the country. We're bringing the laughter to San Antonio, TX for performances at the Charline McCombs Empire Theatre (226 N. St. Mary's St.) January 14 - 26, 2020. Tickets go on sale Friday December 6th 10:00 AM.

The York Theatre Company will present the return engagement of the hit Off-Broadway production of Gerard Alessandrini's hilarious musical spoof of all things theatre Forbidden Broadway: The Next Generation. Performances are set to resume Wednesday, January 15, 2020 at 7:00 p.m. for a limited engagement through Sunday afternoon, February 9, 2020 at The York Theatre Company at Saint Peter's (entrance on East 54th Street, just east of Lexington Avenue).

A holiday treat chock full of quick changes, outrageous costumes and funny-bone-tickling delights is returning to the corner of Franklin and First in Historic Downtown Clarksville this season.

When Actor/Singer Scott Raneri was pondering a theme for his New York Solo Cabaret Debut Show, he decided to go back to his roots-literally. Last December, Raneri registered to take a DNA test with the ubiquitous genetic testing company 23andMe. Raneri wanted to learn more about his ancestry and his health profile. When he found he was a genetic match with a cousin he didn't know he had, that led to a more startling discovery-that his grandfather was NOT the man who was married to his grandmother, but was a family friend named Butch Marzo. Hence, the show's title.

The Tony Award winning FORBIDDEN BROADWAY, Gerard Alessandrini's hilarious musical spoof of all things theatre, is now in its last weeks of a strictly-limited engagement through December 1st at the Triad Theatre (158 West 72nd Street) After a five-year absence, this all-new edition, FORBIDDEN BROADWAY: THE NEXT GENERATION, received unanimous critical acclaim and was lauded as a 'Critics Pick' by both Ben Brantley and Jesse Green of the New York Times. Roma Torre of NY1 exclaimed 'Seeing Forbidden Broadway back on the boards feels like all is right with the world again'. Feeling 'completely inspired' by the latest crop of Broadway musicals, Alessandrini lampoons The Great White Way's biggest shows and stars in this edition, which he directed. Gerry McIntyre (Spamilton) is the choreographer. The musical is produced by John Freedson, Harriet Yellin, Peter Brash and David Zippel and Gerard Alessandrini, in association with Tzili Charney. www.forbiddenbroadway.com