Meet the homegrown cast of 'Forbidden Broadway: Alive and Kicking!'

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“Forbidden Broadway: Alive & Kicking,” a comic roast of Broadway, returns to the Garner Galleria Theatre on Nov. 15.  From left: Joshua Archer, Chad Reagan, Sarah Rex, Jordan Leigh and Lauren Shealy. Not pictured: Katie Drinkard. Photos by John Moore for the DCPA. To see our full, downloadable photo gallery with the cast of “Forbidden Broadway: Alive & Kicking!,” click here.

Forbidden Broadway: Alive & Kicking! skewers all things musical theatre, but you don’t have to be a Big Apple insider to enjoy it.

“The writers seem to have figured out a way to make it work for rabid musical theatre fans and more casual fans alike,” said actor Jordan Leigh, who is part of an all-local ensemble who put the Denver in the Forbidden Broadway.

This returning favorite has since 1981 offered an always fresh and always changing comic parody of recent Broadway shows and tried-and-true classics. The evening features outrageous costumes, hilarious rewrites of songs you already know well, and dead-on impressions of actors and characters who have become part of the pop-culture landscape.

What shows will the writers take on specifically for Denver?

That’s “forbidden” information, but it’s a good bet the cast will have some comedy “magic to do” regarding Pippin, which recently launched its first national tour at the Buell Theatre, as well as Kinky Boots, Matilda and The Book of Mormon. Every show in every city is different, but some of the Broadway classics that often pop up for parody include My Fair Lady, Wicked, The Phantom of the Opera and The Lion King.

Adding to the familiarity for Denver audiences will be a cast of performers who all call Denver home. Leigh was part of the longest-running show in Denver theatre history, I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, which ran for four years at the Garner Galleria Theatre. He’s also been seen at the DCPA in Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, Five-Course Love and The Taming of the Shrew.

His castmates will include Lauren Shealy (I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change; A Christmas Carol), Sarah Rex (Five Course Love) and noted opera baritone Chad Reagan. Their understudies are Joshua Archer, a University of Northern Colorado senior who just completed a busy summer with the Colorado Shakespeare Festival, and Highlands Ranch native Katie Drinkard.

Leigh calls Forbidden Broadway a win-win for the local theatre community – and the audience.

“I feel lucky to have the opportunity to be working at the highest level that Denver has to offer, and to share the stage with incredible talent,” Leigh said. “Plus, I think audiences like seeing actors they know.”

See our full photo gallery:

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To see our full, downloadable photo gallery with the cast of “Forbidden Broadway: Alive & Kicking!,” click here. All photos by John Moore.

Meet the cast:

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Forbidden_Broadway_Casting_JordanJordan Leigh

Hometown: Born in Denver, raised in Southern Cal … Broncos fan forever! (South Park premiered the year I returned to my Colorado birthplace and the Broncos won their first Super Bowl. Coincidence? I think not.)

High School: Palm Springs

College: UCLA, majoring in Theatre

First Broadway musical you saw: Cats in 1985

First musical you were in: Alice In Wonderland. I played the White Rabbit.

Favorite charity: Anything having to do with helping animals!

One thing you are forbidden from doing:  I’m a vegetarian, so I forbid myself from eating meat.

One musical that is rife for Forbidden Broadway satire: Well, not to avoid the question or anything, but I think the creators of Forbidden Broadway kind of have their finger on that pulse.  So I will say … all the musicals we satirize in our show! (And anything Disney).

Name your own cologne, starting with Forbidden (fill in the blank):
I’m a natural-scent, animal-welfare kind of guy, so mine would be called: Eau de Forbidden Testing On Animals In Order To Cover Up Your Sickly Sweet Human Musk.


Forbidden_Broadway_Poppins_Lauren_ShealyLauren Shealy

Hometown: Centennial

High School: Arapahoe

College: Metropolitan State, majoring in Secondary English Licensure; BFA in Drama from NYU

First Broadway musical you saw: The national touring production of The Secret Garden at the Buell Theater in 1993.

First musical you were in: Santa Says No. I played Mrs. Claus.

Favorite charity: The Girl Rising Fund, which aims to remove barriers to education faced by many girls in developing nations.

One thing you are forbidden from doing: When I was a little girl, my parents forbade gum. My father was afraid my sisters and I would “aspirate” the treat.

One musical that is rife for Forbidden Broadway satire: Floyd Collins. I don’t know if many people know this musical. The story draws directly from the entrapment and subsequent death of a miner inside a cave in 1925. The musical is absolutely genius, but the super-serious subject matter, Kentucky dialect and Adam Guettel’s distinct musical style could provide the raw material for a great parody.

Name your own perfume, starting with Forbidden (fill in the blank):
Forbidden Donut

Forbidden_Broadway_Casting_RexSarah Rex

Hometown: North Reading, Mass.

High School: North Reading

College: Oral Roberts University, majoring in Music Education

First Broadway musical you saw: Yul Brynner in the national touring production of The King and I in Boston. I can’t tell you what year it was. … I just can’t.

First musical you were in: Lil Abner in ninth grade. I was one of the scientists.

Favorite charity: Susan G. Komen for the Cure, raising money to fight breast cancer.

One thing you are forbidden from doing: Going near snake pits. I have a strange phobia of snakes.

One musical that is rife for Forbidden Broadway satire: Fifty Shades the Musical. I say, “Let’s spoof the spoof!”

Name your own perfume, starting with Forbidden (fill in the blank):
Forbidden Stank … “You will stank no more with a spritz of Forbidden Stank. The odor of true love!”

Forbidden_Broadway_Casting_ReaganChad Reagan

Hometown: I am a third-generation Denverite, and fifth-generation Coloradan

High School: Sheridan

College: University of Northern Colorado majoring in Voice with a minor in Economics

Graduate school at DU in Opera Performance.  

First Broadway musical you saw: The national touring production of The Phantom of the Opera at the Denver Center in 1997

First musical you were in: I was in Bye Bye, Birdie as member of the ensemble. The first actual role I had was as Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls.  

Favorite charity: I have always been a big supporter of Merkins for Hope. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist a 30 Rock reference). … But actually, I have always tried to support the March of Dimes whenever possible.

One thing you are forbidden from doing: Speaking to my wife in a German accent for more than five minutes in a day. … Or in any accent, for that matter.  

One musical that is rife for Forbidden Broadway satire: It has to be Rocky. I mean, did you see the Tony Awards?!

Name your own cologne, starting with Forbidden (fill in the blank):
This really funny, because in college I actually joked with my friends about my own line of cologne that nobody would actually want to buy under my “… by Chadwick” guise. Two of my favorites were Pittz and Hamper. I don’t know either of those would sound following the word Forbidden: Forbidden PittzForbidden Hamper. Sketchy. But they sound hilarious when you whisper the words “by Chadwick” after you say them. Try it: Forbidden Pittzby Chadwick. Forbidden Hamper … by Chadwick. See what I mean? But I guess in semi-seriousness I would say Forbidden Opulence, because, well … why not? I think it is good for people to know that I have a (not-so) secret desire to be an early era Hip-Hop artist, and that I know Rapper’s Delight by heart.

Forbidden_Broadway_Casting_ArcherJoshua Archer

Hometown: San Antonio, Texas

High School: Lady Bird Johnson

College: Finishing up my senior year at the University of Northern Colorado, majoring in Musical Theatre

First Broadway musical you saw: Once’ in the summer of 2012

First musical you were in: As a high-school freshman, I auditioned for West Side Story and I got the one Jet who doesn’t have any lines. Correction: the only Jet with no lines. The character’s name was Mouthpiece … and I’m not kidding.

Favorite charity: Hope World Wide, I’ve worked them my entire life both in the U.S. and overseas. It is an incredible charity dedicated to ending the hardships of poverty around the world.

One thing you are forbidden from doing: Nothing … so far!

One musical that is rife for Forbidden Broadway satire: The obvious answer is anything involving Mandy Patinkin. But I think Les Miserables, because even though it’s one of my all-time favorites, it also has got such high drama that it’s practically begging for us to make fun of it. 

Name your own cologne, starting with Forbidden (fill in the blank):
Forbidden Chocolate. Oh, sorry that’s the forbidden snack I most want. I think I would call my cologne Forbidden Contact: It’s got a dark, musky … manly smell. I don’t know. I think it would sell well though! 


Forbidden_Broadway_Katie_Drinkard_300Katie Drinkard

Hometown: Highlands Ranch

High School: ThunderRidge

College: Ithaca College Class of 2014, BFA Musical Theatre

First Broadway musical you saw: Les Miserables in 2002

First musical you were in: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and I was in the chorus of children (rocking that colored T-shirt)

Favorite charity: Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS

One thing you are forbidden from doing:  I should be forbidden from going anywhere near a track-and-field hurdle course. My first track of meet of middle school, I attempted to compete in hurdles having never attempted the event before. It was truly a valiant and courageous effort, coupled with a lot of contact with the ground, and I don’t think I will ever be the same.

One musical that is rife for Forbidden Broadway satire: I can’t think of one that fits the bill that hasn’t already been Forbidden Broadway-ified. I think the shows that are most rife for satire are anything big budget or “epic” where mimicking the sheer enormity, scale, and drama of the production is inherently comical.

Name your own perfume, starting with Forbidden (fill in the blank):
OK, I will call it Forbidden Fantasy. … I went for the alliteration. 


Forbidden Broadway: Alive & Kicking!

Created by Gerard Alessandrini
November 15 through March 1
Garner Galleria Theatre
Run time: 1 hour 40 minutes, including a 15-minute intermission
Tickets: Start at $25
Age recommendation: Appropriate for children 8+
303-893-4100
DenverCenter.Org

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Photo by John Moore for the DCPA. To see our full, downloadable photo gallery with the cast of “Forbidden Broadway: Alive & Kicking!,” click here.

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