The artistry, or lack thereof, on the Great White Way is a popular topic in Alessadrini’s show, but the business and financial aspects are not ignored and touched upon several times in the Special Victims Unit performance. The title song of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast is rewritten to be “Beauty’s Been Decreased,” and The Lion King’s “Can You Feel the Love Tonight?” changes the word “love” to “pain,” addressing the actor’s costumes and how their physical ailments are treated by a doctor “who works for Disney, too.”

“I’m not for commercialism,” he said. “I think it’s OK to an extent, but when it’s only that, when people aren’t experiencing the storytelling of theatre, I think they’re missing something. When the finances make it impossible that only spectacle or commercial theatre can be done, that’s unfortunate. I don’t mind being the person to say that.”

While a new production of the show comes out about every two years, Alessandrini frequently updates his skits to include recent openings or closings. He compared his comedic work to being the fashion editor of a magazine. Despite Forbidden Broadway being a small show, he considers its appeal broad, and if the material becomes tired, it can be renewed and refreshed.

While his parodies can be quite scathing, Alessandrini is generous with his praise of the current Broadway season. Ad admirer of Grey Gardens and Spring Awakening, he was impressed by both show’s sound and storytelling.

“I’d like to see more of what Grey Gardens and The Light in the Piazza and Avenue Q accomplished,” he said. “Those were new ways to integrate the songs into the stories and tell the stories. And we always have great revivals. If you look at any great musical, that’s what they are – singular. Unique. That’s why they’re great – each one has to reinvent the one for its own world.”

While Alessandrini has ambitions of his own writing, he plans to continue Forbidden Broadway as well.

“I don’t want to do it just for the sake of doing it,” he said. “I keep my pencil sharp.”