Forbidden Broadway: Merrily We Stole A Song Digital Program

CREATIVE TEAM

Creator, Writer, Director GERARD ALESSANDRINI
Music Direction FRED BARTON
Choreography GERRY MCINTYRE 
Graphics & Onstage Projection Design GLENN BASSETT
Costume Design DUSTIN CROSS 
Hair & Wigs IAN JOSEPH
Casting MICHAEL CASSARA, CSA
Production Stage Manager BRIAN WESTMORELAND

WHO'S WHO

CHRIS  COLLINS-PISANO (Cast). National Tour: Elf (NETworks), Forbidden Broadway. Off-Broadway: Forbidden Broadway: The Next Generation, Friends! The Musical Parody. Regional: Cape Playhouse, The Z, The Engeman, Gateway Playhouse, St. Michael's Playhouse, Westchester Broadway Theatre. Cabaret: Forbidden Sondheim (MAC Award). CCM grad. Thank you Ben, The Collins-Pisano Clan, Dish and Mikiko. @leaningtowerofpisano

NICOLE  VANESSA  ORTIZ (Cast), from Newark, NJ, is thrilled to make her Forbidden Broadway debut in Merrily We Stole a Song! Her previous roles include Deloris Van Cartier in the 2024 international Asian tour and 2022 Paper Mill Playhouse production of the musical Sister Act, Rusty in Footloose at the Kennedy Center, Sarah in Ragtime at The Serenbe Playhouse (2019 Suzi Bass Award nomination), Smokey Joe's Cafe NY Off-Broadway revival (2019 Chita Rivera Award win) and Spamilton NYC (2017 Off-Broadway Alliance Award). She sends all her love to Gerard Alessandrini and the entire Forbidden Broadway family for this incredible opportunity to bring laughter and joy to everyone. @nicolevortiz

JENNY LEE STERN (Cast) is a Forbidden Broadway veteran having appeared in the original companies of Forbidden Broadway: Alive & Kicking, Forbidden Broadway: The Next Generation, Spamilton and Forbidden Sondheim. She's been seen on Broadway in Rocky and A Christmas Story and toured the country as Mary Delgado in Jersey Boys. Regionally, she has found her niche playing Patsy Cline in Always ... Patsy Cline 12 times in the past 10 years. Jenny Lee is a regular at NYC cabaret spaces 54 Below and Green Room 42 as well as performing at The Cutting Room, Town Hall, Mirkin Hall, Lincoln Center and more. Above all else, she is mother to three humans: Nora, Patsy and Daisy; and two felines: Violet and Sunday. Follow their adventures on lnstagram @pinneddownpinup and on TikTok @theforbiddenbroad. This one's for Gerard.

JOHN WASCAVAGE (Cast). Forbidden Broadway debut! Off Broadway: I Spy a Spy. National tours: Dog Man: The Musical, Murder for Two. Regional credits include Geffen Playhouse, Pittsburgh CLO, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Gulfshore Playhouse, Quantum Theatre, Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre, Sierra Repertory Theatre and many more. Endless gratitude to the Forbidden Broadway team, Adam, my parents and everyone at Avalon Artists Group. Twitter/lnstagram: @JohnWascavage. johnwascavage.com

FRED BARTON (Musical Director) is an acclaimed composer, lyricist, orchestrator, conductor and actor. His symphony arrangements are played regularly at Carnegie Hall and by major symphonies throughout the US. He conducted Anthony Quinn in Zorba, Hal Prince's Cabaret, Cy Coleman's City of Angels and Robert Goulet in Camelot. Mr. Barton was the original arranger and musical director for Forbidden Broadway, Spamilton and Whoop-Dee­ Doo! He wrote book, music and lyrics for Miss Gulch Returns!, still produced nationwide in 2024. For TV, Fred co­ composed "The Magic School Bus," arranged/conducted "Wonder Pets!" and HBO's "Cathouse: The Musical," and supervised "Olivia." Fred has arranged and played for nearly 80 major stars.

GERARD ALESSANDRINI (Creator/Writer/Director) is the Tony® Award­ winning creator/writer/director of the international hits Forbidden Broadway and Spamilton: An American Parody (the spoof of Hamilton). Spamilton enjoyed successful runs in New York, London, Chicago, Los Angeles and all around the world. As of 2024, Spamilton continues to tour nationally. But Gerard is probably best well-known for writing and directing the many editions of Forbidden Broadway and Forbidden Hollywood in New York, London, L.A., Tokyo, etc. Gerard hails from Needham, MA, and graduated from the Boston Conservatory of Music. In 1982, he created and wrote Forbidden Broadway, which has spawned 25 editions, 13 cast albums and an over 40-year run in New York. Gerard was also a member of the original cast of Forbidden Broadway. Television and recording credits include writing comedy specials for Bob Hope and Angela Lansbury on NBC, Carol Burnett on CBS and special lyrics for Barbra Streisand's album Duets Encore. For PBS, he wrote and directed Masterpiece Tonight, a satirical revue saluting Masterpiece Theater's 20th anniversary. As a performer, he can be heard on four of the 13 Forbidden Broadway cast albums and on the soundtracks of Disney's animated classics Aladdin and Pocahontas. Other directing credits include: a new production of Maury Yeston's musical In the Beginning at Maine State Summer Theater. At the York Theater in 2020 he created and directed Anything Can Happen in the Theater: The Songs of Maury Yeston, a new revue of the music of the multiple Tony® Award winner. Off-Broadway, Gerard re-wrote and co-directed a revival of Irving Berlin's last musical, Mr. President, which he also updated and "politically corrected." That same year he also directed an evening of his original theatrical songs entitled Tonight We Sing. For NYMF, he co-wrote and directed a musical version of Madame X. Other recent musicals include The Nutcracker Musical (George Street Playhouse) and the lyrics for a musical version of Paul Mazursky's Moon Over Parador. In 2019, Gerard wrote and directed a new and acclaimed version of Forbidden Broadway: The Next Generation, which also enjoyed a very successful run at The York Theater. Currently, Gerard regularly contributes feature articles on classic films and musicals for the online movie site, Cineluxe.com. In 2024 he wrote and directed Forbidden Sondheim: Merrily We Stole a Song, which won the 2024 MAC Award for Best Musical Revue. Gerard is the recipient of an Obie Award, an Outer Critics Circle Award, two Lucille Lortel Awards and seven Drama Desk Awards as well as a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Drama League. As a Bostonian director/writer, he is also the proud recipient of The Elliot Norton Award, with whom Gerard studied modern drama in college. In 2006, Angela Lansbury presented Gerard a Special Tony®Award Honor for Excellence in Theater.

GERRY MclNTRYRE (Choreographer) recently choreographed and directed Young Frankenstein for Berkshire Theatre Group, Bay Street Theater and Geva Theatre. He won widespread acclaim for choreographing the Berkshire Theatre Group's production of Godspell. Gerry is the associate artistic director of the York Theatre and made his directing debut at the York with Hallelujah Baby. As a choreographer his credits include the Off- Broadway and international hit Spamilton (Ovation and Joe A Callaway nominations), Goodbye Girl (Off-Broadway), Anything Can Happen in the Theatre, Forbidden Broadway: The Next Generation (York Theatre), Nina Simone: Four Women, Songs for a New World, A Chorus Line, Irving Berlin's White Christmas, Side by Side, The Who's Tommy, My Fair Lady (Berkshire Theatre Festival), A Saint She Ain't (Westport Playhouse), Laura Comstocks' Bag Punching Dog (LA Weekly nomination Best Choreography), The Color Purple, Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella, Ragtime, The Wiz (Broadway at Music Circus), Priscilla Queen of the Desert (Gateway Playhouse), After the Storm (documentary). gerrymcintyre.net

GLENN BASSETT (Graphics and Onstage Projection Design) has designed sets and props for Off­ Broadway, opera and regional productions as well as clients including Marc Jacobs, Oscar de la Renta and Vogue. NYC set designs: Forbidden Broadway: The Next Generation, Spamilton, Forbidden Sondheim and Anything Can Happen in the Theatre. Regional sets: Pagliacci, Once, Mamma Mia!, Biloxi Blues, The Matchmaker, Alabama Story, Heaven Can Wait, How the Other Half Loves, Other Desert Cities, On Golden Pond and A Talented Woman, among others.

DUSTIN CROSS (Costume Designer). Fifth Forbidden Broadway production! Off- Broadway (select): Candida, Love Actually?, The Office, The Glass Menagerie, The Other Josh Cohen. Regional (select): Walnut Street, Ogunquit, Tuachan, Engeman Theater, The Rev, Great Lakes Theater, New London Barn Playhouse, Lake Tahoe Shakespeare. Thanks for the Forbidden fam! DustinCross.com @DustinCrossDesigns

IAN JOSEPH (Hair and Wig Designer) is an actor turned designer originally from Long Island, NY, and is a graduate of Syracuse University. Ian previously designed the hair and makeup for Five: The Parody Musical. Ian's work is currently on display at New World Stages with Empire: The Musical and he works yearly since 2020 designing and coordinating the hair for Broadway Bares and Broadway  Backwards with BC/EFA.

MICHAEL CASSARA, CSA (Casting Director) is thrilled to return to Forbidden Broadway, having cast the last five editions, and also the NYC run and tour of Spamilton. Recent credits include American Eclipse (Michael John LaChiusa), Mr. Holland's Opus (dir. BO Wong), An American in Paris (international tour, dir. Christopher Wheeldon) and over 750 productions for top theatres including Gulfshore Playhouse, Argyle Theatre, Weston Theater Company, Hangar Theatre and many more. Resident casting director for National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT) since 2012. BFA, Otterbein University. MichaelCassara.net @michaelcassara

BRIAN  WESTMORELAND  (Stage Manager) recently completed two and a half years as the production stage manager for Disney's The Lion King (U.S. tour/Mexico). Broadway: Phantom of the Opera, A Doll's House, Juan Darien. National tours: The Lion King, Chicago, Annie Warbucks, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Fiddler on the Roof, The King and I. Off-Broadway: Forbidden Broadway, Golf, For Lovers Only, Wanda's World, My Secret Garden, Broadway Kids Sing Broadway and more. Dance: Dance Theatre of Harlem, Ballet Tech and Connecticut Ballet. Regional: Putting It Together, Imagine Tap and many more. UCLA graduate.

JOHN FREEDSON (Producer) has been associated with Forbidden Broadway for most of its four-decade history: as producer, as performer and occasional director (Joseph Jefferson Award­ Chicago). With producing partner Harriet Yellin, he has sent Forbidden Broadway and Forbidden Hollywood across the country and around the globe, including multiple hit engagements at London's Menier Chocolate Factory with David Babani; as well as Singapore, Tokyo and Sydney. Producer of the Special Tony® Award-winning New York company since 1996, in addition to 12 Forbidden Broadway cast recordings for DRG Records. Other credits include Spamilton and I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change. Proud Boston Conservatory and Brandeis alum.

HARRIET YELLIN (Producer) has had a wide-ranging career, from political strategist to theatre producer. She developed media strategies for political candidates and causes across the country, including a stint as national media director for the 1988 Dukakis for President campaign. Her experience in theatre ranges from producer of Off-Broadway shows like Forbidden Broadway and Forever Plaid to general manager of Blue Man Boston, which led to a ten-year tenure as CFO of Blue Man Productions.