Forbidden Broadway Cleans Up Its Act

By William Tynan

For 16 years Alessandrini has been having his cream pie and throwing it too. Subverting Broadway's hit tunes with wickedly irreverent parody lyrics, he has created a series of satirical revues that skewer musical theater. This latest edition is one of his sharpest yet. Here, a protean cast of four derides Disney's Lion King in The Circle of Mice. Footloose? Screwloose. Best of all is Alessandrini's new take on the decade-old Les Mis, which offers up dread-inspiring thoughts in the number Ten Years More. Even Victor Hugo would chuckle.

--By William Tynan