WSCC announces cast of “Forbidden Broadway’s Greatest Hits”

VICTORY TWP. — West Shore Community College’s Performing Arts Series announces its cast for the long-running off-Broadway hit musical send-up, “Forbidden Broadway’s Greatest Hits,” to play at the Center Stage Theatre August 8 -11.

“The cast we have assembled for this show is supremely stellar,” says Rick Plummer, director of the production. “Each of them brings mounds of heavy-hitting, hilarious talent in the form of their powerhouse voices, dead-on impressions, and overall grasp of the spoof genre, one that is difficult for even the most seasoned actors to undertake.”

Within the zippy 100-minute show, the eight actors each take on multiple roles, lightning-fast quick changes, and break-neck multiple personality adjustments, bringing to the Center Stage Theater a livewire, high-energy musical review sending up nearly 20 musicals of the past decade.

Bringing to life Broadway leading ladies Liza Minnelli, Carol Channing, and “Wicked’s” Idina Menzel is WSCC favorite Michelle Kiessel, channeling these songstresses and impersonating them perfectly.

Last February, Kiessel was seen, along with “Forbidden Broadway” cast members Erin Wall, Sean Gilbert, and Abraham Krause, in Lakeside Civic Player’s production of “RENT,” a musical that is not safe from being spoofed in this production.

The musical also parodies the film legend Barbra Streisand and hilariously shows audiences what happened to the red-headed orphan, Annie, 30 years later.

Krause and Gilbert team up to lampoon “RENT,” with Gilbert also lampooning the over-indulgent Broadway leading man, Mandy Patinkin, and “Les Miserables” star Colm Wilkinson in the act one finale.

The other half of the cast is made up of area favorites Cody Hodges, Elliot Plummer, Taylor Roberts, and Dani Smith.

Hodges dons drag in this production, playing Broadway belter Ethel Merman and gravel-gargling Harvey Fierstein in the “Hairspray” send-up “You Can’t Stop the Camp.”   Plummer shields half of his face as “The Phantom of the Opera,” pokes fun at the wonky melodies of Stephen Sondheim during “Into the Words,” and belts out “The Song They Stole from Us,” a song spoofing the Monty Python musical “Spamalot.”

Taylor Roberts, last seen as Dorothy in the “Wizard of Oz” at WSCC, tears up the stage with Dani Smith as the two portray fiery leading ladies Chita Rivera and Rita Moreno, both of whom are out to prove that they’re not the other. Roberts also provides lead vocals in the “A Chorus Line” spoof, and a Mamma Mia send-up is sure to have audiences howling.

To purchase or reserve tickets for the musical, call 231-843-5507, or stop by the Center Stage Theater Box Office located in the Arts & Science Center. Visa, Master Card, Discover credit cards are accepted.

Information is also available at www.westshore.edu.