4 Reasons to See “Forbidden Broadway: Merrily We Stole a Song”

The show Forbidden Broadway: Merrily We Stole a Song walks a fine line between roasting Broadway shows and reveling in them. It poses questions like “Has Broadway become vapid?,” “Is the theatre-going audience satisfied with triteness?,” “Is Broadway boring, or beloved?” The cast of “Merrily We Stole a Song” is able to get us thinking about all of that while providing a wildly entertaining show. The irony is, of course, that the show is a traveling production satirically-roasting/respectfully-toasting Broadway, including shows that have been, and are about to be, showing in the same Denver Center for the Performing Arts Complex.

Here are four reasons why you’ll want to go see Merrily We Stole a Song:

1. The cast is very talented. Chris Collins-Pisano and Miles Davis Tillman, meander in and out of their various characters easily, carrying tunes and carrying the audience along through their various roles of Broadway shows. But it’s Katheryne Penny and Nicole Vanessa Ortiz, who not only provide comic relief but great physicality and beautiful voices. While the four actors appear in various combinations in different scenes, it’s Jack Lipson at the piano, who is on stage and playing every single song! The audience is so focused on the four actors, it really isn’t until Lipson stands up to take a bow at the end that the audience realizes “Oh, yeah, that guy’s been playing this entire time!” So, when you go, take note of him and appreciate the stamina and talent it takes to do what he does.
2. If you love Broadway, you’ll love this show. But if someone dragged you to it and you loathe Broadway, live theater, and especially musical theatre, you’ll likely love this show. Why? Because Merrily simultaneously makes fun of it and honors it. The fact that it’s a really fun and funny show makes it good for everyone. I will say, though, ardent Broadway fan or not, it can be hard to understand the really fast-paced references flying by in the musical numbers. And it’s ALL musical numbers.
3. The show is educational. I, for example, did not know there was such a difference in versions of Cabaret. But the cast of Merrily We Stole a Song demonstrates the metamorphosis between Joel Grey’s “the Emcee” character, Alan Cumming’s saucier take, and, most recently, a more demented Eddie Redmayne’s. (An aside: my Broadway-loving elementary school music teacher had us little 5-year-olds belting out Cabaret’s big hits in the Spring production. No wonder all the parents were exchange glances…)
4. It’s good for any age. I don’t know that I’ve seen such a wide age range in an audience than I saw the night we went to Merrily We Stole a Song. There was a tweenage boy with his parents, quite a few “elderly” people and the rest fell somewhere in between. Certainly, there are plenty of nods to recent and current Broadway shows like & Juliet, (which runs June 4-15, 2025 at DCPA’s Buell Theatre), Oh, Mary, The Outsiders, Suffs, and others. But there are also plenty of references to shows in the past 10-20 years such as Wicked, The Lion King, Annie, Back to the Future, and CATS (see this post’s opening image from the Jellicle Ball scene). A little less time could have been spent roasting Stephen Sondheim (and the final but-you-gotta-love-him salute to the word-smithing/word-stuffing king of Broadway musicals), to instead include a few older classics like Carousel or Oklahoma.

   

Scene Stealers to Watch for:

Katheryne Penny does a spot-on portrayal of Bernadette Peters, the perky, saucy, coily-red-haired actress and singer who never seems to go out of style (see her most recently in High Desert, tick, tick… BOOM! and Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist). Penny got Peter’s vibe and mannerisms perfectly, including the pursed way she holds her mouth when singing. She spoofs Frozen, telling people to tear up their tickets and “let it go,” a show she, herself, performed in. Penny also does an amazing job of moving her body like she is boneless. We couldn’t get enough of her.

Miles David Tillman gives a spittle-filled nod to Jonathan Groff as Chris Collins-Pisano looks amazingly like Danial Radcliff, as Katheryne Penny joins them to parody the “Old Friend” song from Merrily We Roll Along (the inspo for this Forbidden Broadway’s title).

Another shoutout goes to Nicole Vanessa Ortiz for playing Cynthia Erivo-playing-Elphaba in Wicked with Broadway show and mega movie sensation intersecting. The end of the scene hilarious. And her voice – wowza!

The Forbidden Broadway shows have been around for 35 years, taking on different editions as theater evolves. Love musical theater or hate it, this show’s for you.

Forbidden Broadway: Merrily We Role Along runs May 28-June 29 at the Garner Galleria Theatre.

-By Courtney Drake-McDonough, Publisher & Managing Editor, In Good Taste Denver