Daily Pioneer News

PLATTEVILLE - The next event in the University of Wisconsin-Platteville Center for the Arts Performing Arts Series will be "Forbidden Broadway - Special Victims Unit" on March 4. There will be two performances: one at 3 p.m. and another at 8 p.m. in the Richard and Helen Brodbeck Concert Hall, located in the Center for the Arts building on campus.

"Forbidden Broadway," a musical that spoofs the show tunes, characters and plots of Broadway musicals, is on the road again with their newest edition, in a national tour presented by John Freedson and Harriet Yellin. Every year Gerard Alessandrini, the show's creator and writer, updates his homage to Broadway's biggest shows and brightest stars. Now celebrating its record-breaking 24th year in New York, this year's Special Victims Unit includes the puppets of "Avenue Q," the witches of "Wicked," Robert Goulet in "La Cage aux Folles," Billy Joel's "Movin Out," and new looks at old favorites "Little Shop of Horrors," "Les Miz," "Beauty and the Beast," "The Lion King" and "Chicago." Rounding out the laughs are Mel Brooks' "The Producers," Abba's "Mamma Mia," and "Thoroughly Modern Millie," with much more Broadway past and present.

Also in the police lineup are Brooke Shields, Bernadette Peters, Liza Minnelli, Hugh Jackman, Harvey Fierstein, and Melanie Griffith, in addition to legends Ethel Merman and Carol Channing. "Forbidden Broadway" is the recipient of an Obie award, the Outer Critics Circle Award and the 2005 Drama Desk Award for Best Off Broadway Musical. Audiences may learn more about "Forbidden Broadway" and watch a highlight video by visiting the Center for the Arts website at"http://www.uwplatt.edu/arts/cfa.

Tickets for this event are $30 for adults, $28 for senior citizens and UWP faculty, $15 for UWP students, and $22 for children under 18. Tickets are available through the University Box Office, which is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and can be reached by calling (608) 342-1298. The University Box Office is located in the lobby of the Center for the Arts on the UWP campus on West Main Street.

Contact: John Hassig, CFA director of Performing and Visual Arts, (608) 342-1267,hassigj@uwplatt.edu