Alasdair Harvey and Anna-Jane Casey as Les Miserables in Forbidden Broadway amx

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Forbidden Broadway review

Southwark’s little powerhouse, the Menier Chocolate Factory , has become the go-to place for edgy shows with staying power.

It has transferred seven shows to the West End, ­including La Cage Aux Folles and ­Little Shop of Horrors­, but its latest acquisition could be the strongest.

A musical revue that started in 1982 as a way for actor ­Gerard Alessandrini to get ­noticed, Forbidden Broadway – four performers and a pianist spoofing the best and worst of musical theatre – ran for 27 years in New York, refreshing its songs each season and

out-running Les Mis. It opens in London tonight.

Alessandrini insists his spoofs are born mostly of love of musicals: “Some shows I like very much. We’re taking the p**s out of the hype. It’s fun to find fault with anything, no matter how good it is.”

And when it’s bad, it’s just fodder for the ­funnies. New spoofs for London include Oliver! and ­musicals diva Elaine Paige’s Radio 2 show. Here’s 10 of the best to get your toes tapping.

Oliver!

Original: Consider Yourself

Parody: Considerably High Priced

Why? Like many West End shows, tickets for the blockbuster ain’t cheap. Says Alessandrini: “The pickpockets have to steal to get a ticket.”

The Phantom of the Opera

Original: The Music of the Night

Parody: The Mucus of the Night

Why? Opinion on this ­romantic melodrama divides between masterpiece and mush but, at 23 years old, it’s an immovable force.

Wicked

Original: Defying Gravity

Parody: Defying Subtlety

Why? Diva-packed award-­winning reinvention of The Wizard of Oz has more razzle dazzle than a lorry-load of ­glitter. Says Alessandrini: “It’s great, but not a subtle show.”

Les Miserables

Original: On My Own

Parody: On My Phone

Why? The capital’s ­longest-­running show is stuffed full of extras with little to do, so this really bored one’s texting her mates while waiting to go on.

Hairspray

Original: You Can’t Stop the Beat

Parody: You Can’t Stop

the Camp

Why? Feel-good ­musical with drag-queen mum, here used to poke fun at shows with campy drag characters. “Most everything­ I complain about in the show is true,” adds Alessandrini­. “­Chicago, Cage Aux Folles...”

Annie

Original: Tomorrow

Parody: I’m 30-years-old Tomorrow

Why? Theatre’s most ­optimistic orphan has been adorable for more than 20 years. Just how long can that cheer keep going? “I just love Annie in her red dress and smoking a ­cigarette,” says Alessandrini.

Avenue Q

Original: You Gotta Get a Gimmick

Parody: You Gotta Get a Puppet

Why? Shows with puppets have become major business – you’re nothing ­without a cute lion or a giant man-eating plant.

The Lion King

Original: Can You Feel the Love Tonight

Parody: Can You Feel the Pain Tonight

Why? The Disney ­adaptation looks the business, but ­dressing up as a giant ­elephant has got to be murder on your back. “I talk about the actor who has to suffer through the pain of those costumes,” says Alessandrini.

Equus

Original: Let Me Entertain You

Parody: Let Me Enter Naked

Why? A major part of Daniel Radcliffe’s entry into the world of “serious ­theatre” involved the star of Harry Potter getting his willy out on stage every night.

Mary Poppins

Original: Feed the Birds

Parody: Feed the ’burbs

Why? The West End’s chocka with ancient, populist shows keeping innovation safely on the fringe. “It’s about shows Cameron Mackintosh has ­designed specifically to appeal to people from the suburbs.”

Andrew Lloyd Webber

Original: Memory

Parody: The 80s

Why? The high priest of BBC One’s musical theatre has churned out enough big-­hitting West End shows during the course of his career to keep Westlife in cover ­versions for life. “It’s overly self-pitiful, looking back at his peak in the 80s. Andrew Lloyd ­Webber’s seen it once or twice, and he likes to tell Forbidden ­Broadway-type stories about other shows, so it’s his cup of tea.”

Menier Chocolate Factory , to 13 Sep, Southwark Street, SE1 1RU, 020 7378 1712

Forbidden Broadway review