1,448 stories by "Peter Filichia"
By Peter Filichia
Had all gone well, a revival of Pump Boys and Dinettes would have opened on April 8, 2013.
But two months to the day before the planned opening, the six produ…
What would Jesus think?
Would he approve of Bill Russell?
After all, Russell got his theatrical start by appearing in a passion play that dutifully and sincerely honored Jesus' name.
By Peter Filichia
During his long career, Ed Ames only made two appearances on Broadway. In 1962, he took over for Jerry Orbach as Paul the puppeteer in Carnival; then in 1963, he ori…
In lo these many decades I've been interviewing, I've always concluded with the same question.
Here's an easy prediction to make. Theater teachers and high school drama club members who weren't in Lincoln, Nebraska last week didn't have nearly as good a time as those who trekked to th…
I once asked Charles Strouse if he expected that "Baby, Talk to Me" would be Bye Bye Birdie's big hit.
After all, it was the first featured song in the overture, placed and played wit…
It was the month in which Mark Rylance didn't give an asinine acceptance speech. Meanwhile, JERSEY BOYS had to start advertising "Live! On Stage!" while that show at the Majestic finally got…
Most of the hundreds of original cast albums have of course been recorded in studios. A few have been recorded live, such as Nikolaus Harnoncourt's Porgy & Bess, the British Moby Dick an…
Whodunnit? One thing's for certain: in the musical MURDER BALLAD, the butler didn't. He couldn't have, for none of the characters in this 2012 musical works in that capacity. Michael is a po…
They pored over 50 sports references found in lines or lyrics in Broadway musicals. Only Joe Keenan got all 50 -- so I'll inform the rest of you what he knew that you didn't.
By Peter Filichia
What a nice event at the Spiral Theatre Studio last Wednesday night. At Richard Skipper Celebrates, a chat-series helmed by the eponymous raconteur, the ever-charmin…
Of course you know ANYTHING GOES and KISS ME, KATE. You probably know CAN-CAN, SILK STOCKINGS, OUT OF THIS WORLD and perhaps MEXICAN HAYRIDE as well. And while you would know plenty more Col…
Two middle-aged character men, one middle-aged character woman, one set, one piano, everyday contemporary clothes (well, okay, one mink coat), and you're in business. In fact, you don't even…
By Peter Filichia
All right, most of us don't like the semi-recent phenomenon of "jukebox musicals." And yet, we must admit that far more often than not such shows spur entertaining o…
May 26, 1985. Rome. I'd just finished seeing TAXI A DUE PIAZZE.
That may not translate to RUN FOR YOUR WIFE, but that was the title given to Ray Cooney's farce about bigamy.
Here's the way to advertise it: "From the composer-lyricist of WICKED, PIPPIN and GODSPELL." That's ad copy that'll sell tickets " and you wouldn't be lying. Oh, your audience may think you'…
By Peter Filichia
So many of us who are crying out for original musicals are doubly grateful for If/Then " because it gives us two of them.
Bookwriter-lyricist Brian Yorkey doe…
So we come to the end of another season, one that was supposed to create record grosses thanks to the Super Bowl's February appearance in nearby Rutherford. But Broadway got no significant b…
In his program bio, Will Shunk stated that he is "a fifth grade student" who was "born with CP" — cerebral palsy " "which affects his ability to control his body." Shunk then added, "H…
By Peter Filichia
On Friday, May 16, when the Dow Jones average hit 16,491, I interviewed the woman who'd hundreds of times said that the Dow had hit 1,000.
She was lying. But …
Here is a new article from Peter Filichia’s column on Kritzerland called ‘Filichia on Friday.’ It’s an honor to bring Peter’s column every week to our reader…
All the nominations are out, and even some awards (such as the Outer Critics' Circle) have been dispensed. Time to move on to the new season. Welcome, 2014-2015!
On the list of things that people fear most in life, you'll always find "Getting up in front of a crowd and speaking." A hundred or so New York City tweens and teens conquered that fear long…
<p>By Peter Filichia</p>
<p>Even a splendid production of <i>Allegro</i>, such as the one that Tom Wojtunik is delivering right now at The Astoria Perfor…
Here is a new article from Peter Filichia’s column on Kritzerland called ‘Filichia on Friday.’ It’s an honor to bring Peter’s column every week to our reader…
