1,448 stories by "Peter Filichia"
It was the month that I saw a musical revue at the Mark Hellinger Theatre.
Well, in a manner of speaking. On Dec. 21 at 7 p.m., I attended a free concert called Come Home for Christmas at…
This weekend, THE WHO’S TOMMY is enjoying yet another permutation at the White Plains Performing Arts Center. Producing artistic director Jeremy Quinn is giving the 1993 musical hit on…
Before the year comes to an official end, let's remember some of the artists that we lost this year.
While they aren't with us any longer, there is a consolation: we can still hear them on …
So while I was stuck in Cincinnati during Hurricane Sandy, my buddy John Ellis took me to Half Price Books, where I happened to spot a book called 45 RPM: The History, Heroes & Villains of a…
"Exciting New Musical 1963." So said the circular yellow sticker that London Records pasted on the cover of every original cast album of RIVERWIND. Actually, if we're going to get technical …
On December 21 -- which is the shortest day of the year in terms of daylight " why not play "The Shortest Day of the Year"?
It's the song that can be found about halfway through The Boys fr…
What a golden time it is for theater! The Golden Land, the excellent Zalmen Mlotek musical about immigrants finding their way in America, has met with such approval that it's now been extend…
Now that BRING IT ON is finishing its extended run on Broadway, the time will soon come when you'll be able to present it, too. It's Music Theatre International's newest acquisition. Because…
By Peter Filichia --
It's been more than ten years since I had a certain conversation with Michael Kunze, but I remember it as if it were yesterday.
Kunze was in New York because the music…
Before the year comes to an end, let's take a look at the state of musical theater art in late 2012.
Let's face it: most directors of professional or community productions of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee cast too old. They seem to ignore the fact that this competition is suppo…
By Peter Filichia --
A few weeks ago, we talked about the 25-disc "Broadway in a Box" set as a holiday present for newcomers to musical theater. If that's a little too rich for your blood, …
Thirty-one years ago this week, Broadway saw the last of MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG. Granted, the then-new 1981 Stephen Sondheim musical had a hard act to follow: SWEENEY TODD, the 1979 musical (…
It was the month that Jumbo opened at the Hippodrome (well, in 1935), that Don Juan in Hell debuted at the New Century (in 1951) and Anya opened at the Ziegfeld (in 1965).
By Peter Filichia --
If you're quite familiar with the 1966 original Broadway cast album of Cabaret, two lyrics are going to jump out at you when you listen to the 1968 original London cas…
We're all so lucky to live in an age where Ethan Mordden writes about musical theater.
"Fifty years from now, they’ll still be arguing about the grassy knoll, the Mafia, some Cuban crouched behind a stockade fence." So says Lee Harvey Oswald’s role model in ASSASSI…
By Peter Filichia --
"Judi sings her way to a hit!"
So said the critic for the London Daily Mirror on Leap Year Day, 1968. The Judi in question, as I don't have to inform any musical th…
As I mentioned last week, Hurricane Sandy kept me from posting the Leftovers that I usually relate at the end of each month. Would that that were the worst thing to happen during the God-awf…
Before you know it, there'll be only 12 days to Christmas and not plenty of time to do your Christmas shopping. What to get your literate friends who still enjoy having shelves in their apar…
I've talked about many a musical in the last year, but now I'll talk about a play I saw on Broadway last week: The Heiress by Ruth and Augustus Goetz. Not simply because Moisés Kaufman's pr…
By Peter Filichia --
At one point during my listening to the terrific reissue of the 1968 original London cast album of Cabaret, I suddenly thought of Gladys Troupin.
She was the pianist…
At the York Theatre Company, CLOSER THAN EVER closed last week, but after a much longer-than-ever expected run. The revival of the 1989 Richard Maltby, Jr.-David Shire revue that had opened …
As I write this, it's Wednesday and I'm in Cincinnati, far from the home and computer that I love, not to mention all my Leftover notes. I came here last Friday to see the Cincinnati Conserv…
By Peter Filichia --
When friends start discussing musical theater "charm songs" -- and believe me, in my circle, we do -- the usual masterpieces are mentioned. "Getting to Know You" from …
