Tuesday, March 12, 2024

THE SKINNY ON SUPERSTAR By Peter Filichia

Frank Loesser, of GUYS AND DOLLS and HOW TO SUCCEED fame, once asked “What are you doing New Year’s Eve?” Instead, I’ll ask “What are you doing on Tuesday, March 19 at 7:30 p.m.?�…

SOURCE: Masterworks Broadway at 06:00AM
Tuesday, March 5, 2024

THE EVER-GRAND GRAND HOTEL By Peter Filichia

Memories of 1989 came flooding back. Last week, Walter Willison, an original cast member of GRAND HOTEL, edited, produced and directed a marvelous 35th anniversary tribute to the musical. It…

SOURCE: Masterworks Broadway at 06:00AM
Tuesday, February 27, 2024

IT’S NATIONAL RETRO DAY! By Peter Filichia

So, did you know that February 27th is National Retro Day? I remembered this while approaching the August Wilson Theatre. The great playwright for whom the theater was named had the brillian…

SOURCE: Masterworks Broadway at 11:03AM
Tuesday, February 20, 2024

REMEMBERING CHITA RIVERA by Peter Filichia

When a celebrity reaches an advanced age, journalists start writing an obituary, knowing that the star’s death could come at any moment. Considering that all others who write about theater…

SOURCE: Masterworks Broadway at 01:29PM
Tuesday, February 13, 2024

52 REASONS TO CELEBRATE GREASE By Peter Filichia

Considering that anniversaries are deemed significant when they end in “5” or “0,” why make a big deal of GREASE’s 52nd? Yet 52 is an apt number because young producers Ken Waissma…

SOURCE: Masterworks Broadway at 06:00AM
Tuesday, February 6, 2024

THAT NIGHT ON THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW By Peter Filichia

On February 9, we’ll celebrate the 60th anniversary of what was then the most-watched event in television history. No fewer than 73,000,000 viewers tuned in to The Ed Sullivan Show that Su…

SOURCE: Masterworks Broadway at 06:00AM
Tuesday, January 30, 2024

MORE THAN ONCE UPON A MATTRESS By Peter Filichia 

So, for the first time since the Sarah Jessica Parker revival in 1996, ONCE UPON A MATTRESS was back in the Broadway theater district last week. Although more than a quarter century has pass…

SOURCE: Masterworks Broadway at 06:00AM
Tuesday, January 23, 2024

THE BEST CONCERT OF THE ‘80S By Peter Filichia

Ever hear of PopDaze? The website, we’re told, is “the place to learn, interact, and relive your youth with other fans, as you explore and play with the music, entertainment, and pop cul…

SOURCE: Masterworks Broadway at 06:00AM
Tuesday, January 16, 2024

HELLO, 60TH! By Peter Filichia

So, what does January 16, 2024, mean to musical theater fans? The 60th anniversary of the Broadway opening of HELLO, DOLLY! Let’s celebrate with 60 facts, observations and rumors. 1. DOLLY…

SOURCE: Masterworks Broadway at 06:00AM
Tuesday, January 9, 2024

WHAT COMES FIRST – THE MUSIC OR THE LYRICS? By Peter Filichia

So far, 351 people have given their opinions on a question I asked on Facebook. And, my, have I been surprised with what so many wrote. Let’s start at the very beginning. My beloved Linda …

SOURCE: Masterworks Broadway at 06:00AM
Tuesday, January 2, 2024

THE TIME TRAVELLER’S WIFE, HUSBAND AND DAUGHTER By Peter Filichia

No, Henry does not have commitment issues. Clare knows that’s not the reason why the boyfriend who became her husband doesn’t see her for long periods of time. From the outset, she knew …

SOURCE: Masterworks Broadway at 12:38PM
Tuesday, December 26, 2023

AS 2023 COMES TO AN END … By Peter Filichia

No, Oxford’s “Word of the Year” for 2023 is not a nickname for a character in GREASE. But by now, you probably know that “rizz” doesn’t refer to Rizzo. It’s a short way of sayi…

SOURCE: Masterworks Broadway at 06:00AM
Tuesday, December 19, 2023

MERRILY: NOTHING’S THE WAY THAT IT WAS IN KAUFMAN AND HART By Peter Filichia

Whether you loved it 42 years ago or sometime after, here’s a way to have even more respect for MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG. Read the original play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. You’ll f…

SOURCE: Masterworks Broadway at 06:00AM
Tuesday, December 12, 2023

MERRILY: BEYOND THE ILLS OF THE ‘80S By Peter Filichia

Stephen Sondheim is getting closer to breaking his own record. His 1964 musical ANYONE CAN WHISTLE ran a mere nine performances but has received three cast albums. First, the one with the or…

SOURCE: Masterworks Broadway at 06:00AM
Tuesday, December 5, 2023

THE KIT KAT CABARET By Peter Filichia

Has this ever happened before? Go to the August Wilson Theatre, and you’ll see the words “The Kit Kat Club” on all three sides of the marquee. Above it is a two-sided sign that says th…

SOURCE: Masterworks Broadway at 06:00AM
Tuesday, November 28, 2023

A NICE PLACE TO VISIT By Peter Filichia

Channel-surfing brought me to a program that started me thinking and made me disagree with what it had to say. It was a first-season episode of THE TWILIGHT ZONE called “A Nice Place to Vi…

SOURCE: Masterworks Broadway at 06:00AM
Tuesday, November 21, 2023

THE REAL PAL JOEY By Peter Filichia

Granted, hearing most any song with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Lorenz Hart is a pleasure. However, some theatergoers were disappointed to hear so many of them in the recent PAL J…

SOURCE: Masterworks Broadway at 11:13AM
Tuesday, November 14, 2023

GET IT: WHOLESALE By Peter Filichia

Whether you’re discovering or revisiting Harold Rome’s score for I CAN GET IT FOR YOU WHOLESALE, you’ll have a splendid time. The 1962 musical was not his biggest hit. The revues PINS …

SOURCE: Masterworks Broadway at 06:00AM
Tuesday, November 7, 2023

HERE’S TO THE LADIES WHO TALKED By Peter Filichia

He’s the one who put together dozens of interviews for his previous tomes. One was called A Wonderful Guy: Conversations with the Great Men of Musical Theater. Before that, though, he prov…

SOURCE: Masterworks Broadway at 06:00AM
Tuesday, October 31, 2023

TITANIC SAILS AGAIN By Peter Filichia

If you see the Oscar-winning film TITANIC at your local multiplex on November 4 or 8, you may soon be asking yourself a question. Has there ever been a musical that offers more dramatic iron…

SOURCE: Masterworks Broadway at 06:00AM
Tuesday, October 24, 2023

MERRILY AT LAST ROLLS ALONG ON BROADWAY By Peter Filichia

So where were all of you 42 years ago? MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG certainly could have used you then. All right, many of you who are reading this weren’t yet born, or you hadn’t yet reached t…

SOURCE: Masterworks Broadway at 06:00AM
Tuesday, October 17, 2023

ANSWERS FOR BROADWAY GENIUSES By Peter Filichia

Faithful readers will recall that last week I gave some selections from my new book BRAINTEASERS FOR BROADWAY GENIUSES – now available, as they say, “in fine bookstores everywhere.” If…

SOURCE: Masterworks Broadway at 06:00AM
Tuesday, October 10, 2023

BRAINTEASERS FOR BROADWAY GENIUSES By Peter Filichia

For the last 14 years, I’ve spent most of my Sunday mornings on www.broadwayradio.com. It’s James Marino’s podcast that also features eminent critic Michael Portantiere. One of the seg…

SOURCE: Masterworks Broadway at 06:00AM
Tuesday, October 3, 2023

NATIONAL DO SOMETHING NICE DAY By Peter Filichia

I vehemently disagree with Little Red Riding Hood. In INTO THE WOODS, the sadder-but-wiser girl decides that “Nice is different than good.” I not only take issue with her grammar – “…

SOURCE: Masterworks Broadway at 06:00AM
Tuesday, September 26, 2023

ALLOWING FOR INFLATION … By Peter Filichia 

Looking over my two recent pieces on Tom Jones, I saw that I addressed one issue but neglected to take on another. When citing that Agnes” in I DO! I DO! wore “an eighty-five-dollar hat,…

SOURCE: Masterworks Broadway at 06:00AM
Tuesday, September 19, 2023

A NEW SOUND FOR SONDHEIM By Peter Filichia

I have heard the future, and it is here. It happened from listening to COMPANY, SWEENEY TODD, INTO THE WOODS and ASSASSINS. You’re about to quote Katz from WOMAN OF THE YEAR and say, “So…

SOURCE: Masterworks Broadway at 06:00AM
Tuesday, September 12, 2023

FUNNY GIRL: FUNNY LYRICS AND MORE By Peter Filichia

Although FUNNY GIRL is on Broadway no more, the revival cast album lives on to prove an important point. When musical theater enthusiasts discuss the 1964 musical, far more often than not th…

SOURCE: Masterworks Broadway at 06:00AM
Tuesday, September 5, 2023

MARRIAGE A LA JONES By Peter Filichia

Only once, in the entire history of the Tonys, has a Best Play been adapted into a successful Broadway musical. Now that both bookwriter-lyricist Tom Jones and composer Harvey Schmidt have b…

SOURCE: Masterworks Broadway at 06:00AM
Tuesday, August 29, 2023

REMEMBERING TOM JONES By Peter Filichia 

And to think there was a time when musical theater enthusiasts assumed they’d get a new show from Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt every three years. Do the math. THE FANTASTICKS in 1960. 110 …

SOURCE: Masterworks Broadway at 06:00AM
Tuesday, August 22, 2023

ELECTION RETURNS By Peter Filichia

From the title HOW TO STEAL AN ELECTION, you might assume that the creators of this musical started writing it in mid-November 2020. No, it actually was a 1968 off-Broadway musical that was …

SOURCE: Masterworks Broadway at 06:00AM
Tuesday, August 15, 2023

THE FUTURE IS BACK WITH US By Peter Filichia 

Let’s not just concentrate on the fabulous flying car and astonishing video designs. If you read the Broadway reviews for BACK TO THE FUTURE: THE MUSICAL, you saw many a mention of those. …

SOURCE: Masterworks Broadway at 06:00AM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Mar 07, 2024: Doubt - Todd Haimes Theatre
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater
Jun 10, 2024: The Drama Desk Awards