All stories by Peter Filichia on BroadwayStars

Friday, January 13, 2012

It's The Merm's (What?) Birthday by Peter Filichia

To celebrate Ethel Merman's birthday on January 16 - her 105th, 104th or 103rd depending on which Merman scholar you choose to believe -- see her live.

SOURCE: Kritzerland at 01:57PM

'The Convert' asks provocative questions about faith by Peter Filichia

Peter Filcihia says, 'Come with an open mind ...'

SOURCE: NJ.com at 07:31AM
Wednesday, January 11, 2012

NJ Stage: Brian Dennehy visits Camden; 'Damn Yankees' in Branchburg by Peter Filichia

Also: 'Veronica's Room' at the Bickford and Centenary Stage Company's Young Performers Workshop.

SOURCE: NJ.com at 08:00AM
Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Say Gwen by Peter Filichia

By Peter Filichia -- This month’s Friday the 13th can be considered both lucky and unlucky for Broadway. It would have marked the 87th birthday of Gwen Verdon, and we’re all pretty sad t…

SOURCE: Masterworks Broadway at 10:54AM
Friday, January 6, 2012
Wednesday, January 4, 2012

On Stage: Long Branch extends run of 'Bakersfield Mist' by Peter Filichia

It's the story of a trailer resident who may own a real Jackson Pollock painting and the art appraiser who comes to her home

SOURCE: NJ.com at 08:00AM
Tuesday, January 3, 2012

And the Year Starts Up by Peter Filichia

By Peter Filichia – So what was the first recording in 2012 that you chose for your listening pleasure? For the twentieth straight year, I started New Year’s Day by playing the CD th…

SOURCE: Masterworks Broadway at 12:35AM
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Best and worst of New Jersey theater in 2011 by Peter Filichia

Also, highlights from New York stages.

SOURCE: NJ.com at 08:00AM
Tuesday, December 27, 2011

For New Year's Eve Stay-at-Homes by Peter Filichia

By Peter Filichia -- As that famous Frank Loesser song asked, “Here is the jackpot question in advance: what are you doing New Year’s Eve?” Most will party, but many know that it�…

SOURCE: Masterworks Broadway at 03:07AM
Thursday, December 22, 2011

'A Christmas Carol' that offers a hint of Scrooge by Peter Filichia

Tri-State Actors Theater's take on holiday classic is a little mean and self-aware

SOURCE: NJ.com at 08:00AM
Wednesday, December 21, 2011

NJ Stage bits: Faison to read role of King Lear in West Orange by Peter Filichia

Peter Filichia gives us the scoop on what's going on in the Garden State

SOURCE: NJ.com at 08:14AM
Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Not Your Average Christmas Show by Peter Filichia

Peter Filichia – So what would be the most logical Broadway musical to open on Christmas Day? Why, Here’s Love, right? After all, it’s the musical of Miracle on 34th Street. But …

SOURCE: Masterworks Broadway at 12:02AM
Friday, December 16, 2011

Musical Murder Most Foul by Peter Filichia

No one can accuse Bonnie & Clyde of not having a slam-bang opening. A barrage of rifle shots rings out as the two killers sit in the front seat of their car. These criminals aren’t just be…

SOURCE: Kritzerland at 09:09AM
Wednesday, December 14, 2011

'A Christmas Carol' in Princeton by Peter Filichia

The show returns to McCarter Theatre Center with familiar and new faces.

SOURCE: NJ.com at 08:00AM

NJ Stage bits: Beach Haven’s Surflight Theatre ready for new season by Peter Filichia

Peter Filichia lets us know what's going on where

SOURCE: NJ.com at 07:09AM
Tuesday, December 13, 2011

'Honk!' is a wonderfully upbeat children's show (but leave the toddlers at home) by Peter Filichia

This new take on the ugly duckling story has an anti-bullying message

SOURCE: NJ.com at 08:00AM
Monday, December 12, 2011

Broadway’s First Jukebox Musical by Peter Filichia

By Peter Filichia -- You’re in the middle of holiday shopping. You want to get something nice for that couple next door and their toddler. But you don’t have much do-re-mi. For the a…

SOURCE: Masterworks Broadway at 11:53PM
Saturday, December 10, 2011

The Perfect Musical by Peter Filichia

Mon, Dec. 5. Twenty days to Christmas, twenty days to Christmas, plenty of time to do our Christmas shopping. Thus, many of us instead went to the Roundabout's staged reading of that 1963 mu…

SOURCE: Kritzerland at 07:52AM
Friday, December 9, 2011

Not your usual 'It's a Wonderful Life' by Peter Filichia

Holiday classic presented in radio play-style, sound effects and all

SOURCE: NJ.com at 08:15AM
Wednesday, December 7, 2011

'A Christmas Carol' enchants at Shakespeare Theatre by Peter Filichia

Production uses eight actors and 11 more to fill 57 roles, as well as play 23 inanimate objects and one animal.

SOURCE: NJ.com at 08:00AM

NJ Stage bits: 'A Christmas Survival Guide' in Asbury Park, something 'Merry' in Madison, 'Jubilee' in New Brunswick by Peter Filichia

O come all ye jaded Not everyone is sentimental about the holidays. Take James Hindman and Ray Roderick, who have written a musical called “A Christmas Survival Guide.” The authors have …

SOURCE: NJ.com at 08:00AM
Tuesday, December 6, 2011

The All-Star Musical by Peter Filichia

By Peter Filichia – In my recent book Broadway Musical MVPs, 1960-2010, I gave awards that baseball annually bestows but theater doesn’t: Most Valuable Player, Comeback Player of the Y…

SOURCE: Masterworks Broadway at 12:35AM
Friday, December 2, 2011

'Babes in Toyland' at Growing Stage by Peter Filichia

Laurel and Hardy and Bo Peep.

SOURCE: NJ.com at 07:30AM

A pared-down 'Christmas Carol' in Madison by Peter Filichia

Minimal cast will tackle the classic "A Christmas Carol"

SOURCE: NJ.com at 07:00AM
Thursday, December 1, 2011

'Crimes of the Heart' -- comedy in an intimate venue by Peter Filichia

The six-character, one-set black comedy comes to Women's Theater Company in Parsippany.

SOURCE: NJ.com at 08:00AM

'Over the River and Through the Woods' is just too mean by Peter Filichia

The production of 'River,' at the Bickford Theatre in Morris Township, runs too shallow.

SOURCE: NJ.com at 08:00AM
Tuesday, November 29, 2011

'A Christmas Carol' returns, this time in Hackettstown by Peter Filichia

The production is a treat for the ears -- and the pocketbook

SOURCE: NJ.com at 08:00AM

9 to 5 with Fewer Than 9 to Go by Peter Filichia

If you can’t see a musical on closing night, make sure you at least see it during closing week. Many of the show’s fans come out to say goodbye, to revisit the producti…

SOURCE: legacy.theatermania.com at 07:09AM

Remember Lada Edmund, Jr.? by Peter Filichia

On the eve of Bye Bye Birdie’s return to Broadway, let’s check in with one of the original young residents of Sweet Apple, Ohio during the show’s original 607-performance r…

SOURCE: legacy.theatermania.com at 07:09AM

Look over There, Look over There by Peter Filichia

Conal Creedon’s one-act plays at the Irish Repertory Theatre are excellent. How I wish that the staging were as accomplished. Not the direction, but the staging. There is a difference.…

SOURCE: legacy.theatermania.com at 07:09AM

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