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Filichia JULY 15

LIZA WITH PF By Peter Filichia

There aren’t all that many documentaries that bring back actual memories, but Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story was one that did for me. I first encountered Ms. Minnelli when I sat in my first-row orchestra seat (my favorite place in a theater) during the Boston tryout of FLORA THE RED MENACE. I could […]

Filichia JULY 8

THANK YOU, DON AMECHE! By Peter Filichia

Sometimes, scattering those postcards around town does pay off. That’s how I discovered a play called Thank You, Don Ameche. Lawrence A. Heman’s new comedy runs this week at The Sargent Theatre on West 54th Street. The title was enough to spur me to play the three cast albums on which Ameche can be heard: […]

Filichia JULY 1

THOMAS SHEPARD, INC. By Peter Filichia

“Maybe it was a compliment. I’ll never know.” So writes Thomas Z. Shepard in his most informative memoir, Recording Broadway: A Life in Cast Albums. He’s referring to the leading character in MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG. Franklin Shepard, the composer who turned out to have feet of the hardest clay, has a last name spelled […]

Filichia JUNE 24

BEAU COMES OUT OF THE BOX

BEAU reminds us of an unshakable truth. When you were growing up – with as much love as you may have had from your parents – you probably received more from your grandparents. That’s what Ace experiences in BEAU. It’s the musical that received a world premiere recording on Masterworks Broadway six years ago, where […]

Filichia JUNE 17

ONE SONG GLORY By Peter Filichia

Everyone I spoke to before the Tonys knew he’d be a shoo-in. And indeed, Jak Malone won the Best Featured Actor in a Musical prize. When his name was announced, I’m sure I wasn’t the only one giving a definitive, up-and-done head-bobbing, accompanied by a loud “Yes!” Granted, part of Malone’s achievement is his frenetic […]

Peter Filichia is the theater critic emeritus for the Star-Ledger in Newark, New Jersey and News 12 New Jersey.

He is a columnist each Friday for www.mtishows.com and www.kritzerland.com.

Filichia is the author of Let’s Put on a Musical, now in its third printing; Broadway Musicals: The Biggest Hit of the Season / The Biggest Flop of the Season and Broadway Musical MVPs 1960-2010: The Most Valuable Players of the Last 50 Seasons. His new book, Strippers, Showgirls, and Sharks will be published in May, 2013 by St. Martin’s Press.

He has been a columnist for Playbill, Theater.com, Theatermania and Theater Week.

Before joining the Theatre World Awards in 1996 as host and head of the selection committee, Filichia served four terms as president of the Drama Desk. He has served on an assessment panel for the National Endowment for the Arts, and is currently critic-in-residence for the University of Cincinnati-Conservatory of Music and the musical theater judge for the ASCAP Awards program.