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THE FUTURE IS BACK WITH US (2)

TITANIC SAILS AGAIN By Peter Filichia

If you see the film of the Tony-winning 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 irony than the Broadway hit of the same title that opened only a few months before the film? Just […]

THE FUTURE IS BACK WITH US (1)

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 theatergoing age. Perhaps you were living too far from New York City, between October 8 and November 28, 1981, […]

THE FUTURE IS BACK WITH US

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 you can find a fine bookstore anywhere … The questions came from the podcast that I’ve been doing most Sunday mornings for the last 14 […]

THE FUTURE IS BACK WITH US

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 segments on the show that receives a good deal of attention is the brainteaser I give at the end of each broadcast. Dozens of regular listeners try […]

HAIL TO THE CHIEFS! (22)

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 – “different from” is the proper term – but also with her philosophy. At the very least, nice must be some part of good. And […]

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.