Going Forward from A to Z
By Peter Filichia Musical theater writers have many goals, but there’s one for which they always aim. Write a song that will advance the action. There are plenty of wonderful songs that do just that, but these are the songs the general public is least likely to hear. Even in the Golden […]
On the London Town
By Peter Filichia If I had a chance to run into Leonard Bernstein wherever he is now, I’d ask him to forgive me. I just – for the first time ever – heard the Original London Cast album of On the Town that was recorded in 1963. And I vastly prefer how musical […]
THE ORIGINAL SIDE SHOW
By Peter Filichia What a good season for Bill Russell! He’s just seen one of his musicals return to off-Broadway — Pageant, now at the Davenport Theatre on West 45th – and come October, Side Show makes its return to Broadway. In June the musical that Russell wrote with Henry (Dreamgirls) Krieger opened […]
1776: IT’S A MASTERPIECE, I SAY
By Peter Filichia Remember, 1776 is first and foremost an entertainment. What was not on the minds of its bookwriter Peter Stone or its composer-lyricist Sherman Edwards was 100% historical accuracy. For one thing, the 1969 Tony-winning hit shows us fourteen people putting their John Hancocks on the Declaration of Independence (and that […]
LESLIE UGGAMS – FROM TONY TO GYPSY
By Peter Filichia There are plenty of raised eyebrows at Connecticut Repertory Theatre as soon as many theatergoers hear the first note of the overture. Long-time fans of Gypsy – and who isn’t? – are startled to hear a shortened version of what many consider to be the greatest of all Broadway overtures. […]
