The Second Time Around
By Peter Filichia — It’s one of the worst-kept secrets of musical theater. Many a song that was written for one musical wound up dropped – but some time later wound up in another show. I’m not counting interpolated songs that went into already existing properties; for example, when 42nd Street came to the stage […]
This Is the Man of Milk and Honey
By Peter Filichia — Nice tribute to Jerry Herman at the Kennedy Center Awards last week. While the composer-lyricist sat in a box above the action, an all-star cast performed three songs from La Cage aux Folles and three from Hello, Dolly! There were also two from Mame and one each from Mack & Mabel […]
It’s Out of This World!
By Peter Filichia — Many a musical theater writer has found that following a smash hit with another is difficult if not impossible. So after Cole Porter had the biggest success of his career — Kiss Me, Kate on New Year’s Eve, 1948 — critics and audiences may have just been expecting that his next […]
Additions That Really Added Up
By Peter Filichia — Fifty years ago this week, Wildcat opened with one of the most beloved stars of the era: Lucille Ball. Composer Cy Coleman and lyricist Carolyn Leigh certainly gave her a honey of a number to tell just what her character Wildcat Jackson was made of: “Hey, Look Me Over!” The irony […]
Can You Say The Zulu and the Zayda?
By Peter Filichia – Might you indulge me in a personal story? It’s Tuesday, Nov. 9, 1965 around 5 p.m., and I’m returning home from school — but not before I stop at Harvard University’s “Coop” in Cambridge, Massachusetts. For some time now, I’ve been treating myself to an original cast album every payday, and […]
