That Toddlin’ Town — and Terrific Musical
by Peter Filichia Thirty-five years ago this week, Chicago opened in the era when the New York Times was still the be-all and end-all. If the Times daily critic Clive Barnes could like it, it was almost assured to be a hit. If Walter Kerr, its Sunday critic, approved as well, it would be virtually […]
Guest Blog: I’m Nothing Without Them: Memories of Creating City of Angels with Cy Coleman and Larry Gelbart
by David Zippel It’s hard to believe that it has been twenty years since City Of Angels opened on Broadway. And this month it will be twenty years since City of Angels won six Tony® awards including Best Musical, Best Book and Best Score. Sadly, with the passing of Cy Coleman and Larry Gelbart, I […]
A Tale of Two Finians
By Peter Filichia Not often does a musical run 12 performances and get a cast album. But that’s what happened to a show that RCA Victor recorded 50 years ago this week: The 1960 revival of Finian’s Rainbow. Actually, the production could be said to have run a little longer than that – 28 performances, […]
Guest Blog: Mining the Catalogue – How Show Tunes Take Center Stage
By David Foil Talk to any of us who work at MasterworksBroadway.com, and one of the first things you’ll hear about is the “catalogue” – how unique it is, how definitive it is, how huge it is. And it is all of those things. The more you read our blogs and become acquainted with Masterworks […]
If at First You Don’t Succeed on Broadway …
by Peter Filichia Forty-five years ago this week, a composer-lyricist team new to Broadway were terribly worried. The previous Tuesday, their musical had opened to decidedly mixed reviews. Their score was said not to “have zing” (Chapman, News) and that it didn’t “ring much” (Kerr, Herald-Tribune). While Taubman in the Times said, “The songs provide […]
