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Filichia (8)

SUGGESTIONS FOR THE YORK THEATRE COMPANY By Peter Filichia

Ran into Evans Haile, the erudite executive director of The York Theatre Company. It’s now in Theatre at St. Jean’s, after a terrible flood had forced the plucky troupe out of its Citicorp Building home. It’s a cruel irony that York should be plagued by a calamity that occurred in one of their “Musicals in […]

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STEVEN SUSKIN’S TERRIFIC TIME MACHINE By Peter Filichia

“Drugs?? The Beatles??” So why does Steven Suskin, in his memoir OFFSTAGE OBSERVATIONS, give a pair of question marks after each of those entries? Wouldn’t one suffice? It’s Suskin’s way of stressing that he had no idea why his Baby Boomer contemporaries would relish certain substances and songs such as “Sun King” when they could […]

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THE EIGHT WONDERS OF THE MUSICAL THEATER WORLD

At a reading of a spectacular new musical called BROOKYLN’S BRIDGE, a line of dialogue came between one of Ray Roderick and Joseph Baker’s majestic songs – a remark that made me smile. Actually, I was smiling throughout, for this recounting of how the bridge was built was unstintingly compelling. Who’d expect that a woman […]

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Not The Who’s Tommy, but Tommy Tune By Peter Filichia

It wasn’t the greatest Broadway resume. In fact, only a quick glance would reveal how far down the theatrical food chain it would rank. Take a look. The role by which he made his Broadway debut was “One of the Killers.” More than a year later, he was billed twice, although “Ensemble Dancer” and “Saw […]

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THIS IS THE LIFE By Peter Filichia

All right, so THE LIFE at Encores! didn’t turn out to be a triumph. What was once the Best Musical of the 1996-1997 season (per the Drama Desk Awards) wasn’t what was on stage at City Center. It had been changed, proving once again that change is good when change is good. To glean what […]

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.