70, GIRLS, 70 HAS REACHED MIDDLE AGE By Peter Filichia
No, the recent production of 70, Girls, 70 at HB Studios will never be the definitive one. A group of well-meaning seniors who take class at the famed acting school did their best in conveying John Kander’s music, Fred Ebb’s lyrics, and the book that Ebb and Norman L. Martin fashioned after Joe (Cabaret) Masteroff […]
Meet Polkadots: The Cool Kids Musical By Peter Filichia
If your taste in show music runs to Rodgers and Hammerstein as well as Stephen Sondheim, you’ll find that Polkadots is a good cast album for your young children, nieces and nephews. If your taste in show music runs to Rodgers and Hammerstein as well as Stephen Sondheim, you’ll find that Polkadots is a good […]
My Apologies to Wright and Forrest By Peter Filichia
In 1999 — literally the 70th anniversary of Robert Wright’s meeting George “Chet” Forrest — I interviewed the gentlemen at their impressive apartment at 100 West 57th Street. I loved that the place was a veritable Wright-and Forrest Museum. The walls were covered to the square inch with memorabilia from their Hollywood films, Copacabana days […]
GYPSY II By Peter Filichia
Could it really already be forty-two years later? Figures don’t lie. On Sept. 8, 1974, I saw Angela Lansbury try out her Rose in Gypsy at the Shubert Theatre in Boston – the first professional production of that landmark musical that I’d see. I knew she’d be marvelous. By then I had gleaned what Lansbury […]
Another Look at ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS By Peter Filichia
Some songs inspire us: “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” “(You Gotta Have) Heart.” Some make us feel optimistic: “Good Times Are Here to Stay.” “Happy Talk.” But how many songs actually help an individual while he’s working? And yet, Ken Bloom says that a song from the 1966 TV special Alice Through the Looking Glass actually […]
