MERRILY IT MOVES ALONG By Peter Filichia
One of the nicest aspects to a New Year is that we all tend to look forward. It’s a policy to which creators of musicals have adhered for more than the last three-quarters of a century. In that time, Broadway lyricists have not only written funny songs or lovely ballads, but have also created numbers […]
Musical Theater’s New Year’s Resolutions By Peter Filichia
As I post this, it’s January 3, 2017, which means that in the past forty-eight hours you’ve broken your New Year’s Resolutions. Still, at nearly two days, that diet lasted longer many others you’ve attempted, didn’t it? Well, there’s still time to make some musical theater resolutions. If you’ve been saying “soundtrack” when you’re referring […]
A SINATRA-LESS SINATRA CELEBRATION
By Peter Filichia So there was a great deal of hoopla this month over Frank Sinatra’s centenary. Radio stations and Internet providers went all the way with their coverage on Dec. 12, 2015, which would have been Sinatra’s 100th birthday. Plenty of friends told me that they spent the day playing Sinatra recordings. Call me […]
Ethan Mordden ON SONDHEIM by Peter Filichia
By Peter Filichia There are dozens of reasons to read Ethan Mordden’s great books on musical theater. Let me tell you one of my favorites: Mordden’s revelatory opinions on musical after musical get me to revisit these shows’ cast albums. Sometimes I want to relive a glorious song that he’s praised; other times I’m out […]
THE WIZ AND I by Peter Filichia
By Peter Filichia “You MUST tape it.” That was the decree from all my musical theater-centric friends who were in the habit of buying each and every original cast album. Once these New Yorkers and Bostonians knew that my wife and I were driving to Baltimore to attend the first-ever performance of The Wiz at […]
