Friday, July 18, 2014
Some of the Thespian Festival workshops on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus are held in modest classrooms. Not this one. The mammoth all-purpose room in the Westbrook Music Building…
SOURCE: Music Theatre International at 10:00AMMonday, July 14, 2014
By Peter Filichia
Had all gone well, a revival of Pump Boys and Dinettes would have opened on April 8, 2013.
But two months to the day before the planned opening, the six produ…
SOURCE: Masterworks Broadway at 09:28PMFriday, July 11, 2014
What would Jesus think?
Would he approve of Bill Russell?
After all, Russell got his theatrical start by appearing in a passion play that dutifully and sincerely honored Jesus’ name.
SOURCE: Kritzerland at 03:25PMMonday, July 7, 2014
By Peter Filichia
During his long career, Ed Ames only made two appearances on Broadway. In 1962, he took over for Jerry Orbach as Paul the puppeteer in Carnival; then in 1963, he ori…
SOURCE: Masterworks Broadway at 10:02PMSunday, July 6, 2014
In lo these many decades I’ve been interviewing, I’ve always concluded with the same question.
SOURCE: Kritzerland at 04:29AMFriday, July 4, 2014
Here’s an easy prediction to make. Theater teachers and high school drama club members who weren’t in Lincoln, Nebraska last week didn’t have nearly as good a time as those who trekked…
SOURCE: Music Theatre International at 02:42PMMonday, June 30, 2014
I once asked Charles Strouse if he expected that “Baby, Talk to Me” would be Bye Bye Birdie’s big hit.
After all, it was the first featured song in the overture, placed and play…
SOURCE: Masterworks Broadway at 11:50PMFriday, June 27, 2014
It was the month in which Mark Rylance didn’t give an asinine acceptance speech. Meanwhile, JERSEY BOYS had to start advertising “Live! On Stage!” while that show at the Majestic final…
SOURCE: Kritzerland at 08:29AMSunday, June 22, 2014
Most of the hundreds of original cast albums have of course been recorded in studios. A few have been recorded live, such as Nikolaus Harnoncourt's Porgy & Bess, the British Moby Dick an…
SOURCE: Masterworks Broadway at 10:39PMSaturday, June 21, 2014
Whodunnit? One thing’s for certain: in the musical MURDER BALLAD, the butler didn’t. He couldn’t have, for none of the characters in this 2012 musical works in that capacity. Michael i…
SOURCE: Music Theatre International at 04:19PMFriday, June 20, 2014
They pored over 50 sports references found in lines or lyrics in Broadway musicals. Only Joe Keenan got all 50 -- so I’ll inform the rest of you what he knew that you didn’t.
SOURCE: Kritzerland at 06:34AMMonday, June 16, 2014
By Peter Filichia
What a nice event at the Spiral Theatre Studio last Wednesday night. At Richard Skipper Celebrates, a chat-series helmed by the eponymous raconteur, the ever-charmin…
SOURCE: Masterworks Broadway at 11:22PMFriday, June 13, 2014
Of course you know ANYTHING GOES and KISS ME, KATE. You probably know CAN-CAN, SILK STOCKINGS, OUT OF THIS WORLD and perhaps MEXICAN HAYRIDE as well. And while you would know plenty more Col…
SOURCE: Kritzerland at 08:06PMTwo middle-aged character men, one middle-aged character woman, one set, one piano, everyday contemporary clothes (well, okay, one mink coat), and you’re in business. In fact, you don’t …
SOURCE: Music Theatre International at 10:26AMMonday, June 9, 2014
By Peter Filichia
All right, most of us don’t like the semi-recent phenomenon of “jukebox musicals.” And yet, we must admit that far more often than not such shows spur entertai…
SOURCE: Masterworks Broadway at 10:43PMFriday, June 6, 2014
May 26, 1985. Rome. I’d just finished seeing TAXI A DUE PIAZZE.
That may not translate to RUN FOR YOUR WIFE, but that was the title given to Ray Cooney’s farce about bigamy.
SOURCE: Kritzerland at 02:07PMHere’s the way to advertise it: “From the composer-lyricist of WICKED, PIPPIN and GODSPELL.” That’s ad copy that’ll sell tickets – and you wouldn’t be lying. Oh, your audience …
SOURCE: Music Theatre International at 09:54AMTuesday, June 3, 2014
By Peter Filichia
So many of us who are crying out for original musicals are doubly grateful for If/Then – because it gives us two of them.
Bookwriter-lyricist Brian Yorkey d…
SOURCE: Masterworks Broadway at 09:27AMSaturday, May 31, 2014
So we come to the end of another season, one that was supposed to create record grosses thanks to the Super Bowl’s February appearance in nearby Rutherford. But Broadway got no significant…
SOURCE: Kritzerland at 07:04AMFriday, May 30, 2014
In his program bio, Will Shunk stated that he is “a fifth grade student” who was “born with CP” — cerebral palsy – “which affects his ability to control his body.” Shunk …
SOURCE: Music Theatre International at 09:57AMMonday, May 26, 2014
By Peter Filichia
On Friday, May 16, when the Dow Jones average hit 16,491, I interviewed the woman who’d hundreds of times said that the Dow had hit 1,000.
She was lying. Bu…
SOURCE: Masterworks Broadway at 11:09PMSaturday, May 24, 2014
Here is a new article from Peter Filichia’s column on Kritzerland called ‘Filichia on Friday.’ It’s an honor to bring Peter’s column every week to our readers …
SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 08:30AMFriday, May 23, 2014
All the nominations are out, and even some awards (such as the Outer Critics' Circle) have been dispensed. Time to move on to the new season. Welcome, 2014-2015!
SOURCE: Kritzerland at 07:37PMOn the list of things that people fear most in life, you’ll always find “Getting up in front of a crowd and speaking.” A hundred or so New York City tweens and teens conquered that fea…
SOURCE: Music Theatre International at 12:25PMTuesday, May 20, 2014
<p>By Peter Filichia</p>
<p>Even a splendid production of <i>Allegro</i>, such as the one that Tom Wojtunik is delivering right now at The Astoria Perfor…
SOURCE: Masterworks Broadway at 07:31AMSaturday, May 17, 2014
Here is a new article from Peter Filichia’s column on Kritzerland called ‘Filichia on Friday.’ It’s an honor to bring Peter’s column every week to our readers …
SOURCE: DC Metro Theater Arts at 08:15AMFriday, May 16, 2014
Jason Brantman and Fiona Santos certainly had a dilemma. Now did they have a solution? The two were looking to co-direct a musical for their Broadway Training Center of Westchester (New York…
SOURCE: Music Theatre International at 11:11AMDo musical theater enthusiasts really not care about sports? I’m acquainted with dozens of musical theater fans who know that runs and hits are not simply relegated to Broadway; they’re …
SOURCE: Kritzerland at 10:28AMTuesday, May 13, 2014
By Peter Filichia
Do I hear a waltz? Of course I do. Isn't Androcles and the Lion by Richard Rodgers? And getting a song in three-quarter time is a given in any of the legendary composer’s…
SOURCE: Masterworks Broadway at 01:01AMFriday, May 9, 2014
Daniel Craig, Daniel Radcliffe, Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke, Orlando Bloom, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Toni Collette, Rachel Weisz, Mary-Louise Parker, Marisa Tomei, Debra Messing and…
SOURCE: Kritzerland at 04:04PMSo how does 9 TO 5 play with a teenage cast? We found out when Amas Musical Theatre, in conjunction with The Rosetta LeNoire Musical Theatre Academy, produced the 2009 Broadway musical versi…
SOURCE: Music Theatre International at 10:05AM 
