Saturday, June 4, 2016

The Answer to May's Brainteaser by Peter Filichia

Alas, there won’t be a June Brainteaser. This is my last column for Kritzerland. I need more time to work on a musical with Douglas J. Cohen and Gerard Alessandrini. Wish us luck!

SOURCE: Kritzerland at 12:01PM
Friday, May 27, 2016

The 2016 Broadway University Final Exam Answers by Peter Filichia

Congratulations to Fred Abramowitz, Peter Alfano, Steve Bell, Susan Berlin, Brigadude, Regina Miller DeCuzzi, Bill Downs, Laura Frankos, Ingrid Gammerman, Kurt Ganzl, John Griffin, Joe Harri…

SOURCE: Kritzerland at 10:22AM
Saturday, May 21, 2016

WHEN EVERYTHING WAS INDEED POSSIBLE by Peter Filichia

So we hear Kurt Peterson tell the audience at the end of the newly released compact disc WHEN EVERYTHING WAS POSSIBLE. It’s the show he did with Victoria Mallory at City Center on April 29…

SOURCE: Kritzerland at 04:17PM
Friday, May 13, 2016

The 2016 Broadway University Final Exam by Peter Filichia

The Puritans, as SOMETHING ROTTEN! has been reminding us for more than a year, hated the theater because they thought it Godless. Well, perhaps in was in those days, but you have to admit th…

SOURCE: Kritzerland at 07:09AM
Saturday, May 7, 2016

Long Day’s Journey into Questions by Peter Filichia

Alas, the famous original production of LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT was before my theatergoing time. So although I can’t officially offer an eyewitness report that would verify all the…

SOURCE: Kritzerland at 10:22AM
Friday, April 29, 2016

April’s Leftovers and May’s Brainteaser by Peter Filichia

Do you think that when Benjamin Walker leaves AMERICAN PYSCHO (which I reviewed at www.broadwayselect.com) that The Naked Cowboy will take his place?

SOURCE: Kritzerland at 01:53PM
Friday, April 22, 2016

R&H: Relevant & Human or Run-down and Humdrum? by Peter Filichia

Faithful readers may recall that last week I spoke about my discussion at Penn State with Scott Miller, the august author of wonderful musical theater books and the artistic director of New …

SOURCE: Kritzerland at 10:26AM
Friday, April 15, 2016

Rhymes Have I – Or Have I? by Peter Filichia

Had a great time at Penn State last week, thanks to Richard Biever of Fuse Productions. He’s the one who invited Jennifer Ashley Tepper (the Director of Programming at Feinstein’s/54 Bel…

SOURCE: Kritzerland at 02:36PM
Friday, April 8, 2016

A Chat with Choreographer Larry Fuller by Peter Filichia

“I don’t know why at five, I was already telling people that when I grew up that I wanted to be a dancer.” And this from a kid who hailed from Rolla, Missouri, where role models for…

SOURCE: Kritzerland at 07:30AM
Friday, April 1, 2016

1776: IT’S A MASTERPIECE, I SAY by Peter Filichia

I know, I know – you’ve already heard that the production of 1776 at Encores! is revolutionary for two distinct reasons.

SOURCE: Kritzerland at 11:29AM
Friday, March 25, 2016

March’s Leftovers and April’s Brainteaser by Peter Filichia

Don’t forget to celebrate World Theatre Day on Sunday, March 27. But here’s my question: was this day chosen because it was the day in 1964 that Barbra Streisand read all her raves for h…

SOURCE: Kritzerland at 11:28AM
Friday, March 18, 2016

SHAW AND STALLER – PEFECT TOGETHER by Peter Filichia

It was a good week for George Bernard Shaw. TACT – meaning The Actors Company Theatre – and The Gingold Theatrical Group – which is now in its eleventh year of “Project Shaw,” w…

SOURCE: Kritzerland at 11:28AM
Friday, March 11, 2016

Growing up Gershwin by Peter Filichia

“I like a Gershwin tune – how about you?” That’s the first question I asked Nadia Natali last week in a sit-down in the Drama Book Shop’s Arthur Seelen Theater. And indeed Natal…

SOURCE: Kritzerland at 07:59PM
Friday, March 4, 2016

We Love You, CONRACK by Peter Filichia

His composer died, his lyricist died, and yet Granville Wyche Burgess will never say die. The bookwriter of CONRACK knows the famous show business spin on General Douglas MacArthur’s mo…

SOURCE: Kritzerland at 07:58PM
Friday, February 26, 2016

February’s Leftovers and March’s Brainteaser by Peter Filichia

If you’d been at the Sunday, Feb. 21 matinee of PRODIGAL SON, would you have been outraged or tremendously impressed with what Timothée Chalamet did?

SOURCE: Kritzerland at 07:58PM
Friday, February 19, 2016

Let’s COPE Again, Like We Did Last Century by Peter Filichia

All right, we all know that GREASE was the longest-running musical of the 1971-72 season and -- at least until A CHORUS LINE came along -- the longest-running Broadway show of all time.

SOURCE: Kritzerland at 10:05AM
Friday, February 12, 2016

There’s a Little CABIN at Encores! by Peter Filichia

How nice that Encores! reminds us of its original mission with its current reading-slash-production of CABIN IN THE SKY.

SOURCE: Kritzerland at 10:04AM
Friday, February 5, 2016

Reaching the Other Ninety Percent by Peter Filichia

Well, the event was called BroadwayCon, so I took the “Con” to mean “Controversial.” This happened on Saturday, Jan. 23, when I sat on a panel called “Why Didn’t It Run?” Fr…

SOURCE: Kritzerland at 10:04AM
Friday, January 29, 2016

January’s Leftovers and February’s Brainteaser by Peter Filichia

It was the month we lost Brian Bedford, David Bowie and Alan Rickman, all of whom might well have lights dimmed for them on Broadway marquees. Whether or not you’re in favor of one, some o…

SOURCE: Kritzerland at 06:43AM
Friday, January 22, 2016

The 2016 Broadway University Mid-Term Examination Answers by Peter Filichia

My hat’s off to Peter Alfano, Fred Abramowitz, AnyaToes, Susan Berlin, Brigadude, Tay and Saul Caplan, Charlene DeLucia, Jason Flum, Laura Frankos, Ingrid Gammerman, Don Horn, Alynne Amkra…

SOURCE: Kritzerland at 12:29PM
Friday, January 15, 2016

More on SEASON IN, SEASON OUT by Peter Filichia

As I mentioned in my column of Sept. 19, every now and then throughout this 2015-2016 season I’ll take a 50th anniversary look at Jack Gaver’s book SEASON IN SEASON OUT, which detailed t…

SOURCE: Kritzerland at 05:49AM
Friday, January 8, 2016

The 2016 Broadway University Mid-Term Examination by Peter Filichia

Remember from our days in school when our English teachers tried to drum into our heads what a simile was?

SOURCE: Kritzerland at 07:57AM

December’s Leftovers and January’s Brainteaser by Peter Filichia

December's Leftovers and January's Brainteaser

SOURCE: Kritzerland at 07:57AM
Saturday, December 26, 2015

Broadway’s People of the Year by Peter Filichia

So did you hear that Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, was named Time’s Person of the Year? The way she handled economic strife in the Eurozone and the continent’s ongoing migrant cr…

SOURCE: Kritzerland at 10:11AM
Friday, December 18, 2015

Two Vintage Plays; Two New Hits by Peter Filichia

One opened in 1922 and ran precisely two months; the other debuted in 1955 and managed to run twice as long. Both left many Broadway critics and theatergoers unimpressed.

SOURCE: Kritzerland at 01:45AM
Friday, December 11, 2015

IT’S THE MOST TICKET-SCARCE TIME OF THE YEAR by Peter Filichia

I’m ashamed to admit it, but an inordinate number of years had to pass before I realized one salient fact about Broadway. The week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve is the time whe…

SOURCE: Kritzerland at 03:57AM
Friday, December 4, 2015

STEVEN GROSS HAS 7,655 SONGS FOR YOU by Peter Filichia

Have you heard “I Dreamed a Dream,” “Defying Gravity” and “The Impossible Dream” one time too many – or one hundred times too many? Steven Gross knows the feeling. As a musi…

SOURCE: Kritzerland at 02:38AM
Friday, November 27, 2015

November’s Leftovers and December’s Brainteaser by Peter Filichia

Oh, how I wanted at least one of the characters in SHEAR MADNESS to mention Queen Latifah, XANADU and Zoosk. Because after hearing a few up-to-now contemporary references that either didn’…

SOURCE: Kritzerland at 02:59AM
Friday, November 20, 2015

DUDDY KRAVITZ: The OTHER Best Musical of 2015. by Peter Filichia

Yes, HAMILTON, the show that everyone’s raving about, is the unquestioned musical champ of the nation.

SOURCE: Kritzerland at 03:04AM
Friday, November 13, 2015

From Reams with Love: HELLO, DOLLY! by Peter Filichia

Well, my heart is about to burst. My head is about to pop. I’m on my way to The Wick Theatre in Boca Raton, Florida. There I’ll see Lee Roy Reams take his next adventure with HELLO, DOLL…

SOURCE: Kritzerland at 03:05AM
Friday, November 6, 2015

We Can Always Go Back to Before by Peter Filichia

As I mentioned in my column of Sept. 19, every now and then throughout this 2015-2016 season I’ll take a 50th anniversary look at Jack Gaver’s book SEASON IN SEASON OUT, which detailed t…

SOURCE: Kritzerland at 07:35AM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Mar 07, 2024: Doubt - Todd Haimes Theatre
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater
Jun 10, 2024: The Drama Desk Awards