484 stories from Masterworks Broadway
Nice tribute to Jerry Herman at the Kennedy Center Awards last week. While the composer-lyricist sat in a box above the action, an all-star cast performed three songs from La Cage aux Folles…
By Peter Filichia -- Many a musical theater writer has found that following a smash hit with another is difficult if not impossible. So after Cole Porter had the biggest success of his car…
By Peter Filichia -- Fifty years ago this week, Wildcat opened with one of the most beloved stars of the era: Lucille Ball. Composer Cy Coleman and lyricist Carolyn Leigh certainly gave her…
Might you indulge me in a personal story? It's Tuesday, Nov. 9, 1965 around 5 p.m., and I'm returning home from school -- but not before I stop at Harvard University's “Coop” in …
It may be the song that many people most dread during the holiday season: “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” For one thing, the song is certainly is longer than “Rumson Creek&…
Thanksgiving is upon us, so let's get in a thankful mood. Here's hoping that you indeed have a great deal for which to be thankful: health, relatives, friends, a job you like, financial secu…
Long before one play by George Bernard Shaw (Pygmalion) became a musical (My Fair Lady in 1956), there was another: GBS's 1894 play Arms and the Man became the Oscar Straus operetta The Cho.…
Everyone I know who got the recently released Arkiv CD of What Makes Sammy Run? has said the same thing to me: “What an overture!” Yes, it is, and for three good reasons.
By Peter Filichia -- As we go to the polls this week, let's talk about two musicals that deal with elections: Of Thee I Sing and its sequel Let ‘Em Eat Cake. Both had books by George…
As October ends, let's stop to remember a stellar Broadway songwriting team whose last two shows celebrated anniversaries this month.
By Peter Filichia -- Sept. 21, 1998. The pilot episode of Will & Grace airs on NBC. Will Truman and his friends - including Jack McFarland - are playing poker. Jack is stalling, wondering if…
Quite often during the month of October, I start thinking of George Cooper's poem “October's Party.” You're pardoned if you don't know it. It was the poem I chose to memorize in …
By Peter Filichia -- This week, let's celebrate what would have been the 96th birthday of the Broadway musical's quintessential leading man: Alfred Drake, who was born on Oct. 7, 1914. When …
Broadway insider/comedian Seth Rudetsky's new weekly video series, Brava! Seth Rudetsky Deconstructs Masterworks Broadway, premieres right here October 6 and continues every Wednesday therea…
Who'd expect that Irma La Douce could still be bought 50 years after she reached New York? True, Irma, who arrived here on Sept. 29, 1960, isn't seen very often anymore. Says Mel Miller, w...
This week, all of us wish that we wouldn't have to mark the ninth anniversary of Urinetown's Sept. 20th opening.How much be...
Does the musical based on The Good Fairy have a “Good Fairy” on its side?
Twenty-five years ago this week, a few thousand people had one of the greatest Broadway experiences of their lives - and they weren't even in a Broadway theater.
So how will you spend your Labor Day? As summer is a-going out, you may have one last chance to enjoy it.
It was recorded in June of 1959, but stayed in print for only three years. And yet, most musical theater enthusiasts covet the recording of Song of Norway by the Jones Beach Marine Theatre's…
By Peter Filichia
If you didn't get to the Lion Theatre last month, then you missed your chance.
Musicals Tonight! did an excellent staged reading of Hazel Flagg.
At lea…
By Peter Filichia
Every now and then, a lyric written long ago assumes a new and suddenly relevant meaning.
That happened with the 1962 TV-special Julie and Carol at Carnegie H…
By Peter Filichia
She was one of the most esteemed film critics of all time, but her enviable reputation didn't stop her from getting fired.
Pauline Kael started writing for Mc…
