Those April Showers …
By Peter Filichia — Well, it’s April, which makes me think of Company. Not just because it opened 41 years ago this month. Not just because it has a character named April. But also, because in “Getting Married Today,” rain makes its presence known. And is there any month that we associate with rain more […]
The Other My Fair Lady
By Peter Filichia — We can’t let March go by without celebrating the anniversary of one of the greatest musicals of all time. Fifty-five years ago this month, My Fair Lady opened. If you’re reading this, you’re probably one of the people who knows the Rex Harrison-Julie Andrews cast albums inside out. You may prefer […]
Inner City — At Last!
By Peter Filichia — How many rock musicals begin with a waltz? All right, the song that starts Inner City will never be confused with a Strauss waltz. It’s a jazz waltz, but it’s in three-quarter time nonetheless. It shows that many of us have a misconception about this 1971 musical – which isn’t quite […]
My Memories of Inner City
My mother, Eve Merriam, wrote the successful but controversial book of rhymes called The Inner City Mother Goose, which became the basis for the Broadway musical Inner City, conceived and directed by Tom O’Horgan, with music by Helen Miller, and starring Blues singer Linda Hopkins. The book (published in 1969) was the result of her […]
The Most Underrated Musical of the New Millennium
By Peter Filichia How well I remember the early morning of Friday, March 15, 2002. I had to go out of town, and my friend Ken Bloom had volunteered to drive me to the airport, even though I was catching an early morning flight. En route, we commiserated on the not-good reviews that Sweet Smell […]
