1776: Not Just for the 4th of July
By Peter Filichia If you’re like me and my friends, you watch the film version of 1776 each 4th of July – and then follow it up by listening to the 1969 original cast album for the next week. For a while there, the recording was unavailable. Now it’s back in a CD set in […]
Gypsy Makes History
By Peter Filichia Extra! Extra! Hey, look at the headline! Historical news is being made! The original cast recording of Gypsy was among 25 recordings selected this year for the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry. Those who follow Broadway musicals aren’t surprised. After all, The National Recording Preservation Act of 2000 annually has the […]
Promises Lands
By Peter Filichia Get the new revival cast album of Promises Promises, and you’ll be convinced that composer Burt Bacharach and lyricist Hal David were robbed on April 20, 1969. No, they didn’t lose the Tony Award® for Best Score that year; there simply WAS no Best Score Tony Award® given to any composer and […]
The Sound of Lyric-Less Music
By Peter Filichia The upcoming revival cast album of Promises PromisesSee it here will include the marvelous instrumental known as “The Grapes of Roth.” Its title could be confusing to Promises neophytes, for there’s nothing in the music to suggest grapes. As it turns out, The Grapes of Roth is the name of Eddie Roth’s […]
Happy Birthday, Charles Strouse!
by Peter Filichia Musical theater enthusiasts were saddened to hear that composer Charles Strouse was hospitalized a few weeks ago. But the worst seems to be over, and we all can celebrate the 82nd birthday he marked on Monday, June 7. Few people have done as much to get kids interested in musicals as Strouse. […]
