BROADWAY SONGWRITERS HISTORY MONTH By Peter Filichia
We know February as Black History Month, National Bird-Feeding Month and LGBT+ History Month (in the United Kingdom, anyway). It should be Broadway Songwriters History Month, too. To be sure, we could have long earmarked the second month of year for our songwriters, considering that some musical theater giants were born in it. First, Harold […]
Let’s Do Talk about Love By Peter Filichia
Here’s hoping that on February 14th, you and your Valentine had a better time with love than lyricists have had. I don’t mean Alan Jay Lerner, who married eight times. (Yes, EIGHT. And this from the man who wrote “How to Handle a Woman.”) No, lyricists have been plagued by love because so many musicals […]
WITNESS WITNESS UGANDA By Peter Filichia
Wouldn’t you say that African music ranks among the most exciting? The chants, the rhythms, the drums, the energy, the emphasis on melody: all those elements make many of us who are interested in musical theater wish that there were more cast albums in this genre. So here’s WITNESS UGANDA, a recording that will thrill […]
IN LIEU OF A GRAMMY BROADCAST… By Peter Filichia
And the 2022 Grammy for the Best Musical Theater Album goes to … Well, to quote a song from a 1984 Grammy nominee for Best Cast Show Album, as the category was then awkwardly called, “Who knows? Who knows? Who knows?” (That song is “The Best of Times” from LA CAGE AUX FOLLES, if you […]
ANOTHER ORPHAN ANNE: OF GREEN GABLES By Peter Filichia
When we discuss musicals that have had the longest runs, we shouldn’t just limit ourselves to THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA and THE FANTASTICKS. How about ANNE OF GREEN GABLES? Aside from the last two years when COVID stopped performances, it’s been running since 1965. Admittedly, this didn’t happen either on Broadway or off; the closest this musical has […]
