THE BEST DOUBLEHEADER EVER By Peter Filichia
With all the recent talk about a certain show celebrating a certain anniversary, I was reminded that it’s been forty-five years since I had the best theatrical doubleheader of my life. Saturday afternoon, August 9, 1975: CHICAGO at the matinee, fewer than ten weeks after it had opened at the 46th Street Theatre. That evening, […]
THE EARLY DAYS OF GAY By Peter Filichia
Broadway has seen three songs called “Yesterday,” five titled “Home” and eleven dubbed “I Love You.” Some might prefer “Yesterday” from ROBERTA to the others. Many will think that “Home” from 70, GIRLS, 70 is the best of its bunch. Yet other musical theater fans may prefer LITTLE ME’s “I Love You” over SONG OF […]
“PAL JOEY”: THE HISTORY OF A HEEL. By Peter Filichia
When musical theater fans think of New York Times critic Brooks Atkinson’s review of the twenty-sixth collaboration between Rodgers and Hart, they usually recall its final line. “Although PAL JOEY is expertly done, can you draw sweet water from a foul well?” No, Atkinson didn’t give PAL JOEY a thumbs-up. But many theatergoers who were […]
THE UNLIKELIEST HIT OF ALL By Peter Filichia
What with staying at home so much, I finally caught up with a much heralded film of two years ago LOVE, SIMON tells of Simon Spier, a teen who’s gay but fears coming out to family and friends. Becky Albertalli’s screenplay gets all the drama out of the situation while managing to include a very […]
WHAT A SURPRISE! By Peter Filichia
My excitement in seeing a musical’s pre-Broadway tryout in Philly, Boston or Baltimore didn’t end when the curtain came down. There’d be another delight a few weeks later when the original cast album was released. Sometimes there’d just be a reordering of songs. When I saw ANNIE at Goodspeed, six months before it debuted on […]
