BETTY AND ADOLPH REDUX By Peter Filichia
Here’s a different slant on “There are no small parts – just small actors.” Mallory Portnoy and Nick Blaemire were lucky and talented enough to land the roles of Betty Comden and Adolph Green in one of 2023’s most acclaimed films: MAESTRO. There’s a tiny, tiny moment in the film where Comden and Green entertain, […]
TOMMY, WE CAN HEAR YOU! By Peter Filichia
Those of us who attended THE WHO’S TOMMY on March 27 learned that it was a special evening. Before the show, director Des McAnuff stood near the orchestra pit and told us that this was “Alumni Night.” Many of the cast and crew members from his original 1993 Broadway production were in attendance in the […]
A BRIGHT SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE By Peter Filichia
“A blank page or canvas” aren’t the only things that offer “so many possibilities,” as SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE tells us. So does a bare stage. Eamon Foley certainly knew how to use it in his recent production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s 1985 Pulitzer Prize-winner. He made the 40-year-old musical about […]
REMEMBERING STEVE LAWRENCE By Peter Filichia
Steve Lawrence’s death on March 7 reminded me of the time when many Broadway observers assumed that producer Joseph Cates had lost his mind. In 1963, Cates was about to produce a musical version of Budd Schulberg’s classic 1941 novel WHAT MAKES SAMMY RUN? It would again center on Sammy Glick, a young man who’d […]
THE SKINNY ON SUPERSTAR By Peter Filichia
Frank Loesser, of GUYS AND DOLLS and HOW TO SUCCEED fame, once asked “What are you doing New Year’s Eve?” Instead, I’ll ask “What are you doing on Tuesday, March 19 at 7:30 p.m.?” If you’re in town, do drop by the Drama Book Shop to hear me interview Ellis Nassour, the esteemed author of […]