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An Ode to Annie's Lyricist

An Ode to Annie’s Lyricist

By Peter Filichia — I know, I know. You’ve OD’d on Annie. In fact, you OD’d on it long ago. That’s what happens when a musical becomes a smash hit and never for a second leaves the public consciousness. As you’re reading this, someone is now either rehearsing or performing the show somewhere in the […]

Musical Theater's M.V.C.

Musical Theater’s M.V.C.

By Peter Filichia — All right, it may not be the most significant anniversary in theatrical history. But for the record, 14 years ago this week – on April 16, 1997 — David Ives’s new play The Red Address opened at Second Stage Theatre. In case you missed it (it only ran 38 performances) or […]

110 In The Shade

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 […]

My Fair Lady – Broadway Revival Cast Recording 1976

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!

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 […]

Peter Filichia is the theater critic emeritus for the Star-Ledger in Newark, New Jersey and News 12 New Jersey.

He is a columnist each Friday for www.mtishows.com and www.kritzerland.com.

Filichia is the author of Let’s Put on a Musical, now in its third printing; Broadway Musicals: The Biggest Hit of the Season / The Biggest Flop of the Season and Broadway Musical MVPs 1960-2010: The Most Valuable Players of the Last 50 Seasons. His new book, Strippers, Showgirls, and Sharks will be published in May, 2013 by St. Martin’s Press.

He has been a columnist for Playbill, Theater.com, Theatermania and Theater Week.

Before joining the Theatre World Awards in 1996 as host and head of the selection committee, Filichia served four terms as president of the Drama Desk. He has served on an assessment panel for the National Endowment for the Arts, and is currently critic-in-residence for the University of Cincinnati-Conservatory of Music and the musical theater judge for the ASCAP Awards program.