The Great Parade

A renowned theater critic presents the history of one of the Great White Way's most unparalleled entertainment seasons.

It was the Broadway season when Barbra Streisand demanded “Don't Rain on My Parade” and Carol Channing heard the waiters at the Harmonia Gardens say “Hello, Dolly!”. From June 1, 1963 through the final day of May 31, 1964, theatergoers were offered sixty-eight different productions: twenty-four new plays, fifteen new comedies, fourteen new musicals, five revivals of plays, three revues, three plays in Yiddish, two in French, one double-bill and even one puppet show. Peter Filichia's The Great Parade reveals what a Broadway season looked like more than a half-century ago analyzing the hits, the flops, the trends, the surprises, the disappointments, the stars and even how the assassination of JFK and the arrival of the Beatles affected Broadway.

The '63-'64 Broadway season was unprecedented in the star power onstage: Barbara Streisand, Carol Channing, Claudette Colbert. Colleen Dewhurst, Hal Holbrook, Mary Martin, Christopher Plummer, Robert Preston, Julie Harris, Jason Robards, Jr., Carol Burnett, Tallulah Bankhead, Alec Guinness, Kirk Douglas, Albert Finney, Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Richard Burton, Mary Martin, Beatrice Lillie, Hermione Gingold, Robert Redford and many more. Neil Simon and Stephen Sondheim burst on to the Broadway stage with Barefoot in the Park and Anyone Can Whistle.

Featuring information on musical cast recordings as well as a listing of Tony Award-winners (and losers), The Great Parade a comprehensive chronicle of one of Broadway's most outstanding eras.