When it was announced Jan. 6 that TheaterWeek magazine was folding, theatre fans lamented the apparent loss of two of the most dynamic voices in theatre journalism, Ken Mandelbaum and Peter Filichia.

But now, Playbill On-Line is proud to announce that their popular columns will resume -- on Playbill On-Line and in the pages of the monthly Playbill magazine.

Ken Mandelbaum, one of America's foremost authorities on musical theatre and author of popular theatre books Not Since Carrie and "A Chorus Line and the Musicals of Michael Bennett, not only will continue writing his column, a cornerstone of TheaterWeek, but now will be available to answer your questions online. E-mail your musical theatre questions to Ken Mandelbaum at [email protected]. Selected questions will be answered as part of each week's column.

Mandelbaum's column will be posted each Sunday on Playbill On-Line, starting Jan. 19.

Peter Filichia, a former president of the New York Drama Desk, writes about theatre for the Newark (NJ) Star-Ledger. His column, Stagestruck, began appearing in TheaterWeek soon after its launch in 1987, and he's been delighting readers with his fascinating perspectives on show people, their history and their current projects.He can be reached online at [email protected].

Filichia's column will be posted each Wednesday on Playbill On-Line, starting Jan. 22.

The best of each month's columns by both men will appear in the monthly Playbill magazine. Subscription information can be obtained by writing: Playbill Magazine, Subscriptions, 52 Vanderbilt Ave. New York, NY, 10017. Inside the USA, you can also can call 1-800-437-7456.

Here are more detailed biographies of both writers:

PETER FILICHIA: is the New Jersey theatre critic for The Star-Ledger and its television station, News 12 New Jersey. He also wrote the weekly column "Stagestruck" for TheaterWeek magazine. For four years, he was president of the Drama Desk, the New York Association of Drama Critics, for which he wrote and emceed its annual Drama Desk Awards.

He is author of Let's put on a Musical: How to Choose the Right Show for Your School, Community, or Professional Theatre. In addition, he has written the liner notes for many Broadway cast albums. He has appeared as a guest on TV's "Sally Jessy Raphael, Phil Donahue and Saturday Night Live.

KEN MANDELBAUM is the author of the acclaimed musical theatre books "A Chorus Line" and the Musicals of Michael Bennett (1989) and Not Since "Carrie": 40 Years of Broadway Musical Flops (1991), both published by St. Martin's Press. For 10 years, he was musical theatre critic for Theater Week Magazine, reviewing stage productions, recordings, and books, and contributing a weekly column of theatre news and editorials. He has written on musical theatre for Playbill, The New York Times, Stagebill, Billboard, Show Music, and London Theatre News, and has written the liner notes for more than 25 musical theatre recordings on compact disc.

He has lectured on and taught classes in musical theatre at NYU Tisch School of the Arts and Marymount Manhattan College, and is internationally recognized as a musical theatre archivist and authority. He is the recipient of the 1992 New England Theatre Conference Special Award for Achievement in Theatre, which reads, "Through his books, articles, reviews, record liner notes, and lectures, he has shown an extraordinary command of the ups and downs, ins and outs, virtues and flaws, and successive incarnations of Broadway musicals; his staggering knowledge of our musical theatre is unmatched by anyone else in the world."