BOMB-O-KINGS

Riedel's column

Being a long-standing fan of the book and movie, I am still optimistic towards the show. I hope it does well.

I don't like Reidel to begin with...... having nothing to do with any personal ties to the show, I refuse to read that just on principle!

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The cast didn't know who Tommy Tune was? They thought he wrote lyrics? I find that hard to believe.

"If he can't fix "The Mambo Kings," the critics will hang it around his neck like a millstone and he'll sink with it to the bottom of the Broadway pond."

Because he'd be the first director with a flop? Please...

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I am disgusted that these young performers don't have the tiniest bit of theater knowledge. To not know who Tommy Tune is??? Shame.

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robbie, you know you're not joking.

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The only difference? The glow sticks.

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A $15 million budget? For Mambo Kings? That's CRAZY.

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"Oh Rath...have you ever spoken to a chorus boy. I've had more stimulating coversations with a box of cereal."

FYI - They just play dumb like Jessica Simpson. It's an act!

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BOMB-O-KINGS
by Michael Riedel

"June 24, 2005 -- IT'S a Latino-themed musical with a huge budget and a host of problems. The cre ator has a big ego but no stage experience. And he's been sidelined by a new creative team, including a director named Jerry.
Theater insiders are wondering: Have Broadway producers Daryl Roth and her son Jordan bought themselves a "Capeman"?

The parallels between that infamous Paul Simon flop and "The Mambo Kings," the Roths' flop-in-the making, are eerie.

Back in 1998, Simon, a stage novice, aimed to reinvent the Broadway musical with his show about Sal Agron, the notorious Puerto Rican street-gang leader who murdered two teenagers in 1959.

But the show floundered in previews, and Simon was forced to turn it over to veteran director Jerry Zaks.

Zaks did what he could, but "The Capeman" ran just three months, closing at a loss of $11 million.

"The Mambo Kings" is certainly lighter in spirit than "The Capeman" — it's about a pair of Cuban brothers who come to the States to break into showbiz — but it's been plagued by "Capeman"-like problems.



For one thing, Arne Glimcher, its director, book writer and lyricist, has, like Simon, zero stage experience.

His ineptness is a big reason why the $12 million show is in serious trouble.

His direction lacks theatrical flair and his book is static and confusing, according to people involved in the show.

For two weeks now, the Roths have been hunting for a directing and writing team to replace him.

Tommy Tune and composer Maury Yeston topped the list, but after seeing the show in San Francisco, they passed.

(Note to Tune: You've been away from Broadway too long. Many of the kids in "The Mambo Kings" have never heard of you. "They're bringing in Tommy Tune," one said. "He writes lyrics.")

But the Roths have lined up a B-team: playwright David Ives, who blows the cobwebs off old musicals for Encores!, and composer Jason Robert Brown, whose show-doctoring experience consists of trying to fix "Urban Cowboy."

For a director, they're negotiating with a Jerry.

But this time it's a Mitchell, not a Zaks (he turned them down).

Mitchell, the choreographer of "Hairspray" and "The Full Monty," has yet to direct a Broadway musical.

But earlier this month, he won the Tony for his choreography for "La Cage aux Folles."

As of yesterday, Mitchell was on the fence.

People close to him say he thinks "The Mambo Kings" needs a lot of work.

He's also reluctant to put his name on what could turn out to be one of the costliest flops in Broadway history.

If he can't fix "The Mambo Kings," the critics will hang it around his neck like a millstone and he'll sink with it to the bottom of the Broadway pond.

The Roths are going to extraordinary lengths to get him. They're even willing, I'm told, to let him work on the show for three weeks before making the decision to open at the Broadway Theater.

It's a good thing the Roths are billionaires — Daryl's husband, Steve, is a New York real estate kingpin — because this is going to cost them.

The Shuberts, who own the Broadway, are likely to demand a substantial amount of money to hold the theater in limbo (they could put another musical, "The Color Purple," in there in a minute).

That, plus the costs of the delay and the new creative team, will push the pricetag of "The Mambo Kings" to $15 million.

If you live in a building owned by the Roths, don't be surprised if the rent goes up.


LOOKS like the wonderful "Billy Elliot" will indeed open on Broadway next season. Director Stephen Daldry is in town this week looking at theaters.

* Due to James Earl Jones' bout of pneumonia, "On Golden Pond" will close on Sunday after 19 previews and 93 regular performances

* Don't miss: "Little Mary," William S. Leavengood's haunting new play about tensions in the Catholic Church. It's at the Sanford Meisner Theater and features a fine performance by Ron Orbach as a politically progressive archbishop."

I think they need more than a few weeks to fix this show. All the leads (except Christiane Noll) are vocally weak. If they can somehow get Raul to break his Chitty contract and take over from Esai Morales- that would be a good start!

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