I know I'm late, but something that really bothered me in Reidel yesterday

He's being smarmy but also he's probably accurate!

when did Ginger Rogers take over for Hepburn on the COCO tour? i didn't realize Kate hit the road. i've seen Playbills with Rogers and with the NYC replacement, euro film star Danielle Darrieux. Frenchie was at the Mark Hellinger within a year of Hepburn's debut, which sounds a bit fast for Kate to be on the road with the national company.

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Ginger did indeed take over for Hepburn in COCO. I worked with Buddy Tiejelo once who was in that tour, and the stories he told! Said that she was the worst dancer he ever partnered.

love that nick, ANTH. And from another thread, Jackman had no pitch problems when i saw it. Now, the fight between Beth Fowler's chest and head voice was a different matter. Try as i might, i can't stop hearing Manchester belt all the way to the top of "Don't Cry Out Loud," and as beautifully as Fowler was acting it within its flimsy scene, her vocals were making me shift in my seat.

Speaking of replacements, what do you folks make of the rumor Sean Hayes is seeking to succeed Huge Jack? "Just Jack" instead of "Jack the Man"...

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Riedel is an asshole.

Do yourself a favor, theater fans, and skip his column. I've stopped watching 'Theater Talk' because of him, and every time I get a solicitation for money from the show, I write back 'Not till you replace Riedel.'

A flop is a show that runs less than a week or two and is UNIVERSALLY panned. Like Dance of the Vampires or Urban Cowboy, to mention the most recent examples.

Whether a show was disappointing or not as big a hit as anticipated or lost money or not up to the artist's usual work quality, it should not be called a flop. Gypsy with Bernadette got as many (probably more) good reviews as bad, Tony noms and is in its 6th month. Mr. Moron Riedel, that's not a flop. Neither was Coco, which ran almost a year and won 3 of 7 Tonys for which it was nominated. Victor/Victoria ran for 2 years.

To theater buffs and the most casual theatergoer, a flop means a TOTAL failure.

These days on Bway, you don't measure commercial success by whether a show loses money. The Will Rogers Follies -- highly acclaimed, ran for 2-plus years -- lost money.

Riedel just wants to take one more jab at shows & performances he didn't like. If he really wanted to name some actual high-profile flops, TRUE flops, with big stars from recent years, what about Kelsey Grammer's Macbeth? But that would have taken a little more thinking, a little more knowledge about theater than he's capable of.

you guys have GOT to see BERNADETTE AND THE BUTCHER OF BROADWAY.

it's a play about this very subject. It's about the rivalry that existed between Michael Riedel and Ben Brantley (from the times) concerning the production of Gypsy starring Bernadette.

I saw it and it was HYSTERICAL!

It got great reviews and was just extended again. it's playing Wednesdays in November at the Duplex.

more info at
http://www.theatermania.com/content/show.cfm?int_show_id=23745

You know what, Gypsy and Bernadette Peters could have won every Tony Award, and Reidel would still say the show is a flop. He has set his evil little mind on "Attack Gypsy" mode, and he is not about to admit he's wrong.
LOL That's why they created "Bernadette and the Butcher of Broadway."

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And according to Piglet ( she posted this on another site) who sat at the back of his row --

Mr. Riedel himself occupied one of those seats at the Imperial this week - clearly enjoying himself during the show

Jo

Updated On: 10/25/03 at 08:29 PM