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

[catcher]

Posted: 10/23/03 at 2:00pm

"The Broadway morgue is nicely stacked with flop musicals that boasted huge stars above the title: Katharine Hepburn in "Coco," Andrews in "Victor/Victoria," Michael Crawford in "Dance of the Vampires," Bernadette Peters in the disappointing revival of "Gypsy" (which will never recoup its $10 million investment)."

WHY is he always beating on Gypsy? Now I don't know whether it will ever recoup, but it is hardly yet in the class with those others... I mean it is ridiculous to include it.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 10/23/03 at 2:04pm

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

[WOSQ]

Posted: 10/23/03 at 2:11pm

A - This clown writes for the Post so his crediblity is shot right there;

B - Coco closed its NY run showing a partial loss. However Hepburn agreed to tour the following season and with that six month tour playing big theatres to sell-out business, put Coco into the hit column.

[TxTwoStep]

Posted: 10/23/03 at 2:16pm

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.

[tpdc]

Posted: 10/23/03 at 2:17pm

I was going to say the same thing about COCO paying off. I find it hard to believe that the producers of GYPSY would have put this revival together if they thought that it couldn't pay the investment back during Bernadette's contract. They could not have expected for the show to play at 100% for her 52 week run. GYSPSY has never been a huge hit and the last revival wasn't all that long ago. So maybe they have an idea for a good replacement for next year or maybe it will pay off if business holds by the end of her run. But calling it a flop now when it is doing pretty well at the box office is just par for the course for Riedel.

[rlbgbc]

Posted: 10/23/03 at 2:20pm

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.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 10/23/03 at 2:27pm

Ginger, Bernadette and Kate aside, I think Riedel is indeed trying to make an interesting point about the future of this show when Jackman leaves...

..even more to the point, the future of the show 8 months from now...

As I have said, Jackman is very good indeed but "The Bottom from Oz" itself, is really stinky ass...

[TxTwoStep]

Posted: 10/23/03 at 2:37pm

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"...

[tpdc]

Posted: 10/23/03 at 3:01pm

The friends I know who have BOY FROM OZ all liked it more than the critics did. They acknowledged it wasn't a great show but they had a fun time. All them loved Hugh. All the Broadway version was ever going to be was a star vehicle and as long as Jackman shows up, I think it will do quite well.

[FrontRow]

Posted: 10/23/03 at 6:10pm

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.

[Cadriel]

Posted: 10/23/03 at 6:59pm

FrontRow -

There are two basic financial classifications for a show: success (recouped its initial investment) and failure (didn't recoup its initial investment). Flop is another term for a failure. Besides, there are almost no shows that actually close in a couple of weeks any more; Dance of the Vampires drudged on for 56 performances before it dropped. I'm pretty certain that Amour was the short-runner of the season with 17 performances.

Of course, 70% of all Broadway shows are flops by this standard, so Riedel's really just being catty.

-Wayne

[theaterbabe]

Posted: 10/23/03 at 8:50pm

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

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 10/23/03 at 9:27pm

I think Reidel is frustrated because he wanted to play Mama Rose & the role went to Bernadette

Updated On: 10/23/03 at 09:27 PM

[TheaterBaby]

Posted: 10/24/03 at 1:28pm

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."

[IssaMe]

Posted: 10/25/03 at 11:22am

His business analysis for Oz may or may not hold. This week there wasn't an empty seat - and the ticket booth in Times Square was only used twice (and then for well less than 100 seats each time - those were in the side of the rear mezzanine).

[jo]

Posted: 10/25/03 at 8:29pm

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

[Dollypop]

Posted: 10/25/03 at 11:32pm

Excuse me....Ginger Rogers never played COCO on Broadway. She toured in a Guber and Gross production of the show (the Music Fair circuit). She played Coco Chanel as a blonde--which was inaccurate, but other than that, did a fine job in the role.