Mantello Slams Chicago Sun-Times Critic over Controversial Review

https://www.broadwayworld.com/l.cfm?id=72289

While this just goes to show that one piece of art can be interpretated differently by different people, I'm shocked at her assertions, especially the one about the scarecrow being a parallel of a lynched black man. If she did any research, she would have known that Nobert Leo Butz was and is white.

Her exact quote regarding Kushner and "Caroline, or Change" was "Unfortunately, Kushner, in the classic style of a self-loathing Jew, has little but revulsion for his own roots. You can hear it and feel it throughout, most notably when the Gellmans, modestly successful first generation Jews, sing their Hanukkah songs."

In a later email, she said she called Kushner a self-loathing Jew not because of what he wrote, because of the "tone" of the production, the "body language" of the actors, and the fact that Caroline's black characters have, in her opinion, better music. Since when is a book writer responsible for an actor's "body language" or certain characters having "better music?" Interesting that she didn't accuse the non-Jewish George Wolfe or Jeanine Tesori of anti-semitism as well (not that there are any such stereotypes in the piece, in the first place).

Aside from clearly not having much of a grasp on how to properly analyze subtext and metaphors within a dramatic work (and if you're parceling out blame, what the province of the book writer vs the composer vs the director is), the woman clearly has some major issues and hang-ups involving her own Jewishness -- she comes off as being the real self-loathing one here. Her continued employment is a blackmark on the part of the Sun-Times.

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Updated On: 5/15/05 at 04:01 PM

Wow, that is the most idiotic review I've ever had the displeasure to read. Ms Weiss is not very wise.

Stephanie, I am actually a huge fan of the book (more so than the show actually) and I am aware that Fiyero has dark skin in the novel
I was just using NLB to prove that the play doesn't use the symbolism she suggested at all

No, his skin is covered with blue diamonds.

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wow. what nerve she has to try to take down kushner, who is known to use jewish themes because of the simple fact that he is jewish, as a 'self-loathing jew'.

ana gasteyer was in rocky horror show on broadway in 2000 as magenta and was pretty good. it's a little weird but they need a name for the tour, i guess. it is common to state that a show is "starring" someone if they are the prominent name for the show, regardless of whether or not the parts are of equal size.

Sounds like someone is a bit insecure about seeing minorities represented onstage...

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Heddy's "review" is simply ridiculous.

^ Yeah, but it doesn't make a lot of sense to say that "Wicked" meant the Scarecrow/Fiyero scene to be like a lynching of a black man if the original Fiyero wasn't black. Not that much of the "review" makes sense anyway.

There are legitimate reasons to dislike "Wicked." The objections in that "review" weren't those reasons.

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What the hell is "stylistically chockoblock" supposed to mean?

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Have mercy, where does one begin? I'll just give a loud second to Margo's summary: "Her continued employment is a blackmark on the part of the Sun-Times." Get thee to a therapist, Ms. Weiss!

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I remember the "self-loathing Jew" comment. That clown is still working? Cripes. Also, she's a very poor judge of klezmer. :)