Mantello Slams Chicago Sun-Times Critic over Controversial Review- Page 2

[theatreboi11]

Posted: 5/16/05 at 1:34am

I must defend my city! Being a fellow Chicagian I will say SHE IS AN IDIOT AND THIS SHOULD NOT BE ANY REFLECTION ON THE THEATRE SCENE HERE! Everyone except her actually has a sense of humor and common sense! GO CHICAGO! haha

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 5/16/05 at 2:41am

The review would be laughable, except that the article will cost the show money, especially when factoring in the open-ended production of Wicked that is starting in a few months. And there are many people that will choose not to see Wicked solely based on this woman's ludicrous accusations. Joe Mantello's rebuttal isn't going to be published in the Chicago Sun-Times, so they'll accept Hedy Weiss's article as an accurate review.

If they must have theater critics, I think they should have to have their articles reviewed by their peers, like academic journals are. Because this article is the perfect example of why critics should have to answer to a higher-up before they do irreparable harm to a show.

Updated On: 5/16/05 at 02:41 AM

[StephanietheStar]

Posted: 5/16/05 at 3:59am

HEHEH!! so i wrote miss Weiss a short note saying some of the things that we have said here and she wrote me back! like in 2 minutes!

Dear Stephanie Souza....
I do not have race on my mind. But when you cast a black actor in a
show
that is almost entirely white (and yes, I know the actor on Broadway
was
white, but I was reviewing this cast), and when he is part of a scene
in
which an angry mob ties him to a pole and puts him out in a field, the
allusions to lynching are unavoidable. This is historically sad, but it
also
is true, especially in a show where time and again the point is being
hammered home about the lack of freedom and many other forms of
oppression.
And please remember, none of this is taken out of context. After all,
"Wicked" is about a girl who is discriminated against because she is
green.
I'm perfectly happy that many people who see the show have enjoyed it.
But
to deny that a whole lot of very unpleasant things happened in Oz (and
that
its creative team didn;t reference them) is to miss the point of the
story.

Sincerely,
Hedy Weiss



direct copy and paste..:)

[littlemeatpie]

Posted: 5/16/05 at 10:00am

Well, now I don't feel so bad about the times Hedy hasn't liked ME!Go Joe!

[PalJoey]

Posted: 5/16/05 at 10:29am

I was not fond of his direction of Wicked, but his response to this critic increases my respect for Joe Mantello exponentially.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 5/16/05 at 10:37am

I didn't read it myself but I was under the impression that the Sun-Times had printed Mantello's letter.

You add Weiss's absurd comments to the fact that the Tribune citic made and out-and-out mistakes in his review and Chicago critics are looking very bad this spring. It's really hard to understand especially considering the huge civic push there has been for this production. I can't help but wonder if Weiss's bizarre behavious was somehow motivated by her resentment that the Sun-Times spent a week promoting this show with a "Wicked" article every day. She's known to be a bit of a contrarian, so maybe she was pissed they were hyping a show and she decided to take it to task.

In any case it's sad and reflects poorly on the media here. From all repors, tickets are still selling like crazy.
Updated On: 5/16/05 at 10:37 AM

[MagicToDo82]

Posted: 5/16/05 at 10:49am

She was always a joke. NOW she's a joke on a bigger level. Rock on.

and don't worry, Wickedfans..The Chicago leg is a smash success. Just TRY getting a ticket. I dare you. And the lottery is crowded.

[kissmycookie]

Posted: 5/16/05 at 11:00am

Is she Chicago's version of John Simon?

[uncamark]

Posted: 5/16/05 at 1:24pm

And the truth is that the Sun-Times doesn't sell tickets at all in this town. Never has, never will. But Hedy has always lived under the delusion that she influences the theater companies, especially since Richard Christiansen retired from the Tribune. She's always been willing to give the artistic directors of the big NFP residents unsolicited advice on how they should run their companies and what shows they should do. At one panel, Bob Falls of the Goodman came right out and said that she should mind her own business.

What has kept her at the S-T is the fact that she fits the neocon beliefs of the people who run the paper. Personally, I'd love to see the theater community shut her and the S-T out, but the paper would probably dig in and not fire her--and if she did get fired, she'd be on Bill O'Reilly screaming "political correctness!"

BTW, she also does theater reviews for PBS station WTTW's "Chicago Tonight" program. Last Wednesday, she did review "Wicked" on that program. I don't know if she repeated her statments there and WTTW doesn't have archival video on their web site.

[MagicToDo82]

Posted: 5/16/05 at 2:01pm

I turned on TV during Chicago tonight and turned it off immediately seeing that she was talking, even though they were showing some clip from "One Short Day."

[Fosse76]

Posted: 5/16/05 at 2:02pm

"Joe Mantello's rebuttal isn't going to be published in the Chicago Sun-Times, so they'll accept Hedy Weiss's article as an accurate review. "

Actually, when I posted last week Mantello's response in the Wicked in Chicago thread, I mentioned where I found it. It WAS printed last week in the Letters to the Editor section. So the Sun-Times did print it.

This isn't the first time I've seen her rant off topic either. She used her review of "Miss Saigon" to lambast the French involvement in the "war on terror" and used that to justify a bad review.

[vbplayer]

Posted: 5/16/05 at 3:26pm

hmmm........this will make her even more un-pop-u-lar in Chicago.

[worrell4077]

Posted: 5/16/05 at 4:05pm

I'm just going to say this about Ms. Weiss, "She's a looney, but a happy loney." I mean she thinks that just because Wicked may have some hint of a tolitarian dictatorship, that it's automatically reminscent of Hitler.

Does she think that Mel Brooks is a self-loathing jew as well. I mean the article says she hated The Producers and SpamAlot as well for jew jokes. I mean, jeez lighten up, it's just a show.
________________________________________________________________
"For those pictured before you are the designated targets of a deadly assassin. An assassin of youth, a new drug menace destroying our children in alarmingly increasing numbers. Marijuana is that drug, a vile narcotic, an unspeakable scurge. The real public enemy number one."
-The Lecturer(Reefer Madness)

[Hanna from Hamburg]

Posted: 5/16/05 at 5:06pm

Some critics think that, unless they say bad things, they aren't doing their jobs. Ultimately, even a good review is just an opinion and you know what they say . . . but she definitely sounds like she's a few ruffles shy of a Glinda gown!!!!

[StephanietheStar]

Posted: 5/16/05 at 5:07pm

"Few ruffles shy of a Glinda gown"---great way of saying that!

[uncamark]

Posted: 5/16/05 at 10:02pm

And to top everything else, even though she'll deny it, she's frequently shown a tendency for homophobia, particularly when it regards lesbians (gay men she'll like if they're cute, helpless and with AIDS, which is why she did like "Angels in America"). There's no doubt that it's not just "Caroline" that bothers her about Tony Kushner...

[birdlives]

Posted: 5/16/05 at 10:42pm

I always thought she was kind of a nut.

I would see a show, and then read her review after, and be amazed that two people could have such opposing views. My biggest impression of her was that she coddled certain actors or theater companies that were putting out sub par work, and bashing national companies or bigger names. Can't remember any specific examples, but then again, I moved from Chicago over eight years ago.

[uncageg]

Posted: 5/16/05 at 11:28pm

I was bothered enough by her review and her remark about Mr. Kushner to send her an e-mail on May 6th. Some of you have probably read these posts on the thred Wicked's first show in Chicago. Here is the e-mail I sent her along with her response and my response back. It just amazes me that she is still working for this paper! here are my posts:

OK...it bothered me enough to send her an e-mail....this is what I said. I will post her response if I get one!


Just read your Wicked review here in Denver. I saw the show on Broadway with the original cast and enjoyed it. No, it is no masterpiece but an enjoyable show with good music. I am e-mailing you in regards to a part of your review. The comment that the scarecrow is revealed to be a "lynched black man" is kind of offensive especially seeing that I am a black man. It also gives a plot surprise away, something that most reviewers have not done. I wonder how you would have described the character had it been played by a white person, Asian or Hispanic on the tour. I cringe to even think about it. While I agree with some of your review about the show (I can't speak to the touring cast but will see them in Denver to form my own opinion)I think it was pretty harsh and slightly off the mark.




Well kids, I got a response! You are gonna love this!

From Hedy Weiss to me:


My intent was only to depict the way history is shorthanded in this
musical,
and unquestionably black men have been the major victims of lynchings.
If
you reread my review you also will note that I considered this
reference in
the exact same way that I did the fact that the Munchkins were dressed
like
concentration camp inmates (and I am Jewish). There was no value
judgement
made at all, except to say that the book of "Wicked" is all over the
map and
that if you are going to put a political subtext in a musical you
probably
should put things in context.

Hedy Weiss



My response to her was this:

Ok...don't really see what history has to do with a
musical based on fiction. This is pure fantasy. The
original Fiyero was, and still is, white. So your
statement would have been unfounded had there been a
white person playing the part. So why even make that
type of reference. I am interested in knowing what
you would have said had a person other than an african
american played the part. Seeing that white people
were not being lynched, I can only expect that you
would compare it to Christ on the Cross maybe?!!!
Only thing I can think you would do. I still find your
review to be out of line. And having archived your
reviews and read you review on Caroline or Change, I
think that you may have some issues that need
addressing. I did see Caroline or Change on Broadway
and did not get the same thing out of it that you did.
Neither did anyone I know that saw the review. And I
think Mr. Kushner was fully justified in his response.

[StephanietheStar]

Posted: 5/17/05 at 12:13am

I find it funny that she is replying..cuz I would think she'd be getting hundreds of these letters! she replyed to me too!

look up ^^^^^^^^^

(just had an angels in america moment there!)

[uncageg]

Posted: 5/17/05 at 12:29am

I just don't get how you go to a show/musical that is fiction and fantasy (with a nice message) and look at it in the way she did. My mind didn't even go there when I saw it in New York (with Mr. Butz)and won't when Mr. Williams arrives in Denver as Fiyero. It's amazing, and sometimes very scary, how some people look at things. Even scarier is that it sounds like the woman is going to be allowed to continue as a critic for the Sun-Times.

[StephanietheStar]

Posted: 5/17/05 at 12:34am

People AMAZE me...my mind didn't go there ONCE either...I understand people have different opinions but her's comes across as VERY racists and she sound very insane. Why does she still have a job at the sun-times??

I think the story is about being different (that's why so many people relate to it) and finding an unexpected friend, and what happens when you do what you feel is right (and DEFY GRAVITY! hehe).

Hey, I was raised on Disney movies--maybe Weiss would be less crazy if she was too.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 5/17/05 at 12:36am

I don't really like Wicked, but she seems a bit looney. You guys are great! Thanks for pasting in her replies. :)

[Hanna from Hamburg]

Posted: 5/17/05 at 5:36am

I'm sure if you asked her to review all the Disney classic movies, you would get the same crap. Mickey Mouse is a tribute to Hitler, the evil stepmother has a lesbian attraction to Cinderella, Simba is a flaming queen, the Beast (because he has brown hair) is being attacked by the townspeople to be lynched . . . . Seems like Heady's got problems in the "heady."

Updated On: 5/17/05 at 05:36 AM

[StephanietheStar]

Posted: 5/17/05 at 12:44pm

LOL Hanna..you are, I am sure, very correct!

[morosco]

Posted: 5/17/05 at 12:53pm

In this photo Hedy Weiss reveals, through body language, that she's not a very talented critic. AKA ... ignorant.