"Noel [Coward] and I were in Paris once. Adjoining rooms, of course. One night, I felt mischievous, so I knocked on Noel's door, and he asked, 'Who is it?' I lowered my voice and said 'Hotel detective. Have you got a gentleman in your room?' He answered, 'Just a minute, I'll ask him.'" (Beatrice Lillie)
I actually miss his column and his insider access. I hope he comes back. I was actually wondering this myself, where is he?
I periodically open the NY Post app and type his last name in to see if he’s written anything new. Lately there hasn’t been any real interesting theater news. Of course I also realize there is no theater to speak of.....maybe he’ll come back when Broadway re-opens, BUR I am surprised he hasn’t continued talking about it in some way.
Post basically threw in the towel re broadway long before the shutdown .Post bounced him. They than made Vincentelli critic for a short while before she was dumped. Not sure if they even had one now. If so person probably paid a set fee for each review
Reidel has a new book coming out for Simon and Schuster 11/10. It is called Singular Sensation Sunset Blvd to The Lion King .It is $29 and $14.90 for Nook. Assume it will eventually go to Kindle.
Mr Roxy said: "Post basically threw in the towel re broadway long before the shutdown .Post bounced him. They than made Vincentelli critic for a short while before she was dumped. Not sure if they even had one now. If so person probably paid a set feefor each review
Reidel has a new book coming out for Simon and Schuster 11/10. It is called Singular Sensation Sunset Blvd to The Lion King .It is $29 and $14.90 for Nook. Assume it will eventually go to Kindle."
It's been up for pre-order on Kindle for at least the past week or two.
Braniff Forever said: "I actually miss his column and his insider access. I hope he comes back. I was actually wondering this myself, where is he?
I periodically open the NY Post app and type his last name in to see if he’s written anything new. Lately there hasn’t been any real interesting theater news. Of course I also realize there is no theater to speak of.....maybe he’ll come back when Broadway re-opens, BUR I am surprised he hasn’t continued talking about it in some way. "
I find that I've already read his "insider info" on here before I read it in his column.
He’s a despicable person who has made a career of besmirching people and causing legitimate pain. He thinks he’s being funny or clever, when he’s just being cruel.
You realize with your profile name, you could be accused of the same? My point being: maybe just maybe people read in too much or take things too seriously.
Even his barbs against Peters were, to my mind, arguably correct and not remotely a suggestion that she lacks talent, simply that she was miscast.
joevitus said: "You realize with your profile name, you could be accused of the same? My point being: maybe just maybe people read in too much or take things too seriously.
Even his barbs against Peters were, to my mind, arguably correctand not remotely a suggestion that she lacks talent, simply that she was miscast."
Well, but I’m posting on a theatre chat board and not in an arguably reputable publication. It hardly compares.
in addition, as long as you’ve brought up Peters, he was relentless and merciless in attacking Peters for her illness and it’s effect in her ability to perform. He revealed himself. And he’s miserable and despicable.
May he get as sick as she was -and mocked for it and see what it’s like.
Fagnes Gooch said: "joevitus said: "You realize with your profile name, you could be accused of the same? My point being: maybe just maybe people read in too much or take things too seriously.
Even his barbs against Peters were, to my mind, arguably correctand not remotely a suggestion that she lacks talent, simply that she was miscast."
Well, but I’m posting on a theatre chat board and not in an arguably reputablepublication. It hardly compares.
in addition, as long as you’ve brought up Peters,he was relentless and merciless in attacking Peters for her illness and it’s effect in her ability to perform. He revealed himself. And he’s miserable and despicable.
May he get as sick as she was -and mocked for it and see what it’s like."
I see nothing relentless or merciless about that. A star suddenly gets "sick" when she gets bad press, but the producers (the real source of his ire) aren't making that clear to audiences who were shelling out big bucks to see a star management knew they wouldn't see.
I wasn't around the online theatre community during the period Taboo came out, but Boy George seemed extremely hurt by the way he and all the people behind that production were treated by Reidel. He portrayed Reidel as someone who took glee in destroying a show before it premiered and having the power to do that. Then he said when he finally met him, he realized what a miserable little man he was in person.
Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark was not a good show by any stretch (although IMO 1.0 was more interesting than the bland final version), but Reidel absolutely delighted in leading the charge against the show and he was rooting for its demise at every turn, so much so that he even wrote that it was 'annoying' that the show was posting such high grosses in the year after it finally opened. I remember thinking that the way he relentlessly pounded Julie Taymor was particularly harsh and cruel.
Didn't somebody once punch him in restaurant after they read one of his articles?
"You drank a charm to kill John Proctor's wife! You drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor!" - Betty Parris to Abigail Williams in Arthur Miller's The Crucible
I was never a reader of Michael Reidel, but he did make for an entertaining host on Theater Talk. Some episodes are just cringe worthy. Also, I heard that the cast of Hamilton would not appear on the show, because of his bias towards the show. Eventually, some of the replacements came on, when he left the show.
I wonder what it says about someone who takes so much delight in the destruction of creatives. Like I get snark, and if you don't like a show or a particular creative, you don't have to. And I like that not everyone writes like they are on the PR team for a production company. However, going extreme in the other way is also not very productive and it's just one side of the same coin as people who seem to love everything and write as if they are on a production team's payroll. They are not the independently-minded, objective, free thinkers advocating for purpose of being contrary, but rather they have very will issues they are taking out on creatives and are destructive.
his relentless campaign against the Applegate “Sweet Charity” is an example as to why. He took glee in that particular productions troubles, reporting on them with delight. He wasn’t just reporting on them — he was making predictions of that productions doom (“I’ll eat my hat if it ever opens on Broadway” or something to that effect, he said — and I bet he didn’t eat his hat) and rooting for it to fail.
The Peters “Gypsy”, though, is the ultimate example. She was pretty sick. Whether or not she was getting bad word of mouth, she was legitimately ill. I was at a performance where she struggled vocally to get through Act 1. Her understudy did Act 2. She needed time to heal. And he was merciless and cruel, at one point creating a mock missing ad for her. It’s just unnecessary.
He went after Donna Murphy during “Wonderful Town”, too. (though I don’t remember enough of the details).
She never had the voice for Rose--and if she was sick or not, why wouldn't the producers (again, the real issue) simply inform the audience what performances (and there were many in a row) she'd be missing. Geez, she's not even bothered by it anymore.
Ah yes, how could anyone in the world possibly forgive question the musical comedy charms of Christina Appelgate? *sigh*
At the end of the day the man is just lame. I get better scoops from Jordan Catalano and others on this site. And his track record for predictions is laughably bad (Hamilton, Bullets Over Broadway). He just seems to be more and more irrelevant.
joevitus said: "Reidel says nothing worse than the kind of thingyou can read on this very site."
And it's not like people respect every poster or post equally. If they have an issue with his content and character, they probably have an issue with similar posts written by somebody else. And just because you don't like a performance doesn't excuse every over-the-line, mean-spirited act. I don't get why people think public performers are fair game but not people writing on them. Everyone is fair game, right?
ScottyDoesn'tKnow2 said: "joevitus said: "Reidel says nothing worse than the kind of thingyou can read on this very site."
And it's not like peoplerespectevery poster or post equally. If they have an issue with his content and character, they probably have an issue with similar posts written by somebody else. And just because you don't like a performance doesn't excuse every over-the-line, mean-spirited act. I don't get why people think public performers are fair game but not people writing on them. Everyone is fair game, right?"
It still strikes me as silly to get upset and direct hostility towards the man. Makes more sense to enjoy him or ignore him.