Michael Riedel on LENNON (8/10)
Michael Riedel on LENNON (8/10)
#0Michael Riedel on LENNON (8/10)
Posted: 8/10/05 at 12:42pm
He sure does have his favorites...to pick on...
http://www.nypost.com/entertainment/51587.htm
#1re: Michael Riedel on LENNON (8/10)
Posted: 8/10/05 at 12:53pm
That's no harsher than he is on practically anything, really.
It's a statement he quote from BArry Weissler that concerns me, though.
'As for fights about sets and hotel rooms, Weissler, who just got back from a safari in Africa, says: "I haven't even been around for two weeks. I was in the bush." '
#2re: Michael Riedel on LENNON (8/10)
Posted: 8/10/05 at 12:58pm
"Don Scardino, an Ono acolyte with a growing reputation as Broadway's leading bottom-drawer director"...
That's cold and uncalled for, isn't it?
"Or they come up with wacky new ideas — such as starting and ending the show with the image of the space shuttle"
Reidel needs to do more homework...that's one of the original concepts from the SF staging of the show.
#3re: Michael Riedel on LENNON (8/10)
Posted: 8/10/05 at 1:02pmI can think of few places scarier then Fran Weissler's bush.
#4re: Michael Riedel on LENNON (8/10)
Posted: 8/10/05 at 1:03pmThere goes my oatmeal.....
#5re: Michael Riedel on LENNON (8/10)
Posted: 8/10/05 at 1:04pmWell, homework or no, mean spirited or not, Riedel is usually pretty accurate. I can't remember many shows in previews he predicted doom for that were actually hits.
#6re: Michael Riedel on LENNON (8/10)
Posted: 8/10/05 at 1:08pm
I think Boy From Oz did pretty well in the box office.
Updated On: 8/10/05 at 01:08 PM
#7re: Michael Riedel on LENNON (8/10)
Posted: 8/10/05 at 1:08pmDidn't he pronounce 'Sweet Charity' DOA on several occasions?
#8re: Michael Riedel on LENNON (8/10)
Posted: 8/10/05 at 1:11pmHe actually began to champion SWEET CHARITY after Applegate's injury. He also started out against MOVIN OUT when it was playing its out of town tryouts, but did a 180 and became one of the show's biggest champions.
Plum
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/4/04
#9re: Michael Riedel on LENNON (8/10)
Posted: 8/10/05 at 1:20pmHindsight is always 20/20. Which figures, since he's such an ass.
StarbuckQAF
Featured Actor Joined: 3/21/05
#10re: Michael Riedel on LENNON (8/10)
Posted: 8/10/05 at 1:21pm
The man finds flaws in everything and milks them for all they're worth... even if they're worth nothing.
He hadn't even seen the show when he started throwing his opinion around (back when it was in SF, he wrote an article bashing it using ignorant - and incorrect - quotes from some critics here in the Bay Area...)
He can't WAIT to rip this show to shreds. So I choose to ignore him.
Plum
Broadway Legend Joined: 3/4/04
#11re: Michael Riedel on LENNON (8/10)
Posted: 8/10/05 at 1:25pmWell, the "he didn't see it" argument doesn't exactly fly because he's a gossip columnist, not a critic. So if he just reports word-of-mouth, he's doing his job. Doesn't change the fact that he's an ass, though.
#12re: Michael Riedel on LENNON (8/10)
Posted: 8/10/05 at 1:28pmyeah...he may be accurate with his predictions, but if he truly is using "sources" close to the show...he would have known that there is NOTHING NEW about the space shuttle footage in the show.
Unknown User
Joined: 12/31/69
poodleboy
Understudy Joined: 5/15/03
#14re: Michael Riedel on LENNON (8/10)
Posted: 8/10/05 at 1:32pm
JOQ(jaded old queen)here, and I look forward twice a week to Mr. Riedel's writings. I am beyond the point in my life where I feel I need to support everything theater, espicially bad theater.
Reading the posts here you would think that "Lennon" is the best ever, like "Brooklyn" was. Any press is good press, and it will save my $$$ on what will be the next flop on Broadway.
Updated On: 8/10/05 at 01:32 PM
StarbuckQAF
Featured Actor Joined: 3/21/05
#15re: Michael Riedel on LENNON (8/10)
Posted: 8/10/05 at 1:45pm
true, he's a gossip columnist, but even still, he needs to make sure that the quotes he uses are correct themselves... Otherwise, it makes him look like a fool. (I think I remember him using a quote from an SF critic who spouted about the "10 people who portray John" throughout the show...) Never in the show's history did 10 people ever play John... I'm not going to trust the opinion of a man who can't even count.
And I would hardly consider "Lennon" the next "Brooklyn"... I've seen both, and "Lennon" had a LOT more substance, as well as performances that aren't JUST about how loud and high you can belt (though there is a lot of that too). But really, if you'd rather save your money based on Riedel's gossip... by all means, do.
leefowler
Broadway Star Joined: 7/13/04
#16re: Michael Riedel on LENNON (8/10)
Posted: 8/10/05 at 1:54pm
Starbuck,
I don't understand your complaint about the "10 people who play John," quote. Certainly there are many "Johns" on stage...Are you saying that there are really only 7 or 8 Johns?
#17re: Michael Riedel on LENNON (8/10)
Posted: 8/10/05 at 2:11pm
I think I hate him.
I haven't seen Lennon yet, so I'll refrain from specific comment, but I hate him anyway.
#18re: Michael Riedel on LENNON (8/10)
Posted: 8/10/05 at 2:11pmA friend of mine just saw the show and says he thinks it needs a lot of work.
#19re: Michael Riedel on LENNON (8/10)
Posted: 8/10/05 at 2:25pm
Riedel has made it fairly clear that he thinks this show will fail, but his bizarre comments about the "wacky new idea" of the space shuttle ending and closing is patently untrue, as others have pointed out. I saw the show in previews in SF and the space shuttle bookends were very much in evidence.
I don't really understand his vitriol towards the show. He doesn't have to like it, and I think there are few people who would claim the show is perfect. But his "let's rah rah it to its doom" attitude is sort of disturbing.
kooky
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/12/05
#20re: Michael Riedel on LENNON (8/10)
Posted: 8/10/05 at 2:35pm
Has he or has he not seen this show ? I am so confused . I happen to LOVE this
show - - - so if he is speaking from a critic's point of view [OH EXCUSE ME-]
I meant gossip columnist - - actually I would NOT listen to Him at all.
I think he needs some SEX !
#21re: Michael Riedel on LENNON (8/10)
Posted: 8/10/05 at 2:36pmI don't know if he's seen it since it has been in NY, but he had at least one very negative article about the show when it was in SF and he had not seen it.
#22re: Michael Riedel on LENNON (8/10)
Posted: 8/10/05 at 2:38pmFor the last time, even though the most recent poster has said he or she realizes such: Reidel is NOT a critic. He's a gossip columnist; it doesn't matter whether or not he's seen the show. For what he does, seeing the show is not top matter; he's going to tear it down for what it is, and what goes on behind-the-scenes.
#23re: Michael Riedel on LENNON (8/10)
Posted: 8/10/05 at 2:41pm
Like it or not, Lennon needs A LOT of work, which it will not get before opening. As much as I hate Riedel, I have to agree with him on some of his Lennon comments.
But again, don't forget when Brooklyn opened, Riedel said it will last only 2 weeks. But when it closed, it played for 10 good months.
#24re: Michael Riedel on LENNON (8/10)
Posted: 8/10/05 at 2:44pmEven if some of his comments are correct, or consensual statements, you have to have some awareness of the fact that was he *does* is wrong, though. Lennon needs work. Just like Taboo did. And Reidel made it impossible for Taboo to be worked on, the way it needed to be, because he made being a part of that show like "living in a fishbowl" (to quote Raúl). The press was constantly watching, criticizing and tearing down, making it impossible for them to change anything, because the press would jump. He could very well do the same thing to Lennon, and it won't see the changes it needs - the changes that might give it a chance.
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