Riedel is just a columnist (and a very popular one at that). All of Broadway reads him, whether they admit it or not. Writing only happy positive things means nobody will read you. His job is to be as provocative as possible. That's what sells newspapers.
I've never understood why people get so upset about what he writes. By his own admission, he knows very little about theatre -- he's just a gossip columnist who provides a bit of tongue-in-cheek entertainment twice a week. No one, except obsessed fans on internet boards worry all that much about him. Even the producers of the shows he slams (who, given all they have at stake, would be well within their rights to hate him) remain cordial, even quite friendly for the most point and are happy to contribute all of those anonymous quotes that make up his columns. Several of the people whom he's been hardest on have been willing guests on his weekly Theatre Talk show on channel 13. If the people he's dishing dirt on know, for the most part, to take him with a grain of salt, why do so many people who's only relationship to the shows and stars he talks about is that of a fan, take everything he says so personally? He's a court jester, a nobody.
He doesn't have any real power to speak of. I mean, how many theatre fans base their ticket buying decisions on what they read in the Post? Not many. Ben Brantley is the only journalist in town with any real power in this scene and even he has seen the power of the Times erode as fewer and fewer people read newspapers anymore (only 11% of the public at last count).
Look, Riedel can be bitchy, unfair, and occasionally mean-spirited, but his info is generally accurate (though one can quibble that he's sloppy with the small details) and he gets major scoops on a regular basis that almost always turn out to be true. For that alone, he's worth reading. Yes, he's an annoying little weasel, but hey, at least he's never boring.
"What a story........ everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end." -- Birdie
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"The Devil Be Hittin' Me" -- Whitney
Updated On: 8/10/05 at 04:17 PM
