#1
Posted: 3/2/04 at 7:12am
https://www.broadwayworld.com/l.cfm?id=23293
Well, this has been bound to happen for a while.
THE Post's Broadway bomb thrower, Michael Riedel, ended up on the floor at the opening night party for "Fiddler on the Roof" last week. The musical's director, David Leveaux, still smarting over charges that his revival "lacked a Jewish soul," wrestled Riedel to the ground at Angus McIndoe restaurant during a heated argument. It happened after Leveaux accused Riedel of fanning the flames of the claim, first leveled in the Los Angeles Times, that in Leveaux's hands, "Fiddler" has been "de-Jewed" - Tevye is being played by a Spanish-Italian, Alfred Molina, and his daughters are played by actresses named Murphy, Kelly and Paoluccio. After listening to Leveaux rant, a fed-up Riedel finally responded, "David, you know what the real problem is? You Oxford-intellectual, elite directors are ruining our great Broadway musicals." Riedel tells us: "The next thing I know, I was on the floor looking at my broken watch." Riedel, who admits he had downed a few glasses of Shiraz, says, "I did cross the line, and probably deserved a good shove. Given how popular I am on Broadway these days, this will surely get David a Tony nomination."
Well, this has been bound to happen for a while.
THE Post's Broadway bomb thrower, Michael Riedel, ended up on the floor at the opening night party for "Fiddler on the Roof" last week. The musical's director, David Leveaux, still smarting over charges that his revival "lacked a Jewish soul," wrestled Riedel to the ground at Angus McIndoe restaurant during a heated argument. It happened after Leveaux accused Riedel of fanning the flames of the claim, first leveled in the Los Angeles Times, that in Leveaux's hands, "Fiddler" has been "de-Jewed" - Tevye is being played by a Spanish-Italian, Alfred Molina, and his daughters are played by actresses named Murphy, Kelly and Paoluccio. After listening to Leveaux rant, a fed-up Riedel finally responded, "David, you know what the real problem is? You Oxford-intellectual, elite directors are ruining our great Broadway musicals." Riedel tells us: "The next thing I know, I was on the floor looking at my broken watch." Riedel, who admits he had downed a few glasses of Shiraz, says, "I did cross the line, and probably deserved a good shove. Given how popular I am on Broadway these days, this will surely get David a Tony nomination."
