Riedel: "Cast Search Isn't Ogre"
Riedel: "Cast Search Isn't Ogre"
#1Riedel: "Cast Search Isn't Ogre"
Posted: 2/13/08 at 6:20pm
"DreamWorks, it seems, is having trouble finding actors who can fill the shoes of Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy, both of whom were crucial to the success of the "Shrek" franchise.
"It's a question of chemistry," says a source. "It's hard to find the perfect pair."
The usual suspects have auditioned for "Shrek" - which is to say Broadway actors of some girth: Dan Fogler ("Spelling Bee"); Kevin Chamberlain ("Seussical"); Shuler Hensley (already green in "Young Frankenstein").
But the hunt goes on."
..........
"Foster and Sieber sang a couple of songs from the score, by composer Jeanine Tesori and lyricist and bookwriter David Lindsay-Abaire, who won the Pulitzer for "Rabbit Hole."
Tesori is a very shrewd composer, but she's not exactly known as a tunesmith. Her score to Tony Kushner's "Caroline, or Change" is complex and dynamic, but you have to be a member of the Kushner claque to leave the theater humming a tune.
Her "Shrek" songs showed off her musical intelligence, but they weren't the sort of bouncy ditties you'd expect from a Broadway musical aimed at families. She might want to toss in a "Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo" here and there.
Abaire's lyrics are trying for the kind of wit Stephen Sondheim showed off in his fairy-tale musical, "Into the Woods."
He's not there yet."
http://www.nypost.com/seven/02132008/entertainment/theater/cast_search_isnt_ogre_97378.htm
-Nellie McKay on the 2006 Broadway production of The Threepenny Opera, in which she played Polly Peachum
#2re: Riedel: 'Cast Search Isn't Ogre'
Posted: 2/13/08 at 6:27pm
That second part is pretty positive.
Oh well... there's still time.
theaterfan194
Stand-by Joined: 8/8/04
#2re: Riedel: 'Cast Search Isn't Ogre'
Posted: 2/13/08 at 6:32pm
oh yeah reidel thoroughly modern millie wasn't a family musical....
jeanine tesori is a wonderful composer who can both be complex (CoC) or big and brassy like millie. what an idiot
CurtainPullDowner
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/4/04
#3re: Riedel: 'Cast Search Isn't Ogre'
Posted: 2/13/08 at 6:36pmThat is one of the worst pun headlines I've ever read.
#4re: Riedel: 'Cast Search Isn't Ogre'
Posted: 2/13/08 at 9:07pm
and it's totally lifted from the McDonald's tie-ins with Shrek last summer (pull ogre here, etc.).
And if he thinks Tesori can't write a jaunty, hummable tune, he needs to spend an afternoon with me next time I can't get "Luck of the Draw" out of my head.
#5re: Riedel: 'Cast Search Isn't Ogre'
Posted: 2/13/08 at 10:15pmPlease keep Dan Folger 50 feet from Broadway at all times.
#6re: Riedel: 'Cast Search Isn't Ogre'
Posted: 2/13/08 at 10:20pmHow about Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick?
--http://www.benjaminadgate.com/
#7re: Riedel: 'Cast Search Isn't Ogre'
Posted: 2/13/08 at 10:27pm
i actually wrote to Riedel about Thoroughly Modern Millie and here's what he said:
Can't say I was a fan of Thoroughly Modern Millie. But at least nobody was in a fat suit....
#8re: Riedel: 'Cast Search Isn't Ogre'
Posted: 2/13/08 at 10:33pmThe quip about Chris Sieber...oh lord. This man has more balls than a Chuck-E-Cheese.
--http://www.benjaminadgate.com/
#9re: Riedel: 'Cast Search Isn't Ogre'
Posted: 2/13/08 at 10:33pmThe quip about Chris Sieber...oh lord. This man has more balls than a Chuck-E-Cheese.
--http://www.benjaminadgate.com/
#10re: Riedel: 'Cast Search Isn't Ogre'
Posted: 2/13/08 at 10:45pmI'm all for Dan but I don't think he a Shrek, But I'll take Shuler.
#11re: Riedel: 'Cast Search Isn't Ogre'
Posted: 2/13/08 at 10:49pm
Josh Gad.
Josh. Gad.
MungoGypsy8232
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/8/07
#12re: Riedel: 'Cast Search Isn't Ogre'
Posted: 2/13/08 at 11:12pm
my favorite:
"Fiona will be played by Sutton Foster, who's leaving "Young Frankenstein" in July. I bet she'll be relieved to get out of the cavernous Hilton Theatre, where what laughs there are on Tuesday don't reach the stage until Friday. "
#13re: Riedel: 'Cast Search Isn't Ogre'
Posted: 2/13/08 at 11:40pmHrm. Do you think they'll hold more open calls this late??
#14re: Riedel: 'Cast Search Isn't Ogre'
Posted: 2/14/08 at 8:48amSieber could destroy Riedel with the flick of his pinky finger.
-Kad
"I have also met him in person, and I find him to be quite funny actually. Arrogant and often misinformed, but still funny."
-bjh2114 (on Michael Riedel)
Smaxie
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/26/05
#15re: Riedel: 'Cast Search Isn't Ogre'
Posted: 2/14/08 at 9:07am
I guess it's a sign of how well liked Chris Sieber is that there is so much hand-wringing and consternation over his weight gain.
#16re: Riedel: 'Cast Search Isn't Ogre'
Posted: 2/14/08 at 9:26am
The charming Chris Sieber, now in "Spamalot," will be Farquaad. Sieber's a big guy. In fact, he's gotten even bigger since "Spamalot" opened. Who's your agent, Chris? Dunkin' Donuts?
Ouch! So the guys put on a few pounds, he's not working with the Olsen twins anymore so I guess he has no motivation to stay thin.
Dolly_Levi
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/8/04
#17re: Riedel: 'Cast Search Isn't Ogre'
Posted: 2/14/08 at 9:42amChris is still hot, even if he is slightly beefier.
robbiej
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#18re: Riedel: 'Cast Search Isn't Ogre'
Posted: 2/14/08 at 10:13amPlease...Mr. Seiber is HOTTER when he's getting all carby. Saw him out and about one night and his beefiness just sends me swooning!
Dolly_Levi
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/8/04
#19re: Riedel: 'Cast Search Isn't Ogre'
Posted: 2/14/08 at 11:53am
"when he's getting all carby"
that's a pretty funny expression
#20re: Riedel: 'Cast Search Isn't Ogre'
Posted: 2/14/08 at 3:09pmRe: his comment about Sieber's weight gain: I think it is safe to say now that Michael Riedel is offically an asshole.
#21re: Riedel: 'Cast Search Isn't Ogre'
Posted: 2/14/08 at 3:43pm
The quip about Chris Sieber...oh lord. This man has more balls than a Chuck-E-Cheese.
Riedel doesn't have balls. He has raisinettes.
#22re: Riedel: 'Cast Search Isn't Ogre'
Posted: 2/14/08 at 3:54pmI really can't stand that man. Especially after that.
#23re: Riedel: 'Cast Search Isn't Ogre'
Posted: 2/14/08 at 5:42pm
I wouldn't really respect Riedel's opinion on lyric writing after learning his adoration for Steven Sater's attrocious lyrics for Spring Awakening.
And I'd much prefer whatever the hell he refered to Tesori's music as than a lot of the music on Broadway today and I'm not even a huge fan of her three other shows!
And his headlines suck. Maybe Steven Sater wrote this one from last February as it's a slant rhyme-
GOOD GOLLY, IT'S A HIT "FOLLIES."
#24re: Riedel: 'Cast Search Isn't Ogre'
Posted: 2/14/08 at 7:13pmYou were there, jv?
--http://www.benjaminadgate.com/
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