Riedel on LEAP- Page 2

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 4/21/12 at 1:04am

Well, Mostel won 3 TONYS in a decade,
maybe The Raul should get fat.
I'm not surprised one of the "producers" said it, they sound like idiots, rich idiots.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 4/21/12 at 1:14am

I fail to see any wit in the Zero punchline. "You don't look like Zero Mostel! Yet!" Ha! Hilarious.

If mean spiritedness is meant to be clever or funny it has to rise much higher than that.

You are right though that it is true to the persona he's created, and for good or bad, true to what's expected of him--good point.

[bobs3]

Posted: 4/21/12 at 6:38am

It opens on Thursday which means critics previews will probably be Tuesday(E) and Wednesday(M&E). Have they frozen the show yet?

[dexter3]

Posted: 4/21/12 at 8:41am

Riedel is trash, plain an simple.

He makes up **** all the time, and claims an anonymous "spy"...

What coward.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 4/21/12 at 9:03am

I don't think Raul is amazing in this piece. I find his Jonah to be unlikeable at all times. Is part of that the fault of the writing/directing? Yes. Is all of it? I don't think so.

That being said, an unsuccessful show is rarely the fault of the actors.

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 4/21/12 at 9:04am

Riedel is trash, plain an simple.

Every time he's linked here, I feel like I need a shower.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 4/21/12 at 9:04am

Riedel's preoccupation with one man's avoirdupois and another's supposed burden of cuteness say more about the columnist's obsessions than either gent's physical attributes or liabilities.

Updated On: 4/21/12 at 09:04 AM

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 4/21/12 at 9:06am

Raul looks great in the show. Very buff and not at all fat. And it's not as if the role is Joe Gilles, Giorgio or Joe Hardy (one in which a great physique is called for), but he has one. If there's any truth to Reidel's comments - if! - it may be that the photo of him in the Post is not at all flattering, given his posture and the way his shirt hangs. I can see someone perhaps noting that, but I doubt there was a committee.

As for Tveit, maybe he was saying that Tveit isn't his idea of an Enjolras in terms of physical type (that Tveit is diminutive and Enjolras towering?). Maybe I'm wrong and he meant something else entirely but that's the best I could make of it. In any event, as with almost everything Reidel says, the comment was neither apt, clearly communicated or witty.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 4/21/12 at 9:48am

"he makes sh***t up all the time"
Examples please?

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 4/21/12 at 10:24am

CurtainPullDowner, you had a more than passing familiarity with Titanic the Musical - you don't remember all the fiction Riedel wrote about the backstage stories about that? When I have a spare month or so, I could probably write a book about statements or allusions that Riedel has printed that later proved to be unsubstantiated or outright false. I'm surprised you even challenge dexter's statement.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 4/21/12 at 11:08am

Well, that doesn't mean HE made it up. He could have lousey spies. We've all heard rumors that turned out to be untrue -- and many of us. passed them on before the truth was revealed.

[uncageg]

Posted: 4/21/12 at 11:15am

Saw it on Tuesday. Raul looks great. I was sitting 7 rows back. Loved the score and would buy it in a hezrtbeat. I really don't know exactly what people are expecting from this show. Yes, it needs some tightening up. A few jokes fall flat but all in all it is an entertaining evening at the theater. Yeah, the story is predictable, the book is serviceable and at times I thought Esparza was doing Bobby from Company, but overall I really enjoyed it. My biggest problen was that the magnets at the concession stand were 10 bucks! I really hope the critics don't rip it apart. And that it finds an audiece. Just my random thoughts.

Deleted the Wiked comparison.

Updated On: 4/21/12 at 11:15 AM

[dexter3]

Posted: 4/21/12 at 2:30pm

Since we're on the subject, who are these "spies" that he keeps talking about?

No consummate theater professional is going to gab to Riedel about anything related to theater...anyone who would is NOT a professional in any way, and probably shouldn't be taken seriously. Anyone who would communicate anything to him is catty and lame, and probably isn't too high up in the food chain of any production.

He never has to reveal his 'sources', and no one is checking them...he has no one to answer to and can basically write whatever the crap he wants...how does this man have a job writing theater gossip once a week? wtf?

[CurtisB]

Posted: 4/21/12 at 2:33pm

Since we're on the subject, who are these "spies" that he keeps talking about?

Ellis.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 4/21/12 at 2:45pm

^Bwahahahaha!

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 4/21/12 at 3:46pm

"As for Tveit, maybe he was saying that Tveit isn't his idea of an Enjolras in terms of physical type (that Tveit is diminutive and Enjolras towering?). Maybe I'm wrong and he meant something else entirely but that's the best I could make of it. In any event, as with almost everything Reidel says, the comment was neither apt, clearly communicated or witty."

Well said, and that's why I don't even find the entertaining, even if mean spirited, chuckle one can get from the best gossip columnists. The comment didn't even make any kind of sense... It's like he had a few more lines to write, downed another cosmo and just typed something out and hit send.

Ha I DO find the image of Ellis sitting on Riedel's desk, playing with his tie and flirting while he comes up with Broadway dish pretty great though.

[blaxx]

Posted: 4/21/12 at 4:24pm

Look at Wicked, not so great reviews and it is still running. Just my random thoughts.

I really need to start point out that this "Well, look at Wicked vs. the critics" is just dumb.

Wicked is a huge spectacle with demographics who don't even know that reviews exist, not care.

And even if they did, Wicked would just be an exception, not a rule. The show opened almost 10 years ago, certainly we have had many more shows close due to terrible reviews and poor audience response since then.

If the same concept hasn't happened in almost a decade, then a crtic's trashing and lack of interest is almost guaranteed to make the show a huge floperoo. Praying to be the decade's exception is beyond naive.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 4/21/12 at 4:28pm

"Well, that doesn't mean HE made it up. He could have lousey spies. We've all heard rumors that turned out to be untrue -- and many of us. passed them on before the truth was revealed."

Riedel routinely publishes stories/rumors, the kinds of things that support his point of view, but that later prove to be wholly untrue, dramamama. I assume you simply read the guy, and you or yours are never directly mentioned or affected. The same is not true of me, so I pay a little closer attention to things things he writes and the manner in which he acquires the information. In some cases (like the backstage feuds I referred to regarding Titanic), nothing close to what he claimed happened occurred. I could cite many, many more cases. It is pretty clear to me that he just made it up, or he possibly took the word of some random person, in which case, what's the difference, really?

He sometimes hangs out in bars, eavesdropping on people and when he's had a drop too many, harasses them when he doesn't hear what he wants.

Can I prove that he made up any of these rumors to suit his purpose? No - but I think it's very naive to think that with all his blind items, "spies" and "unconfirmed" sources, that he hasn't just thrown something in from time to time to serve his own purpose.

[jv92]

Posted: 4/21/12 at 4:45pm

Can I say something about WICKED? It's no masterpiece, but it's a good example of clear storytelling and a "grown up show adults can take kids to" (Hal Prince). Sort of like NEWSIES. (Granted, I like NEWSIES better, and had a better time at it-- and yes, I saw WICKED with the original company.)

LEAP lacks clarity. Clear and simple (no pun intended). After a while of thinking about it after seeing it, that's what it comes down to. It lacks brilliant craft too-- and in some spots, WICKED does too, but LEAP OF FAITH is just unclear and muddled.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 4/21/12 at 4:54pm

I'm not naive enough to think the man's an angel -- I just think the attacks on him have as much 'gossip' in them as what people accuse him to be guilty of. I don't really pay that much attention to any sort of gossip, at least that of any sort of personal nature -- it's not my interest.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 4/21/12 at 5:41pm

I don't ever read him unless he's been linked to here, or on ATC, but if you work in the business, he's unavoidable. For myself, over the years I've personally had very unpleasant experiences with him and witnessed many more. I know, personally, that many of the things he's printed have no basis in fact.

Take that for what you will.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 4/21/12 at 5:45pm

Has anyone ever seen THEATRE TALK? Many profeesional people, actors, creators and producers do the show with Haskell and Reidel and they are quite friendly with him, Stritch seems to love him. If they are nice to him they are less likely to get a jab from his pen (which can mean anything, good or bad).
He is a bar trool also but I have seen him dining with powerfull people. He does not make sh888t up "all the time". He's a writer (?) he interprets and embellishes. And he can be wrong too.
Sorry you were his victim Ghostie.

[uncageg]

Posted: 4/21/12 at 5:52pm

I don't see what wasn't clear with Leap of Faith. We had no problem following the storyline, if that's what was meant about it lacking clarity.

[PopAria]

Posted: 4/21/12 at 6:09pm

Sounds like it might be shutting down soon. They didn't do any marketing before it came to NYC, what do they expect?

"There are producers who really believe passionately in this show.

Sounds like another Bonnie and Clyde.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 4/21/12 at 6:11pm

Can't say I was ever his victim. CPD. I'm nowhere near important enough to write about, but frankly, it's unpleasant to watch him when he's in that desperate kind of mode. I don't like him, but I actually feel sorry for him.

As to:

"He does not make sh888t up "all the time". He's a writer (?) he interprets and embellishes."

where does a comment like this fall?

"I believe a subcommittee was formed to decide whether leading man Raul Esparza looked too fat in some publicity shots."

I'll tell you where I think it falls- it's a catty. made-up piece of fiction. He doesn't ever bother to attribute it. While he may not lie "all the time", I believe he does it whenever it suits him - and since when is an embellishment not a form of a lie?

"And he can be wrong too. "

And since he's unaccountable to anyone, he is - and quite frequently.