Riedel: Billy Elliot Tries Audience Polls

[BustopherPhantom]

Posted: 10/22/08 at 8:34am

"...But let's be honest: The audience survey is ridiculous. You can't fine-tune a great musical by pandering to Mr. and Mrs. Great Neck.

Can you imagine Jerome Robbins, Leonard Bernstein, Arthur Laurents and Stephen Sondheim sitting around after a preview of "West Side Story" in 1957 collating audience surveys?

"Hey, Jerry, a Mrs. Vernus Platt, age 62, from Ho-Ho-Kus, likes the 'Dance at the Gym' sequence but thinks it goes on too long. You'd better cut it."

"Arthur, Marge Wilkie from New Rochelle isn't happy about the ending. Says it's a downer. Maybe Tony could recover and we could end with a wedding. He could have his arm in a sling during the ceremony.""

http://www.nypost.com/seven/10222008/entertainment/theater/silly_billy_tries_poll_dance_134691.htm

[EponineAmneris]

Posted: 10/22/08 at 8:36am

Riedel is a jerk.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 10/22/08 at 8:53am

hmmm again, why should it be so hard for any Americans to understand the accent, here in the UK we can understand all the accents in the states.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 10/22/08 at 8:58am

He's not even trying with this column.

[Mamie]

Posted: 10/22/08 at 9:16am

It's an idiotic article anyway. He talks like every comment made by every individual is looked at and acted on. Suppose that not only Mr. and Mrs. Great Neck, but also 70% of the rest of every audience said they couldn't understand the accents? It would only be logical to work on making them understandable. I'm definitely not saying that's happening here, but I use it only as an example. Billy Elliot isn't the first show that's used audience questionaires to see how a show is working in previews and it won't be the last. Personally I'm glad that they're asking for my opinion.

[wonkit]

Posted: 10/22/08 at 9:25am

Reidel is a jerk but as usual he also has a point of sorts. Either they are going to fine tune the production in response to the surveys (which is pandering) or they aren't (which means the surveys shouldn't be taken anyway). I see this as a spill over from the election mentality - find out what the public wants and give it to them, whether you intend to do anything about it or not.

[Steve2]

Posted: 10/22/08 at 9:37am

I really dislike him.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 10/22/08 at 10:26am

What the hell kind of an article was that?

[Elke]

Posted: 10/22/08 at 10:33am

Riedel's becoming a caricature of himself... He's the best example of people who are not able to see the positive side of anything.

[mallardo]

Posted: 10/22/08 at 10:34am

The Geordie accent used in London can be slightly impenetrable but that's not what's being used on Broadway - they have toned it down to generic working class, whatever that is.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 10/22/08 at 10:37am

If they do cut the accents, I will be really pissed.

[Eastwickian]

Posted: 10/22/08 at 10:55am

The accent is certainly nothing like the bizarre faux-Cockney he's put in the article

[Insider2]

Posted: 10/22/08 at 11:07am

Reidel is at his most pompous with this article. He is such a total fool. And I just saw him in that movie Show Business where he acts like he is the king of New York, and predicts that Wicked "has problems" and that Avenue Q will close quickly. He seems not to know anything about anything and it is a miracle that he still has a job. Ohhh wait. He works for a New York Post. The same vile rag that the evil shrew Andrea Peyser works for. She recently wrote a column that endorsed killing cats, and she still has a job, so I guess we're stuck with the Reidel moron for eternity.

[DrewBill]

Posted: 10/22/08 at 11:15am

Reidel may or may not be a jerk, but he's right about the Billy Elliot survey -- it's seriously stupid.

[Kevinoes]

Posted: 10/22/08 at 11:17am

Until he chokes eternally on his own bitterness and lack of substancial career. I too could not stand him after that SHOW BUSINESS documentary. He is a joke who is riding his ridiculousness for as long as he can.

[Steve2]

Posted: 10/22/08 at 11:29am

I disagree that the survey is stupid. Broadway is a business as well as an art form. I would hope that the producers would not compromise their artistic vision and reduce theater to the least common denominator. However, a survey (or poll, or whatever) can provide insight into what the audience is thinking. Better to find out during previews!

[Hank]

Posted: 10/22/08 at 11:48am

There was no such survey when I saw the show a few weeks ago, but I'd just like to chime in on the accents question:
I had no problem understanding them, I give the performers, especially the younger ones credit for mastering them, and it would do serious harm to to the show's authenticity to dummy down the Geordie for us Yanks.
Now, let's just concentrate on getting the stage sets right.