Riedel: Press Take Revenge On Tony Awards

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 11:52am

Riedel: Press Take Revenge On Tony Awards

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 12:00pm

I usually find him a bit of a pig, and his ideas here might be a little extreme, but I actually kind of agree with him. This decision is idiocy, and I think there should be an uproar about it. I hope the criticism world doesn't take this lying down.

Updated On: 7/17/09 at 12:00 PM

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 12:00pm

I hate Riedel as much as the next person, but good for him.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 12:04pm

Amen. I hope the press takes his ideas and runs with them.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 12:08pm

While I would mostly agree, I think showing up and reviewing a show mid-way through previews is a baaad idea. Some shows really don't come together until the very end.

Didn't "Funny Girl" have a new final scene up until opening night?
Or, what if they had reviewed "Chorus Line" back when Cassie wasn't in the final cut?
What about the Matthew Risch/Christian Hoff fiasco last season, the show changed dynamics with a different Joey, had they reviewed Hoff, they couldn't have said the same thing about Risch.

And to say the big shows like "Legally Blonde" and "Shrek" don't deserve reviews, is kinda stupid. There are still performers who give very solid performances that are legitimately award worthy and worth the review.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 12:29pm

Husk, I think that's Riedel's point, that the reviewers should just show up two weeks into previews and review whatever the shows have gotten accomplished at that point (I think he just threw in that line that went something like "if you haven't gotten it right by that point, you never will" for bitchiness sake, he is also known to give hell to shows with a rough preview period). Also, I don't think shows today change during previews the way shows changed when the likes of Hal Prince, Michael Bennett, Bob Fosse, Gower Champion, et al were helming the shows. I don't see Joe Mantello or Kathleen Marshall making any huge changes three weeks into previews.
I do agree with you re his comments on LEGALLY BLONDE and SHREK, though again, I think he was doing it for bitchiness' sake.

Updated On: 7/17/09 at 12:29 PM

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 12:39pm

That's EXACTLY his point. It's not about concern for the shows, it's a big "screw you" to the producers who don't want their shows reviewed before the token press period, for all of those reasons. What Riedel is saying is basically, hey, if you're going to exclude the critics like this, then why should they abide by your rules? Why shouldn't they go see a show whenever they want and write whatever they jolly well want about it? Why should, if they're being denied their long-held voting rights, still be giving the producers what they want?

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 12:41pm

And, as he notes, they call it a preview, but they charge postview prices.

[BroadwayBound062]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 12:46pm

This just made my day!

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 12:58pm

If I were a critic, I'd pan the whole season out of spite.

[uncageg]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 1:23pm

orange, I actually thought the same thing. Or just not review anything. But they are critics so they would have to review the shows to keep their jobs.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 1:29pm

Well, I think we can bet that Riedel will be more vicious than ever in trying to take things down this year. Which is sort of unfortunate because he so often targets the artists in trying to get at the producers, but that's another issue.

[Barney Stinson]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 1:32pm

"And, as he notes, they call it a preview, but they charge postview prices. "

That's really only true for the bigname productions. Smaller, lesser known shows that are trying to build an audience are usually cheaper during previews.

[Taryn]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 1:38pm

Aw man. I almost want the disaster to happen. It would make for a VERY entertaining year.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 1:39pm

"That's really only true for the bigname productions. Smaller, lesser known shows that are trying to build an audience are usually cheaper during previews."

Please name me five shows in the past few years that have done this because off the top of my head, I can only think of one - Mary Poppins.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 1:40pm

Send in Riedel to SPIDERMAN, please?!?

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 1:48pm

WOW That was some read!

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 1:58pm

"The theater press should stop whining about being "marginalized" by the Tonys.

It still has platforms, it still has power.

It can put its boot on Broadway's neck and break it".

That's pretty disturbing, even from him. So all of Broadway should suffer because the press has been slighted by the League and the American Wing?

Then what would he do for a living?

[Barney Stinson]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 2:07pm

"Please name me five shows in the past few years that have done this because off the top of my head, I can only think of one - Mary Poppins. "

Really? You didn't see the massive discounting and cheap tix for ROA, N2N, 9-5 this season alone (of course 9-5 never really stopped discounting)? Look at any lesser known show's early on grosses and average ticket prices. They are much lower than to where they build them to be. That's not all TKTS. I'm not saying there is a switch on opening night - but it's pretty SOP to offer lots of cheaper tix at the begining when trying to build an audience.

[BroadwayBen]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 2:09pm

"Sound and Fury signifying nothing..."

Posted: 7/17/09 at 3:05pm

To punish a Broadway show don't say bad things, say nothing at all.

[Tom's Cat]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 3:22pm

"It still has platforms, it still has power."

The problem with his argument is that the press is losing its platforms and has lost most of its power. Do you really think the Tony committee didn't consider a press backlash when they decided to do this? The New York Times is dying. The Washington Post is dying. The smaller papers in NY who still do theatre reviews are read by an incredibly small audience. The only reviewers who still may reach any kind of a sizable audience are on television and there are mighty few of those left outside of New York City. (DC had a weekly show that reviewed all the arts and it was cancelled last year. The only regular theatre/film critic lost his job shortly after that.)

[humbugfoto]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 3:23pm

As much as it pains me to say it, I have to agree with a lot of what Riedel says.

Here's an idea: When the time comes next year to predict the Tonys, there should be two separate threads -- one for the results as they'll likely be under the new rules, and one for the results as they would have been under the old rules.

Lets see if we can pinpoint what and where the difference would be.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 3:31pm

"The problem with his argument is that the press is losing its platforms and has lost most of its power."

Very true, TomCat, and beyond that, for Riedel of all people to suggest using what's left of that platform to "break" the neck of Broadway is ungrateful, biting the very hand that has fed him all these years. He's a weird, self-destructive guy. I've never had much respect for him and I really don't have any at all after today. To get revenge on the League and the Wing he advocates putting artists and crew alike out of business?

Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face, not to mention, to mix metaphors, throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
Updated On: 7/17/09 at 03:31 PM

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/17/09 at 3:31pm

"Really? You didn't see the massive discounting and cheap tix for ROA, N2N, 9-5 this season alone..."

Of course I see those. I'm talking about the actual ticket prices being discounted for previews which is, what I believe, the article was talking about.