Why Does Michael Riedel hate "Hamilton"?- Page 6

[AC126748]

Posted: 7/31/15 at 11:25am

Agreed, Kad. The manufactured outrage is hilarious. "You expect me to come back from the Hamptons to see the most coveted show on Broadway from an orchestra aisle seat? The nerve!"

[Kad]

Posted: 7/31/15 at 11:27am

I'd understand the objection if it were coming from out-of-town voters, who *do* need to schedule travel and lodging. But, curiously, none of those people were quoted.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 7/31/15 at 11:30am

I also love that one of them basically says that they voted for THE PRODUCERS across the board because they were accomodating. I guess that's all it takes?

Riedel clearly attempted to make HAMILTON loon bad when all he did was paint a terrible picture of the voters and show that he is grasping at straws to come up with a piece. 

[HogansHero]

Posted: 7/31/15 at 11:51am

It is worth remembering that the Tony voters include the producers of every show that will be nominated this year. It is thus not surprising Riedel can find a few of them to help him manufacture a backlash. 

It is also worth remembering that most of the people to whom Riedel is referring have already used their connections to see the show. Hamilton's problem is accommodating everyone with connections in a finite space.

It is obvious that this is the first round of Tony tickets, not the last. 

The suggested reason for this action by the producers of Hamilton ("so that they can post huge grosses in the fall") is beyond specious: the show does not need to impress any more than it has.

Riedel also desperately needs to garner attention to his rag when temperatures are >90 but this seems like a particularly lame way of doing so. Ironically, there HAS been some backlash (as evidenced here), but writing about that would require Riedel to break a sweat.

[ChiTheaterFan]

Posted: 7/31/15 at 11:52am

Yeah, I don't think this makes Hamilton look bad at all. It makes the Tony voters look awful. 

 

Could it be that they say this now to try to get as many people to see the show early as possible, and then will ultimately offer up more tickets later?  If they offer later tickets now, it seems like everyone would wait, so maybe this is a way to get at least some of the voters in now?  That would seem a logical decision to me. (Not that I have any relevant knowledge or experience whatsoever. :))

[Kad]

Posted: 7/31/15 at 12:03pm

I'm sure there *will* be exceptions made, but I do think the production will be more strict about Tony voter tickets than many other productions generally are (which isn't very strict at all). And I see nothing wrong with that, as the voters enjoy a great deal of privilege as is. (Which is not to see the voters are people of privilege overall; I certainly know voters who do not have the means to summer away from the city).

Updated On: 7/31/15 at 12:03 PM

[rjm516]

Posted: 7/31/15 at 12:12pm

I love how to said they did it "to post huge grosses in the fall", like that was a bad thing and not what every single producer wants for their show. 

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 7/31/15 at 4:15pm

What Riedel also fails to acknowledge is that the show is a gigantic hit without having won the Tony, which is a huge reason why it could afford opening in the summer without having to wait until Tony season. And like others have said, the show would post huge grosses in the fall with or without giving tickets to Tony voters. It's a hit, period, the more he tries to stir the pot where there's no pot to stir, the more desperate and pathetic he comes off. These stories are as embarrassing as the time he was, for some unknown reason, lying about the "success" of BULLETS OVER BROADWAY.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 7/31/15 at 6:17pm

How the Tony voters feel about their comp tickets will be irrelevant.  The number of voters who will refuse to see the show will probably be a teeny minority.  Hamilton will be the front-runner, regardless.  And even if Hamilton didn't win, it's place in musical theatre history is already pretty certain.  And once that happens, as with West Side Story or even Follies, it's irreversible.  Petty cheap snotty voters and a bitter gossip columnist can't change the trajectory of this show.

[Kad]

Posted: 7/31/15 at 6:30pm

Also, the logistics of this don't make sense- the producers are constricting an allegedly 1400 tickets for Tony voters to 16 days? That would result in houses with disproportionate numbers of comps. Why would the producers of the show- which Riedel seems to want to paint as very greedy- want houses with 80 comps in the premium orchestra?

[ChiTheaterFan]

Posted: 7/31/15 at 7:09pm

 

 I don't think it matters if the show wins a Tony--it's made its mark regardless. But if this does get backlash from voters (and I'm not saying it will--I know nothing about this and am in no way able to express an opinion in that regard) I would feel bad for the cast members who could be overlooked. Who cares if the show wins but I hope the actors are recognized for their exceptional work.  

Updated On: 7/31/15 at 07:09 PM

[ChiTheaterFan]

Posted: 7/31/15 at 7:14pm

Although I would like to see the show recognized for Miranda. But at least he already has a Tony. :)

[HogansHero]

Posted: 7/31/15 at 7:27pm

It is important to remember that Riedel's "sources" for this are no doubt few in number, and (as has been proven over and over again) are not very reliable except perhaps when it comes to their own shows. And I suspect his main "source" for this is the same individual who was proved so embarrassingly wrong in predicting that the show would come in before the 2014-15 Tony cutoff and that there was dissension and ill will among the  producers and between them and the creative team. (The very events that started Riedel's "feud" with them.) And, interestingly enough, and lo and behold, that usual "source" has his own show coming in this season in competition to Hamilton. 

[theatremelvin94]

Posted: 8/1/15 at 10:48pm

Riedel is a troll. I will never forget how he was signing the praises for "Bullets over Broadway" for months. That should've been a career-ender for him.

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 10/19/15 at 4:06pm

This is from a recent article on Playbill.com

"I thought it was tedious and too long, but also I don't like hip-hop music," Riedel explains, not holding back and looking at the iPhone recording our conversation. "I like melody, and there are a couple of pretty ballads in there, but I don't like rhyming for the sake of rhyming. I hate a cascade of rhymes, rhymes, rhymes all the time. I think in hip-hop you're just rhyming everything in sight, so it's just uninteresting to me. And, I also find Hamilton not drunk dramatic, but presentational, where the characters come out, and they're hip-hopping where they tell you who they are, what they did and what they're going to do. It's a lot of information thrown at you in hip-hop; it's not dramatized and not for my tastes. I also think the history lesson is on a fifth-grade level. I mean, you have to explain who Alexander Hamilton was and had to explain who Lafayette was. Having been a history major in school, I don't need somebody to tell me who Lafayette was, especially in rhyme."

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/the-rise-of-riedel-sharp-tongued-ny-post-columnist-on-feuds-fairness-and-why-hes-not-hot-for-hamilton-367822/P2#sthash.77y7Tpb8.dpuf

Updated On: 10/19/15 at 04:06 PM

[VotePeron]

Posted: 10/19/15 at 4:11pm

I can't say I disagree on anything he said above ^.

[Showface]

Posted: 10/19/15 at 4:17pm

Wow, Mr Riedel, congrats on being a History Major! The thing is, however,  a lot of the audience probably isn't, so...

 

I also disagree that LMM rhymes for no reason. In my opinion, every line and lyric is clever and smart.

 

But, anyway, at least his disdain for Hamilton is confirmed.

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 10/19/15 at 4:18pm

What a pretentious asshole.

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 10/19/15 at 4:24pm

The first time I listened to the album, while brilliant, it did seem overly long to me. That said, it's an album and it's probably a different experience in person. The King and I also has a long running time and I loved it. A lot of the show is presentational but so is Evita and I think Evita is the only ALW musical I unabashedly love. The rest of those criticisms are garbage trolling... just finding something to complain about. Too many rhymes?

[anmiller07]

Posted: 10/19/15 at 4:25pm

So he doesn't understand hip-hop, which means the chances of him liking Hamilton at all were slim-to-none to begin with. Couple that with that fact that he and his sources have been shut out from knowing anything going on within the Hamilton camp and it's easy to see why he has a vendetta against this show. He's got no gossip to go on. Updated On: 10/19/15 at 04:25 PM

[Kad]

Posted: 10/19/15 at 4:29pm

I'm sure a history major like Riedel understands how he will be remembered: that is, not at all.

[Showface]

Posted: 10/19/15 at 4:31pm

"So he doesn't understand hip-hop, which means the chances of him liking Hamilton at all were slim-to-none"

 

But even then, a lot of people (including myself) did/does not like hio-hop, yet loves the score of Hamilton.

 

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 10/19/15 at 4:46pm

If you don't like rhyme, you don't like musical theatre. But that's not news with Riedel, who has shown nothing but a breathtaking ignorance of form, content, and context on every episode of that show he ruins. What a hateful idiot. His writing has all the skill and insight of a Donald Trump speech. 

[DaveyG]

Posted: 10/19/15 at 5:12pm

Michael Riedel: "The nastier I was, the more money I got. I discovered that early on."

I think that pretty much sums it up...

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/the-rise-of-riedel-sharp-tongued-ny-post-columnist-on-feuds-fairness-and-why-hes-not-hot-for-hamilton-367822/P2

[gypsy101]

Posted: 10/19/15 at 5:43pm

"Pretty ballads," i'm so sure. The ballads (like the rest of the score) are stunning. What an ass-hat.