Why Does Michael Riedel hate "Hamilton"? — Page 7

I think he described his personality well when he said this:

"Funnily enough, most of the people I've had feuds with over the years wound up becoming friends of mine because the producer who has this year's gigantic flop, next year may have next season's biggest winner, and I'd like to be the first person to say, 'This show's going to be a smash!' Just like I like being the first person to say, 'This show's going to be a disaster.'"

"But you've got to admit he was right about Bullets Over ... [Broadway]"

Actually, no we don't. Riedel thought Bullets was going to be a huge hit. From his Bullets Over Broadway column:

"RAT-a-tat-tat!

That machine-gun fire you hear coming from the St. James Theatre is the sound of a hit.

“Bullets Over Broadway” has been in previews just three days, and already those in the know — that would be me! — are sensing it’s the show to beat this season."

Actually, this quote from Gawker best sums up Riedel, imo:

"I love a fiasco, and I love to watch it all fall apart."

"

The landscape has been littered over the years with shows that looked like sure hits on paper only to come down with a crashing thud. It cannot be helped and will continue. Many shows we saw we thought would be running for awhile and it did not happen . Others we thought would not run did.

Riedel can be blamed for many things but beating him up over Bullets is a bad example. Many on this board, when it was announced, probably thought the same.

Jallenc32 said: Act 1 felt like it should have ended after The Battle of Yorktown (or even What Comes Next). We have a huge emotional high point of the American victory in the Revolution and then the act just keeps going.

I agree. I love Hamilton quite a bit, but there could be a little bit of song shuffling to make the show tighter. If I was handed the almighty editing pen, here's what I would do:

-Towards the end of Act I, go straight from "Yorktown" right into "Non-Stop." This way, you don't lose any of the momentum of "Yorktown" that currently gets drained away by "What Comes Next" and "Dear Theodosia." I'd carve out a small scene break with vamping towards the end of "Yorktown" to allow the Laurens letter scene to stay in, though it may mean having to cut Laurens singing his short "I may not live to see our glory..." reprise.

-Cut "Dear Theodosia" entirely. Sorry. Really I am. The melody is beautiful, but it's probably the least necessary song in the whole show. We already know Hamilton has a kid. And of course Hamilton and Burr love their kids. What parent doesn't? Why do we need 3 minutes for Burr and Hamilton to say "I love my kid?" Find a way to incorporate that Burr has a daughter into the beginning of "Non-Stop." It is about what happened "after the war," after all.

-Begin Act II with "What Comes Next?" It's a humorous way to slide back into the meat of the Hamilton story.

-Then the rest of Act II can proceed as as written, although you could probably shave a minute off "Take a Break" and not lose much.

Updated On: 10/20/15 at 02:00 PM

"-Cut "Dear Theodosia" entirely. Sorry. Really I am. The melody is beautiful, but it's probably the least necessary song in the whole show."

I have to disagree because there can't be too much Leslie Odom Jr./Aaron Burr and also because I think this number increases the impact of that moment during the duel. "I had only one thought before the slaughter/This man will not make an orphan of my daughter."

Unfortunately, we no longer have Forbidden Broadway

For dissing Hamilton, you are now a marked man. Watch your back. Doubt I will ever see it or if I do it will be very late in the run. To see what all the excitement is about, I ordered the cast album. It really cost me nothing as I bought it with points on Amazon . In addition, as soon as I ordered it, it was automatically downloaded to my kindle.

Ordering it was a no lose proposition. I can now judge for myself away from all the hysteria surrounding it.I will listen to the score and decide.

Updated On: 10/20/15 at 07:53 PM

The casting of people of color as the founding fathers is one of the most exciting and moving aspects of the show. There's no accounting for taste so it doesn't surprise me there are some people who don't like the material, but mocking the casting only reflects poorly on you.

Updated On: 10/20/15 at 08:03 PM

I love explaining to my friends that the cast is non-white. That tidbit (and it's a very large one) has excited basically every non-theater lover I know (especially the Schuylers being black, Asian and Latina).

"the hysteria surrounding it."

The definition of hysteria is "an uncontrollable outburst of emotion or fear, characterized by irrationality, laughter, weeping."

Not only is that an inaccurate description of anything observable with respect to this show, but to the extent it suggests that the many many people here who think this show is the best thing since sliced bread are irrational, that is both unsupportable and would also be insulting were it not for the fact that the person writing it is, by his own admission, completely ignorant of the show. It is understandable that someone unaware of anything related to the subject at hand might think the reaction to it is hyperbolic, but with exceptionally few outliers, the knowledgeable (even the ones who are prompted to kibitz) would beg to differ.

Maybe Reidel hates Hamilton because of all the never-ending hype: such as four or five postings a day on Playbill. By the way, what is Lin Manuel's temperature today? Has it gone down from 102 degrees?

ramsay15 said: "Maybe Reidel hates Hamilton because of all the never-ending hype: such as four or five postings a day on Playbill. By the way, what is Lin Manuel's temperature today? Has it gone down from 102 degrees?"

Let me pose a question or two: what if it isn't hype? what if it is (as many here and elsewhere have asserted), actually that good?

I happen to believe that it is. I happen to believe that it is more deserving of media attention than most everything else we have seen in (most of) our lifetimes. Have you seen it or do you just have a knee-jerk reaction to what you deem hype-something that, incidentally, is dependent on exaggeration to be an apt word?

Now Riedel is an interesting case, because, as he has now acknowledged, he makes money by being controversial (much in the manner of a squeaky wheel, or a crying infant). He also suffers from well-known pathology that makes him retaliate against anything that humiliates him. And boy did Hamilton humiliate him publicly at the Public.

What brings you to your attitude toward the show?

I love this show, immensely. I'm getting tired of all the articles and new threads. You know what, when I'm not in the mood to read them....I DON'T. Doesn't change the way I feel about the show.