All stories by MICHAEL RIEDEL on BroadwayStars

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Bruce Lee’s story headed to Broadway by Michael Riedel

Because I’m a black-belt in martial arts — I break boards the way “Spider-Man, Turn Off the Dark” breaks actors — one of my favorite songs is “Kung Fu Fighting”...

SOURCE: The New York Post at 04:25AM
Sunday, October 20, 2013

Broadway’s most expensive show beset by chaos by Michael Riedel

On Oct. 19, 2010, a group of Broadway ticketing agents gathered at the Foxwoods Theatre for a sneak peek at some of the flying stunts in the upcoming Broadway musical...

SOURCE: The New York Post at 06:49AM
Thursday, October 17, 2013

Leading ladies vie for Woody Allen’s ‘Bullets Over Broadway’ by Michael Riedel

Name your favorite diva, and it’s a good bet she’s gone after the plum role of the season: Helen Sinclair, the boozing leading lady of Woody Allen’s “Bullets Over Broadway.”...

SOURCE: The New York Post at 11:24PM
Friday, October 11, 2013

Musicals’ leads ill at ease by Michael Riedel

It’s been a tough week to be a Broadway leading man Norbert Leo Butz, the star of “Big Fish,” left the show midway through Wednesday’s matinee. I like to think...

SOURCE: The New York Post at 12:59AM
Tuesday, October 8, 2013

‘Big Fish’ seems headed to an early, watery grave by Michael Riedel

“Big Fish,” little splash. I don’t want to sink the hook in any deeper, but “Big Fish,” the $12 million musical that opened Sunday, looks destined to become an early casual…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 09:35PM
Friday, October 4, 2013

Alice Cooper could join ‘Spider-Man’ by Michael Riedel

Suddenly, after all these years of trying to kill it, I’m interested in the resilient “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” again. Why? Because Alice Cooper is in negotiations to play the Gr…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 12:27AM
Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Waiting in the National Theatre’s wings by Michael Riedel

If the most powerful position in the English-speaking theater world is chairman of the board of the Shubert Organization (currently held by Philip J. Smith), then I’d say the top job at th…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 04:38AM
Friday, September 6, 2013

Diva Amanda Plummer ‘a nightmare’ backstage by Michael Riedel

“The Two-Character Play” has been troubled from the start. The director, Gene David Kirk, was let go during technical rehearsals after reportedly clashing with the stage manager. His pic…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 12:26PM
Tuesday, September 3, 2013

The footlights offer a feast by Michael Riedel

The name is Pinter. Harold Pinter. Though he’s been dead five years, the master of the unsettling remains a Broadway box office powerhouse, as you can see from the $6 million advance sale …

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 10:55PM
Thursday, August 29, 2013

Spidey’s song now revealed by Michael Riedel

Judas speaks! In my hot little hands is the manuscript of “The Song of Spider-Man,” Glen Berger’s forthcoming tell-all (from Simon & Schuster, Nov. 5) about “Spider-Man: Turn Off the…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 11:09PM
Thursday, August 22, 2013

Rabbi, run by Michael Riedel

There was a fun rumor going around that the opening-night party of “Soul Doctor,” a new musical about a singing rabbi, was so Orthodox, the men were separated from the women by a sheet. …

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 11:11PM
Wednesday, August 21, 2013

A bright idea: Dim lights on cue by Michael Riedel

My item last week about Broadway’s failure to dim its lights in honor of the press agent Shirley Herz touched a nerve. I received dozens of e-mails from people in theater who have noticed …

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 12:10AM
Thursday, August 15, 2013

Those lazy days of summer by Michael Riedel

A very powerful theater person summed up Broadway’s latest offerings this way: “I saw ‘Let It Be,’ and last week I sat through ‘First Date’ and ‘Soul Doctor.’ The highlight o…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 10:44PM
Tuesday, August 13, 2013

‘Love’ seeks happy home by Michael Riedel

Oskar Eustis, the head of the Public Theater, is on the move! His not-for-profit complex down on Lafayette Street — as well as the Delacorte in Central Park — just isn’t big enough to …

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 11:39PM
Friday, August 9, 2013

‘Titanic’ resurfaces by Michael Riedel

One of my favorite shows is “Titanic,” that ambitious, almost operatic musical by composer Maury Yeston and book writer Peter Stone. I was an early champion of this 1997 show despite roc…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 12:26AM
Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Back where she belongs by Michael Riedel

Hello, Kristin! Kristin Chenoweth has said she’d love to play Dolly Levi in “Hello, Dolly!” in about 10 years. But her wish may come true a lot sooner. I hear she’s in discussions to…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 12:23AM
Thursday, August 1, 2013

Top billing by Michael Riedel

It’s tough being a movie star these days. Unless you’re in one of those franchises — “Spider-Man 12,” for instance — work in Hollywood is spotty. And if this summer is any indica…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 10:39PM
Wednesday, July 31, 2013

A second life for ‘Act’? by Michael Riedel

The most enjoyable evening I’ve spent in the theater recently was at the Encores! production of “I’m Getting My Act Together and Taking It on the Road,” which wrapped up a brief run …

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 12:38AM
Thursday, July 25, 2013

Keyed up for a duel by Michael Riedel

Here’s a fruit fight for you: Liberace versus Liberace! My report the other week about Hollywood producer Jerry Weintraub’s upcoming stage version of the hit HBO movie “Behind the Cand…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 10:20PM
Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Not every ending is happy by Michael Riedel

I have to report some sad news today. Miller Wright, a veteran theater and nightclub publicist and a real gentleman, died last week. The circumstances were grisly, sparking rumors about suic…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 12:17AM
Thursday, July 18, 2013

Revue is what the world needs now by Michael Riedel

The Burt Bacharach/Hal David song collection is one of the few baby-boomer-era catalogs that have yet to be exploited onstage. There have been a couple of attempts, both misfires. Back in 19…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 11:59PM
Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Bond market shows good return by Michael Riedel

It’s only summer, but we can already crown this season’s box- office champ. Cue the gun barrel and the surf-rock guitar riff: 007’s the man with the golden box office. Tickets for the …

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 10:10PM
Thursday, July 11, 2013

Peter never gets the hook by Michael Riedel

‘Peter and the Starcatcher,” Rick Elice’s charming and inventive spin on the Peter Pan story, is still doing a brisk business at off-Broadway’s New World Stages. It moved there aft…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 11:44PM
Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Broadway flop 'Side Show' finds new life with a cult following by Michael Riedel

I recently ran into Bill Russell, who writes musicals, and he told me he’s knee-deep in revising “Side Show,” the cult Broadway musical he created with composer Henry Krieger in 1997. …

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 10:26AM

Hip to revival by Michael Riedel

I recently ran into Bill Russell, who writes musicals, and he told me he’s knee-deep in revising “Side Show,” the cult Broadway musical he created with composer Henry Krieger in 1997. …

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 12:11AM
Tuesday, July 2, 2013

‘Fair’ weather for casting by Michael Riedel

Summer doldrums have set in along much of Broadway, but over at the Nederlander Organization, which owns nine theaters in Times Square, the midnight oil is burning. The Nederlanders are plan…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 11:38PM
Friday, June 28, 2013

Tommy still calls the Tune by Michael Riedel

It was my good fortune to see all of Tommy Tune’s musicals while the Broadway legend was at the height of his powers. The elegant, sensual “Nine,” starring Raul Julia and 15 of the mo…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 12:23AM
Tuesday, June 25, 2013

A tuner for Liberace? by Michael Riedel

Hbo scored one of its highest ratings ever with “Behind the Candelabra,” the compelling — and creepy — movie about Liberace and his boy toy, Scott Thorson. Now I’m hearing that the…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 11:19PM
Thursday, June 20, 2013

Salute and so long, James by Michael Riedel

Nobody ever pegged James Gandolfini for a leading man. Least of all James Gandolfini. The actor, who died suddenly this week at age 51, thought of himself as a supporting player. And before …

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 11:36PM
Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Cameron’s cavalcade of shows by Michael Riedel

Last fall in London, when I dropped by Cameron Mackintosh’s elegant Bedford Square headquarters, located in two adjoining Georgian mansions, the place was buzzing.Composer Claude-Michel Sc…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 10:46PM
Thursday, June 13, 2013

A scandal in song by Michael Riedel

While everybody with a dog in the fight on Broadway was at the Tony Awards on Sunday — the “Kinky Boots” team dancing and cheering, the “Matilda” team scowling and cursing — anot…

SOURCE: The New York Post Subscription at 11:12PM

All that Chat

2024-2025 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 05, 2024: Home - Todd Haimes Theatre
Jul 11, 2024: Oh, Mary! - Lyceum Theatre
Jul 30, 2024: Job - Hayes Theater
Sep 12, 2024: The Roommate - Booth Theatre
Nov 14, 2024: Tammy Faye - Palace Theatre
Dec 12, 2024: Cult of Love - Hayes Theater
Dec 19, 2024: Gypsy - Majestic Theatre
Mar 17, 2025: Purpose - Hayes Theater
Apr 01, 2025: Glengarry Glen Ross
Apr 10, 2025: Smash - Imperial Theatre
TBA: Titanic