911 stories by "Michael Riedel"
Winter’s arrived with a vengeance, which means it's time for comfort food. And is there any dish more comforting than a piping hot chicken potpie? Pierce that golden crust with your fo…
Al Pacino wraps up his run in David Mamet's "China Doll" on Sunday, bringing the curtain down on my favorite show of the Broadway season. It was, to put it mildly, a rocky run, but I can rep…
A quick story from Carol Channing's farewell tour of "Hello, Dolly!" in the 1990s: As the company bus rolled into a city on the tour, cast members looked out the window and saw GOD SAVE US p…
Bette Midler will return to Broadway in the fall as the title character in the celebrated musical, “Hello, Dolly!” Midler will play Dolly Levi, the matchmaker from Yonkers, who f…
Just before Christmas, Page Six reported that Bill and Hillary Clinton were at '21' toasting the news of daughter Chelsea's pregnancy, when Bubba asked the staff to dig up something he'd lef…
“Lazarus” was already sold out at the New York Theatre Workshop before the news of creator David Bowie's death this week. But now it's giving "Hamilton" a run for its sky-high ti…
For years, Broadway theater owners have been selling air rights above their rather squat, landmarked stages to developers. Developers use those air rights to add extra floors to skyscrapers.…
Robert Stigwood, who died this week at 81, was the forgotten impresario. Like Howard Hughes, he blazed through the entertainment world and then . . . vanished. Old friends whos…
A science-fiction icon, a wisecracking comic legend, an eccentric restaurateur, an avenger . . . and an actor who held the stage for eight hours in a Dickens of a play. Here ar…
Jennifer Hudson's the draw at "The Color Purple" box office " but her co-star, Cynthia Erivo, is Broadway's latest overnight sensation. The British actress is winning raves for her performan…
If you've been knocking around the theater world as long as I have, you're bound to come across a Maggie Smith story. Here's my favorite: During the 1990 run of "Lettice and Lovage" at the B…
Producer Jeffrey Richards had no trouble raising the money for "China Doll," the new David Mamet play starring Al Pacino. What a perfect match " Mamet, celebrated for writing tough, ruthless…
“I have always depended on the kindness of strangers," Blanche DuBois says in "A Streetcar Named Desire" " and it's perhaps the most famous line in the American theater. But it's not w…
This time of year stokes a competitive spirit in the city's wealthiest residents " finding the finest brands, of course, but also the most exclusive gifts. The ones so limited that you can't…
As Andrew Lloyd Webber strolls down West 51st Street to the Winter Garden Theatre " where his delightful new musical "School of Rock" opens Sunday night " he passes by another theater, the M…
Producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron have had a good run at NBC doing live broadcasts of great Broadway musicals. Nearly 20 million people tuned in to see Carrie Underwood teach the von Trap…
THE fun of covering Broadway is that, just when you think you’ve got the lay of the land, out of no where comes a show to shake up the terrain. A year ago, the buzz was all about ̶…
CURTAIN up! The new theater season is here, so let’s shine the spotlight on a few of the big names trying to conquer the Great White Way. * HELLO, DOLLY! Country music hasn’t far…
HAL Prince was watching the Screen Actors Guild awards on TV last January when he turned to his wife and started babbling. “Get dressed,” she said. “We’re going to th…
Time to check in with poor bedraggled Al Pacino, star of David Mamet's "China Doll." The play was supposed to have opened Nov. 19, but, after I reported on the disastrous previews, the premi…
Don’t beam him up. Tweet that he's in a new musical on Broadway and tell everybody to buy a ticket. Broadway was a little slow to embrace social media, but George Takei and the produce…
Theatergoers racing through Shubert Alley to make curtain time, beware! If you're not careful, you might trip over all those wires piping lines to actors with memory lapses. As I reported la…
As villains go, "Trumbo" " the movie about blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, opening Friday " has a doozy: Hedda Hopper, the gossip columnist who terrorized the film industry from 1940…
True story: Two women walked out of a matinee of David Mamet's "China Doll" at intermission. Said one to the other, in a strong Long Island accent: "Michael Riedel is going to have a fâ€â…
To the list of theatrical dynasties " the Barrymores, the Redgraves " add the Willises! Papa Bruce and his daughter Rumer are making their Broadway debuts this season: Rumer's playing...
