911 stories by "Michael Riedel"
Berry Gordy Jr. was in town last month meeting with agents, theater owners and producers about an autobiographical musical using his Motown catalog of hits.
How do I know this?
I heard it th…
Take that, Stephen Sondheim!
"The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess" pulled off the biggest upset last night at the Tony Awards, beating Sondheim's "Follies" for Best Revival of a Musical.
"Porgy an…
Acouple of years ago, while in San Diego checking out a new musical, I decided to take a road trip down to Baja California with Rick Miramontez, a Broadway press agent, and two of his office…
With the shake of my crystal ball " and the accuracy of "Dewey Defeats Truman" " here are my predictions for Sunday's Tony Award winners.
BEST MUSICAL
The race " and it's tight as a tick " …
Writing about the Tony Awards telecast back in 1991, Alex Witchel, then the cage-rattling Broadway columnist of the New York Times, posed the question: "Who's on first?"
That is, which of th…
I first met Arthur Laurents, who died a year ago, in 1994 at his elegant townhouse on St. Luke's Place in the West Village.
I was making a "Theater Talk" program about composer Jule Styne, w…
Shortly before he died in 2005, Arthur Miller smiled at his daughter, Rebecca, and said, "Catch!"
What he threw her way was nothing less than his literary legacy, a body of work that include…
Two of Broadway's great treasures can be found on the stage of "Gore Vidal's The Best Man" " Angela Lansbury and James Earl Jones.
Between the two are more than 150 years of big, juicy, the…
The musical everyone's buzzing about is headed to Broadway."Matilda," a London import based on Roald Dahl's great children's book, will open next spring at a Shubert Theatre to be announced.…
The roadies are in town.Every year at this time, some 300 producers and theater owners " who collectively are known as "The Road" " gather in New York for a conference.Ostensibly they're her…
Arthur Herbert Fonzarelli, porn star?
The Fonz " who in real life goes by the name Henry Winkler " is in negotiations to star on Broadway next season in "The Performers," a new comedy by Dav…
As regular readers of this column know (hi, mom, hi dad!), I like to rib Public Theater chief Oskar Eustis about his infatuation with Broadway.The Public is one of the most influential nonpr…
Let's forgo the usual rumor-mongering and print something that's the God's honest truth: Tom Hanks will be making his Broadway debut next season in a new play by Nora Ephron.
(Scramble to ma…
Broadway legend Hal Prince is putting the finishing touches on his musical revue, "Prince of Broadway," which is due to open in New York in November.
Now all he has to do is find someone to …
Here's what theater insiders are gossiping about after yesterday's Tony Award nominations:
* Be careful what you wish for. It could cost you another $2 million.
That's the situation facing t…
The great Jule Styne, composer of "Gypsy" and "FunnyGirl," livedbyan ironclad rule: The day after one of your show opened to bad reviews, sit downat the piano and start writing the next one.…
The most powerful people on Broadway this weekend will be the 28 theater professionals who make up the Tony nominating committee.
Their nominations " anxiety over which will keep producers, …
There are a lot of prayer meetings going on at "Leap of Faith," the new musical at the St. James about a con-man evangelist.
But most of them are taking place offstage. Production members ar…
Broadway's biggest and most aggressive vulture right now has hoofs, flanks and a mane.
He's called Joey, but don't be taken in by that gentle-sounding name. This creature is stalking Shubert…
Stephen King has killed off all sorts of characters in his 49 or so novels.
Now that he's working in the theater, he might have a go at killing off his director
County," a musical King's wri…
The great Judi Dench is being killed off as M in the new Bond flick, "Skyfall."
Which means Dame Judi is free to return to the stage, first in London and then, if all goes well, on Broadway …
The most powerful group of people on Broadway every spring are the men and women who sit on the Tony Award administration committee.They determine Tony eligibility " if something (or someone…
'End of the Rainbow," which opened Monday night, depicts the last months of Judy Garland's life as she tries to stage a comeback in London, only to succumb, yet again, to booze and pills.
Tr…
After years of sitting through productions of his moving but stubbornly flawed musical "Merrily We Roll Along," Stephen Sondheim has finally found the one he likes best.
And I don't mean the…
Has Disney got back its old Magic Kingdom touch? The word around town this week is that "Newsies," which opens Thursday at the Nederlander, may help erase the nightmarish memories of such fi…
