911 stories by "Michael Riedel"
Never mind the straw polls, the crystal balls and the off-the-record chats with voters. If you want to know who's going to win a Tony, look at seat locations.
Tickets to Sunday night's te…
There is, I regret to re port, very little agita surrounding this year's Tonys.
That's because the winners -- "The Book of Mormon" and "War Horse" -- are as certain as the sun rising in t…
Never mind Bono and The Edge.
The real ratings booster for this year's Tony Awards could have been the No. 1 Mormon in American politics -- Mitt Romney.
On the "Today" show earlier th…
Bono and The Edge popped up on the "American Idol" finale the other night and performed "Rise Above," the big tune from "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark." Their appearance helped lure 29.3 mil…
There aren't many great broads left on Broadway -- wise cracking gals with strong opinions and well-aimed zingers.
Elaine Stritch reigns supreme, of course, as does producer Elizabeth I. Mc…
Quick hits and gossip today:
* Hello, Julie!
The wacky (and whacked) Julie Taymor has resurfaced on Broadway.
Taymor attended last week's New Dramatists luncheon, her first public a…
Take a look at the songlist from "Baby It's You," the new Broadway musical about the Shirelles, and you'll notice a startling omission: "Will You Love Me Tomorrow," the song that launched th…
Give Hugh Jackman some handcuffs and a pair of ripped pants and he'll have an audience of middle-aged ladies reaching for the smelling salts.
In a Vegas-y show that just wrapped up a two-…
'The Book of Mormon" is going to sweep the Tonys next month.
But is there a song from the show that can be performed on national television?
The producers of the musical and the produc…
Arthur Laurents, who wrote "Gypsy" and "West Side Story," called his gossipy, score-settling 2000 memoir "Original Story By."
He might also have called it "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll …
It's a role that can make -- or break -- a career.
But it's almost impossible to cast.
Auditions are being held in New York and Los Angeles for the part of Fanny Brice in the upcoming …
'The Book of Mormon" is much more than the hit of the season.
It's the hit Broadway's been looking for -- the hit Broadway's been desperate for -- since "Jer sey Boys" shook up the town i…
Let's torture some produc ers today!
A few of them are on the ledge, fretting that, in a crowded season, their shows will be snubbed Tuesday when the Tony nominations are announced.
Ad…
Nothing's more predict able than the Tony telecast.
The host is usually some sitcom star -- Sean Hayes, Neil Patrick Harris -- who opens the show with a second-rate Hugh Jackman song-and-…
Broadway's such a gossipy little world, it's hard to keep a lid on a good old backstage fracas.
But when that fracas involves a star and his female dresser -- well, don't even bother. The…
FrankLangella, who was unforgettable as Richard Nixon a few years ago in "Frost/Nixon," will return to Broadway next season in "Man and Boy," Terence Rattigan's long-forgotten but all-too-to…
The poor -- and I do mean poor -- Public Theater is facing some tough times.
The theater that once produced "A Chorus Line" has gotten a reputation around Broadway for failing to meet fin…
As I predicted last week, Stephen Adly Guirgis' "The Motherf**ker With the Hat" is turning out to be the sleeper hit of the season.
Oh, sure, a few naysayers may have whispered in my ear …
I had breakfast recently with Nick Hytner, head of Great Britain's National Theatre. He's in town checking up on the National's production of "War Horse," which opens Thursday at Lincoln Cen…
By all rights, the new Broadway play "The Motherf**ker With the Hat" should be a feather in a cap.
Chris Rock heads up a strong cast including the excellent Bobby Cannavale and the sexy An…
The news that a major star is coming to Broadway rarely causes a stir these days.
Right now you can see a bunch of them -- Daniel Radcliffe ("How To Succeed in Business Without Really Try…
The Tony Awards are three months away, but controversy -- and attendant hissy fits -- is already brewing.
The problem stems from the awards show's new location: the Beacon Theatre at Broa…
As Hollywood rivalries go, the one between Bette Davis and Joan Crawford was about as vicious as it gets.
The sharp-taloned stars appeared together famously in 1962's "What Ever Happened …
Oscar-winning screenwriter Neil Jordan certainly dodged a cannonball when he backed out of "Spider-Man: Iceberg Dead Ahead."
Jordan, whose movies include "The Crying Game," was the first…
Bono is now captain of the Titanic.
After keeping a low pro file for months while director Julie Taymor was steering "Spider-Man, Turn Off the Dark" into the iceberg, Bono is spearheading…
