All stories by Michael Riedel on BroadwayStars

Saturday, March 9, 2024

Heat, humor and heartbreak: Oscars tales of winners, losers and famous jerk boyfriends by Michael Riedel

Meryl Streep's funny and cynical memories are among the many stories in the new book, “50 Oscar Nights: Iconic Stars and Filmmakers on Their Career-Defining Wins.”

SOURCE: The New York Post at 08:30AM
Thursday, June 9, 2022

John Travolta’s disastrous audition and other tales of making ‘Grease’ by Michael Riedel

In 1972, the hit Broadway musical “Grease” was ready to go on the road, which meant that a new cast had to be put together. In Los Angeles, an 18-year-old actor just breaking into the bu…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 05:21PM
Saturday, November 27, 2021

Stephen Sondheim was a seismic Broadway force by Michael Riedel

Stephen Sondheim, who died Friday at 91, was the most feted musical theater legend since Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II.

SOURCE: The New York Post at 04:00PM
Friday, November 12, 2021

‘Rent’ creator’s friends reveal tragic, true tale of ‘Tick Tick … Boom!’ by Michael Riedel

“Tick, Tick…Boom!” — an early musical by Jonathan Larson, who created “Rent” — was born of sadness, anger and frustration, friends and family members tell The Post.

SOURCE: The New York Post at 07:59AM
Monday, September 27, 2021

A Tony Awards shocker by Michael Riedel

There is going to be fury on Broadway tomorrow, and a lot of sighing, privately, from the people who run the real show.

SOURCE: The New York Post at 01:40AM
Thursday, August 26, 2021

Broadway teams up with Oprah for campaign heralding NYC’s comeback by Michael Riedel

The three-minute montage "This Is Broadway,” narrated by Oprah Winfrey, captures the history -- and excitement -- of live theater and heralds the return of the Great White Way.

SOURCE: The New York Post at 07:12PM
Saturday, August 21, 2021

NYC needs another ‘I Love NY’ campaign to bring Broadway back by Michael Riedel

As Broadway claws its way back from an 18-month COVID shutdown, it could use a snappy new television commercial that captures the excitement of live theater. Currently, New York City is sink…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 07:27AM
Wednesday, June 16, 2021

Inside Broadway’s biggest disaster: ‘Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark’ turns 10 by Michael Riedel

Ten years after the ill-fated “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” opened on Broadway, Michael Riedel takes a look back at the most expensive — and ill-fated — show in Broadway history.

SOURCE: The New York Post at 05:14PM
Friday, February 5, 2021

Christopher Plummer’s tortured relationship with ‘The Sound of Music’ by Michael Riedel

Christopher Plummer had a complicated relationship with "The Sound of Music" -- he even threatened to walk off the picture, which won the 1966 Oscar for Best Picture, at one point.

SOURCE: The New York Post at 05:31PM
Tuesday, January 19, 2021

Remembering Philip J. Smith, a behind-the-scenes Broadway power player by Michael Riedel

About once a month for a number of pre-COVID years, producer Scott Rudin, Philip J. Smith, the chairman of the Shubert Organization, and I would meet for dinner at Sette Mezzo on the Upper E…

SOURCE: Broadway News Subscription at 06:00AM
Wednesday, December 23, 2020

Remembering Broadway’s shining stars who died in 2020 by Michael Riedel

Never in its 125 years has Broadway suffered the way it has in 2020.

SOURCE: The New York Post at 02:03PM
Saturday, November 7, 2020

How 9/11 brought Broadway to a standstill — until NYC’s mayor revived it two days later by Michael Riedel

Like the coronavirus pandemic, 9/11 brought Broadway to a standstill — until NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani took incredible steps to save it.

SOURCE: The New York Post at 12:19PM
Thursday, April 2, 2020

‘Company’ producer strives to keep it together by Michael Riedel

Like every theater producer, Chris Harper, who’s behind the buzzy London revival of Stephen Sondheim’s “Company,” is bucking up his cast, holding his investors together, and waiting …

SOURCE: The New York Post at 05:53PM
Thursday, March 26, 2020

Terrence McNally loomed large through ups, downs on Broadway by Michael Riedel

The coronavirus continues to devastate Broadway. Two highly anticipated plays — “Hangmen” and the revival of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” — have been scuttled. Actors are …

SOURCE: The New York Post at 05:35PM
Thursday, March 19, 2020

For once, Broadway isn’t going to quickly bounce back by Michael Riedel

As Broadway grapples with the coronavirus crisis, producers have concluded that the Great White Way will not reopen in April, as they’d hoped. The best-case scenario right now is the summe…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 03:04PM
Thursday, March 12, 2020

The show will go on: How Broadway will survive coronavirus by Michael Riedel

With the coronavirus outbreak, Broadway is facing its worst crisis since 9/11. But it got a lifeline, albeit a thin one, from Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who yesterday prohibited gatherings of more t…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 06:16PM

Broadway shutting down all productions over coronavirus pandemic by Michael Riedel

Broadway will shut down four to six weeks beginning tonight, due to the coronavirus outbreak, several sources told The Post.

SOURCE: The New York Post at 02:48PM
Thursday, February 27, 2020

‘Beetlejuice’ on Broadway loses its Lydia by Michael Riedel

Sophia Anne Caruso, the talented young star of “Beetlejuice,” surprised a lot of the musical’s fans when she announced on Instagram last week that she’d performed her last show. Acto…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 07:07PM
Thursday, February 20, 2020

Matthew Broderick, SJP revive Neil Simon comedy ‘Plaza Suite’ by Michael Riedel

Boston theatergoers recently said they had “the best time of their lives” at the play.

SOURCE: The New York Post at 06:28PM
Thursday, February 13, 2020

Antônio Carlos Jobim’s music finally coming to Broadway by Michael Riedel

As far as I can tell, the one and only time an Antônio Carlos Jobim song was heard on Broadway was in Twyla Tharp’s “Come Fly Away.” The song was “Wave,” which, as I write this, m…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 06:40PM
Thursday, February 6, 2020

Inside a storied Broadway legend’s life and tragic death by Michael Riedel

Bob Avian will never forget the moment Michael Bennett told him he had AIDS. The two had been friends since 1959, when they met as dancers on a tour of “West Side Story.” “We were like…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 06:18PM
Thursday, January 30, 2020

Writers strike back against New York Musical Festival by Michael Riedel

The New York Musical Festival was created to give new writers a start. So isn’t it “ironic,” says Josh Canfield, whose “Alive! The Zombie Musical” played NYMF last year, that it �…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 03:51PM
Thursday, January 23, 2020

Neil Diamond ‘visibly moved’ by Broadway bio musical by Michael Riedel

The show may stand out because of its writer — Anthony McCarten, who's up for a 2020 Oscar for his movie "The Two Popes."

SOURCE: The New York Post at 05:51PM
Thursday, January 16, 2020

Stephen Sondheim’s in good ‘Company’ with Marianne Elliott by Michael Riedel

Stephen Sondheim has been a fan of director Marianne Elliott’s ever since he saw her production of “Saint Joan” in London at the National Theatre in 2007. Sondheim knows a great direct…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 04:00PM
Thursday, January 9, 2020

‘Hee Haw’ gets closer to Broadway by Michael Riedel

Ready for my favorite “Hee Haw” joke? Q: What do you call a man who doesn’t believe in birth control? A: Daddy! Exactly six years ago, I was picking up good buzz about “Moonshine,”…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 07:33PM
Thursday, January 2, 2020

‘Hello, Dolly!’ is a classic, but Jerry Herman loved ‘La Cage aux Folles’ by Michael Riedel

It’s been a week since the death, at 88, of Jerry Herman, whose scores to “Hello, Dolly!” and “Mame” defined the brassy, sassy sound of a musical comedy at the tail end of Broadway…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 06:21PM
Saturday, December 28, 2019

Don Imus was abrupt, harsh and a one-of-a-kind, fearless talent by Michael Riedel

If you tried too hard to be funny, Don Imus wouldn’t help you with fake laughter. If you tried to poke fun at him and he wasn’t in the mood, he’d flatten you.

SOURCE: The New York Post at 04:29PM
Thursday, December 26, 2019

The theater legends we lost in 2019: From the creator of ‘Annie’ to Rhoda by Michael Riedel

The theater lost three giants in 2019: Hal Prince, Franco Zeffirelli and Carol Channing. Here, in their own words, are several other greats worth remembering. Diahann Carroll Diahann Carroll…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 06:29PM
Thursday, December 19, 2019

How and why ‘Beetlejuice’ got evicted by its Broadway theater by Michael Riedel

Its weekly grosses were so low, the Shuberts exercised the stop clause.

SOURCE: The New York Post at 05:54PM
Thursday, December 12, 2019

Andrew Lloyd Webber talks ‘Cats’ movie starring Taylor Swift and Judi Dench by Michael Riedel

When Andrew Lloyd Webber read the screenplay for “Cats,” he knew something was missing: a song for Victoria, an abandoned cat who wasn’t in his stage musical. “She had no voice at al…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 07:18PM
Thursday, December 5, 2019

‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ musical producers dogged by ‘Tootsie’ Broadway failure by Michael Riedel

“Tootsie” flopped on Broadway. It’s a terrific show, but its early closing is scaring the hell out of “Mrs. Doubtfire,” another musical whose leading man is also a leading lady. Ba…

SOURCE: The New York Post at 06:26PM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Mar 07, 2024: Doubt - Todd Haimes Theatre
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater
Jun 10, 2024: The Drama Desk Awards