Podcast Episode #6 – The Man people love to hate: Broadway Gossip Columnist Michael Riedel

There’s a scene in the Howard Stern movie Private Parts where a Producer exclaims that while fans of Howard Stern listen to each show for a good amount of time, the people who hate Howard Stern listen to him even longer!

That’s Broadway’s relationship with Michael Riedel in a nutshell.

If you don’t know Michael and his twice weekly gossip column in the NY Post, well, you’re going to be hooked now.  Every Wednesday and Friday, the entire biz scoops up the Post just to read his scoopy column, where he breaks news, busts chops, and builds careers . . . all in a couple hundred words or less.

But there’s a lot about Michael that you may not know, which is why I sat down with the writer for Episode 6 of my podcast.  And over a 45 minute chat, Michael talked about:

  • Why he never wanted to be a reviewer.
  • What it was like having Arthur Miller work for him.
  • Where he gets his gossip.

As you can imagine, Michael isn’t afraid to name names throughout the podcast, and tell it like it is.  He has made a career of not playing the political game that so many of us have to play, and it’s refreshing to hear him let loose about his perspective on Broadway.  Oh, and he even makes fun of me in the first minute.

But I, like most of us in the business, take it in stride, because there’s one thing about Michael that is as obvious as the glasses on his face . . . Michael loves the theater as much as we all do.  And maybe even more.

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Ken created one of the first Broadway podcasts, recording over 250 episodes over 7 years. It features interviews with A-listers in the theater about how they “made it”, including 2 Pulitzer Prize Winners, 7 Academy Award Winners and 76 Tony Award winners. Notable guests include Pasek & Paul, Kenny Leon, Lynn Ahrens and more.

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