Legendary Conservative Theater Critic, Michael Riedel

I’ve always wondered about him.

He’s kind of a CUTE nerd.

I loved his two books about Broadway from the 1970’s through 9/11. Dishy, fast-paced, and, yes, bitchy. I was also shocked when he thanked a wife in the acknowledgements.

I suppose if you’re from that world, gay isn’t a big deal so why would he lie about it? He has a VERY gay sensibility though.

Is he conservative? He comes off as very liberal on those old episodes of Theater Talk.

[quote]When you read New York Post theater columnist Michael Riedel, there's no mistaking whom the writer is.

Oh, fucking DEAR!

I've actually spent time with him and some of my friends worked with him at the Post back in the day, that's how I met him. He's a smart guy and nothing like his "punchy" persona, really nice to talk to and not snobby or anything.

Edna at 7.00 says he is 'serious theatre journalist'.

[quote] Legendary Conservative Theater Critic

Op, what is it about him that makes you brand him as 'conservative'?

Isn't Dame Edna and right wing cunt?

[quote] Op, what is it about him that makes you brand him as 'conservative'?

Michael Riedel (born December 24, 1966) is an American theatre critic, conservative broadcaster, and columnist. He is the co-host of "Len Berman and Michael Riedel in the Morning" on 710 WOR in New York City, weekdays 6-10am. Riedel has been a controversial and influential Broadway columnist of the New York Post for over 20 years.

[quote] Dame Edna … right wing?

What makes you say that, R9? What have you heard?

I know Riedel is at least bisexual, because a male friend of mine told me that he (Riedel) seriously came on to him some years ago, and my friend had absolutely no reason to lie about that.

That biography at R10 brands him as 'conservative' but I can't see anything in it which justifies that branding.

He is a conservative and he is straight. There was an article about him a few years ago that confirmed both these things. It didn’t literally say Michael Reidel, heterosexual, lol but it talked about his relationships with women. It did also go into his politics.

I found it odd when I read the article that his personal politics seemed to conflict with the majority of people’s rights of people he worked with…but I think that happens a lot

Wikipedia says he joined the Young Republicans when he was 12. But that's about the only reference I found about his conservatism.

I remember reading an article after Obama became president, and he expressed how disappointed he was that he was hoping Obama would become another FDR. Maybe he's one of those New York Rockefeller Republicans.

Do his private beliefs have any bearing on him writing a history of Broadway.

And anyway the OP has dished up a story which is SEVEN YEARS OLD.

[quote]He is a conservative and he is straight. There was an article about him a few years ago that confirmed both these things.

How amusing that you think he must be straight just because it said so in an article you read. Seriously?

[quote] Legendary Conservative Theater Critic

Op, what is it about him that makes you brand him as 'legendary'?

That's what I'd like to know, R18. OP speaks of Riedel like he's the late John Simon.

He is a right wing conservative and very open about that. I listen to him and Len Berman, a moderate Democrat, sometimes in the morning. He married a woman last year or maybe the year before. It is his first marriage and he is in his 50s.

I can confirm he's straight. I went out with him a few times in the early 2000s. He was badly hung up on some theater ingenue (if he told me her name, I've forgotten it) who either dumped him or he was in unrequited love with. He's very smart, super snarky, and blonde, pretty much the top things I'm attracted to.

[quote] He's very smart, super snarky, and blonde…

But does he go to the right synagogue?

I was forced to take a criticism class in art school. I wanted to strangle. I couldn’t help thinking where is there art. I get that they may help sell papers but really. I mean get a life.

Straight from his mouth: "I'm a conservative republican, so I don't really argue that I want to see lots of plays denouncing George Bush because that's boring, and you're preaching to the converted. I want to see sort of the one man Jesse Helms play that's a celebration of his life. That would really turn the town on its head!"

[quote] What makes you say that, [R9]? What have you heard?

You’re joking, right?

But R25, what words and thoughts has Humphries uttered that disagrees with your superior morals and philosophy?

Riedel has never been a "theatre critic". He's a gossip columnist, nothing more.

[quote] He's a gossip columnist.

And I haven't picked up his 7 years old book which costs $15 on Amazon, R16.

[quote]I can confirm he's straight. I went out with him a few times in the early 2000s. He was badly hung up on some theater ingenue (if he told me her name, I've forgotten it) who either dumped him or he was in unrequited love with.

That doesn't "confirm that he's straight." As I reported elsewhere, a male friend of mine said that Riedel came on to him big time quite a few years ago, and my friend had absolutely no reason to make up the story. He did say that Riedel was drunk at the time (an apparently frequent occurrence) and also, if I recall correctly, that Riedel tried to talk my friend into a threesome with the two of them and a woman, but I would still say it's inaccurate to simply describe him as "straight."

R21, huh? How does your experience proves he is straight?

[quote]I want to see sort of the one man Jesse Helms play that's a celebration of his life. That would really turn the town on its head!

He wants to see a one-man play celebrating the life of a white supremacist supply-sider homophobe? Oh, yeah, that would really shake 'em up in midtown. A regular Belle of Amherst, but with hoods! What an asshole.

R20 So he said he's a conservative, do you think he's a MENACE to society?

Do we need to start a boycott, R20?

R25 Oh, fuck off.

He’s an arrogant, pompous, self-important blowhard without an ounce of talent of his own — even for snark. It just comes off as mean-spirited without humor snark requires. And he revels in mean-spiritedness. He’s pitiful, lonely, fetid, angry, short-sighted, uninteresting and cruel.

Oh, R34, I think you might be describing 60% of Datalounge.

But we don't have our own TV show and we didn't publish a $15 book 7 years ago (R16).

R32, no boycott. I WILLINGLY listen to him because he is about the only right winger I can stand, and I like the comparative dialogue between him and Len. I don’t think he is a MENACE but do think he is a bit of an ass.

^ Go take pleasure in his assness.

So a DLer “went out with him a few times” (see r21 ) and that proves he’s straight?

I know we don’t have any straight women cunts on our site, right?

Maybe what R21 is too delicate to say is that he tore up her kitty like the voracious hound he is, leaving no doubt that a turbo-driven heterosexual male lurks right under the pinky-lifting shade-throwing poindexter surface.

Can you really be a "legendary" theater critic if you're writing for the New York Post?

R14- We'll take your word for it- he's a PUSSYHOUND

His conservative bent is very evident in the THEATER TALK episodes with "critics round tables." Watch how he pounces on Susan Haskins every time she tries to make a feminist point, or how he rolls his eyes at HAMILTON as overly woke garbage.

He fares much better as an interviewer -- he generally comes across as well-prepared and respectful and gets good responses from his guests.

He was head over heels for a beautiful dancer in a big musical about 10-12 years ago and she wouldn't give him the time of day. Well, look at him!

Last year he married girlfriend of ten years. Bought Camille Paglia's adjacent apartment. Talked on morning radio show (WOR AM 710, 6:00-10:00) about what a horror the renovation has become.

He should form a support group with David Mamet, Twyla Tharp, and Laurie Anderson.

[quote]Oh, fuck off. —barry is golden

And a Right-winger. Always has been.

[quote] Can you really be a "legendary" theater critic if you're writing for the New York Post?

Cindy Adams, Dear Abby, and a load of other ones wrote for the Post. Legends.

[quote] Always has been.

And how has that affected you, R46? How has this allegation impinged on your life?

Dear Abby was syndicated, R67. I don't know if Cindy Adams was/is as well.

Cindy Adams has been in a coma for the last 10 years.. A mailboy writes her column.

Oh, you can certainly be legendary as a gossip columnist at the NY Post. What's a rag like that for, if not gossip?

But a theater critic has to have a few brain cells to rub together. I don't think they go for that kind of thing at the Post.

Good God he's a cunt, and I'm pretty sure he posts here. He's a real asshole to Julie Andrews and people who have health issues in this vid from 1996, and I've seen the same unforgiving attitude here, for example. This guy needs to be put in this past where he belongs.

He's the devil. At 2:10.

Does he have a nice dick?

I worked with him once, and was also on jury duty with him once.

He doesn't ping at all. He's straight. Bitchy, but straight.

I loved Razzle Dazzle. The whole Shubert section would make a great miniseries.