288 The Triumph of Broadway (with Michael Riedel)

The History of Literature

Jacke Wilson

History, Books, Arts

4.6 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 3 December 2020

⏱️ 65 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Author and notorious New York Post columnist Michael Riedel joins Jacke to discuss his new book, Singular Sensation: The Triumph of Broadway, which explores the world of big-budget Broadway musicals in the 1990s. Along the way, he and Jacke discuss how he got his start as a Broadway columnist; musicals from The Lion King to The Producers; the devastating impact of 9/11 and the current COVID-19 pandemic on New York theater; and some post-pandemic changes that might help Broadway get back on its feet. In preparation for this month's Thursday Theme, the plays of Chekhov, Jacke also asks Michael about the financial viability of spoken-word drama, including a potential make-it-on-Broadway scenario for the aspiring young Chekhovs of today. Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/shop. (We appreciate it!) Find out more at historyofliterature.com, jackewilson.com, or by following Jacke and Mike on Twitter at @thejackewilson and @literatureSC. Or send an email to [email protected]. New!!! Looking for an easy to way to buy Jacke a coffee? Now you can at paypal.me/jackewilson. Your generosity is much appreciated! The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at www.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. *** This show is a part of the Podglomerate network, a company that produces, distributes, and monetizes podcasts. We encourage you to visit the website and sign up for our newsletter for more information about our shows, launches, and events. For more information on how The Podglomerate treats data, please see our Privacy Policy. Since you're listening to The History of Literature, we'd like to suggest you also try other Podglomerate shows surrounding literature, history, and storytelling like Storybound, Micheaux Mission, and The History of Standup. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	The History of Literature Podcast is a member of the Podglamorate Network and LIT Hub Radio. I always used to say to my sources I say look think of me as a murder weapon that has no
0:20.9	fingerprints I would say if you want to settle a score, if you want to put the knife in someone's back,
0:27.0	as long as what you're telling me, checks out,
0:29.0	I'm happy to be your murder weapon.
0:41.0	I went out to Minneapolis to see an early performance of the
0:45.0	elements of the Lion King's, I went there to kill it. I thought there was no way.
0:46.0	You cannot put the family-friendly Disney company
0:50.0	with crazy avant-garde genius, a strange, Julie Tamer, this is a train wreck.
0:58.0	This is going to be a train wreck.
1:01.0	And I settled into my seat at the Orpheum Theater in Minneapolis, and my pencil believe me was dipped
1:07.0	into poison because I was ready to really kill it.
1:10.4	And then I saw, beginnings of a circle of life number.
1:17.0	Yeah.
1:18.0	And this gigantic paper mache sun rising and C. D. Loveso as Rafiki coming out and chanting in the
1:28.0	African language and then I remember these giraffe puppets loping on the stage, you know, human beings on stilts with a
1:35.8	giraffe head on top of them and then the cheetah puppet came out and I thought, oh my God, I've never seen anything like this. I've seen a lot of shows that I I I can't I don't even
1:48.0	the words to describe that the majesty and the beauty of what I'm seeing and at the end of that I remember
1:54.8	then you know being totally stunned I felt something brush up against when I
1:58.3	look up in this life-sized elephant puppet it's ears just brushed up against me
2:01.7	was marching down the aisle of the
2:03.5	Orphe theater. And at the end of the Circle of Life,
2:06.5	1500 people at the orphan theater, they just weren't giving me standing there.
	...

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