Michael Riedel (journalist)
| Michael Riedel | |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Journalist |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Columbia University |
Michael Riedel is an American journalist and broadcaster. He is the theater columnist for the New York Post, the host of "On the Town With Michael Riedel" on AM970 in New York City, and co-host (with Susan Haskins) of the weekly talk show Theater Talk on PBS. His best-selling book "Razzle Dazzle: The Battle for Broadway" won the 2015 Marfield Prize for arts writing and is widely considered to be the successor to "The Season," William Goldman's classic 1967 book about Broadway.
Riedel's skewering of Broadway shows and personalities in his column have made him a controversial and often feared figure on the New York theater scene. He has been called "the enfant terrible of the New York press".
Riedel grew up in Geneseo, New York. His father was the athletic director for SUNY Geneseo and his mother was a grade-school librarian. He has been described as a "smart, sarcastic kid" who joined the Young Republicans at 12 and originally planned to become a lawyer and politician.
He initially enrolled at Johns Hopkins University, but transferred after a year to Columbia University. While at Columbia, he acted in plays and regularly appeared on a radio show devoted to musical theater. The summer after his sophomore year, he interned for Liz McCann while she was producing the Broadway production of Les liaisons dangereuses. In 1989, he graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a BA in History.
After graduating from Columbia, Riedel served as Managing Editor of the now-defunct TheaterWeek magazine, which he attempted to make more literary by hiring highly respected theater figures such as critic Eric Bentley to write articles. In 1993, he was hired as a gossip columnist for The Daily News and subsequently launched his now-famous column reporting the latest news and speculation about the Broadway theater scene. In 1998, he moved his column to the New York Post, where he remains today. In September 2015, the Post announced that it was cutting the column from two columns a week to one. Riedel said of the change: "I'm happy about the changes. It's all part of a redesign of the features pages. If there's any 'breaking news,' I'll get it on the website and in the paper the next day."Riedel's Wednesday column was reinstated in the paper in 2016 after advertisers complained of its absence.
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