Riedel on LEAP

[roadmixer]

OK... If I don't, somebody else will.

http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/theater/struggling_to_keep_the_faith_Nlx0TFHFrOmh4fB47PeR2K

[FindingNamo]

This makes SMASH look more realistic than people give it credit for.

[dramamama611]

It sure does!!! (I'd say cut their losses -- reviewed are going to massacre them!!!)

[bwayphreak234]

“We have already raised hundreds of thousands of dollars, and we have commitments of hundreds of thousands more,” he said. “We have enough to function. There are producers who really believe passionately in this show.”

those commitments are probably going to be LONG gone after the review come out...

[MuiscalLoverGuy]

^^^^^^^
Boy that's the truth

[henrikegerman]

Can't believe they were concerned with Raul looking fat. He doesn't look at all fat in the show. He looks great.

[Pammylicious]

Well I am going on Saturday night and then I also have tickets for May 8.......bets on whether or not I lose my $$

[Pippin]

His arms look great.

he looks slightly on the hefty beer belly side.

[CurtainPullDowner]

The last thing you want to say to an Actor with a fragile, volatile ego is he looks fat.
This ain't gonna be pretty.

[Jane2]

Especially since this is the thinnest he's been in years. He's gone and worked out and is pretty buff. Lookin' good.

[bwayphreak234]

They should be concerned with the fact that the show is terrible and bleeding money, not that Esparza looks fat when he looked perfectly fine.

[FindingNamo]

Raul = big, thick Cuban-



American

[egghumor]

Those of us that have been attending Broadway flops for decades see this all BS to often. You have a show where the primary elements (book, score, staging) are not working and so to "fix" it they focus on and target one actor -- as if that would make things better. So many shows come to mind, but the one I'll cite here is NICK & NORA. They fired Josie DeGuzman from the show during previews -- even though she had a dreadful number that NO ONE could make work. In the end, it was abundantly clear that Ms. deGuzman was the least of that show's problems.

[Jane2]

I got the impression that Raul was the one positive thing most people have commented on, not that he's the major problem.

[newintown]

I had been wondering about their decision to rush into a Broadway production after being roasted on the West Coast and making a lot of changes without the benefit of playing them to real audiences.

It appears that it was a lot of wishful thinking and inexperienced producing going on.

[roadmixer]

I believe that the poster is alluding to having changed from Brooke Shields to Jessica. Raul has been with the project throughout.

[blaxx]

I wish most Broadway performers were as "fat" as him.

[EricMontreal22]

Nothing new of course, but man I hate the snarky way Riedel writes. It's not even witty snark the way more famous gossip columnists have been--it reads like a bad blog. I mean I don't even understand the quip about poor "cute" Aaron Tveit.

But yeah the Raul thing just seemed made up to say something catty. It's been known for years that Raul has had issues with his weight (and by issues I mean that he's worried about it a lot, not that they are legit issues)--I honestly doubt anyone worried about his weight in the photos, unless someone overheard Raul himself bemoan that he felt he looked fat in some of them. But it' good to know that Riedel thinks he still has the potential to be as hefty as Zero Mostel.

[mc1227]

Why is everyone on this board obsessed with Raul's weight? He does a great job in this very mediocre show. An actor's job is to do the best with the material they are given. Same thing with Broderick in "Nice Work". They are doing the job on stage. If they're carrying a few extra pounds, so what? It's not interferring with their performances. If you don't like how they look, then don't go see them perform.

p.s. Riedel is a dirtbag.

[ACL2006]

when was Raul ever fat?? seriously??

[Kad]

...Raul certainly has never been fat or even overweight. He looks fantastic.

[EricMontreal22]

I didn't think many on here were obsessed or commenting on his weight. I only brought it up because of Riedel's charming piece, and that (and this is gossip so probably no better than Riedel) I had a good friend who worked with him for a charity cause I guess a bit before Company--when he was still with his wife and that whole brouhaha happened--and he went on about how Raul continuously asked if people thought he looked in shape in photos, etc. I agree, it's ridiculous.

[Kad]

If Esparza has issues with his weight (which is certainly not an uncommon thing amongst actors), and if that is somewhat known, then it's even more vile of Riedel to be saying that.

[EricMontreal22]

That's exactly my way of thinking--that I doubt anyone actually even said anything in this case, certainly no producers debated it, and Riedel just knows he is striking a nerve. (Similarly before he did come out, I guess most people already knew, and gossipers used his weight issues to "prove" he must be gay, because I guess someone thinks only gay men have image issues, which isn't true anyway and isn't remotely true when it comes to actors).

[After Eight]

It's a funny piece.

Riedel has created a persona, and he is acting true to form. That's what his public expects.

Yes, he can be snarky, but he can be witty too. The Zero Mostel punch line was both. And I do like his self-deprecating humor.

And P.S. Since snark/nastiness reigns on this board, what's the problem when someone else displays it?

[CurtainPullDowner]

Well, Mostel won 3 TONYS in a decade,
maybe The Raul should get fat.
I'm not surprised one of the "producers" said it, they sound like idiots, rich idiots.