The Thrilling Musical Adventure of "Razzle Dazzle: The Battle for Broadway"

Jennifer Stewart: I could not put this book down. If you love Broadway then this is a book that will tell you how it all began and how things got to the way they are now. It's not just historical. He has the inside scoop and recounts personal stories and anecdotes from Broadway producers and performers as well. A fascinating read! I'm excited to read the second book!

Spain on Apr 08, 2021

Cliente Amazon: Ainda estou lendo, mas até onde fui achei o livro incrível para quem gosta ou pesquisa a história da Broadway. Nesse caso, não tanto dos musicais, mas da "instituição" Broadway. O livro cobre um período de 50 anos e cobre melhor a crise dos anos 70 e 80 - da Broadway e de Nova York- e as transformações que aconteceram desde a década de 60 e que possibilitaram a a sobrevivência do teatro musical americano. Na minha opinião, uma obra de referência sobre o gênero.

Brazil on Nov 28, 2020

Thomas M. Sullivan: I first encountered Michael Riedel several years ago in his role as co-host of PBS’s “Theater Talk.” He struck me then and now as smart and possessed of a mordant wit that must come in handy in his “day job” of the New York Post’s theater critic. Thus, when he described his then-new book, “Razzle Dazzle,” I thought I’d give it a try. Though a hidebound “hard” History buff, it didn’t take much for me to rationalize that this is, after all, cultural History, and the reading experience proved to be as pleasurable as any I’ve enjoyed in the recent past.

I am not a theater maven, though my attendance record does reach back to an SRO viewing of the original production of “The Music Man” in, I believe, 1959. Over the ensuing years, I’ve completed the apparently obligatory triple-header viewing of “Phantom,” an “Oklahoma” revival, the original “Amadeus,” enough productions of “Cats” to put me on the fence about felines, and many others.

I cite this record only to suggest that if most New York theater goers are like me, they are usually pretty damned impressed when proffered a first-rate production of either a worthwhile drama...

United States on Aug 18, 2017

William Ian Walker: Want to read about the "back story" about the Schubert Theatre organization with lots of drama and at times an incite into the "Broadway Mafia"? Then you want to read this book! I am a history lover of the theatre and of Broadway and I can't put this book down! Michael Riedel (from "Theatre Talk" on PBS)...is a great writer and he definitely keeps your interest as you want to continue to read on. If you want to know the back story on the musicals such as "Jesus Christ Superstar, Phantom of the Opera, A Chorus Line or Dreamgirls"..read on! This is an awesome read for any theatre geek like me!

Canada on Jul 24, 2016

Stacy Helton: The weasel of Broadway, Michael Riedel, who covers the Great White Way for the NEW YORK POST, has written an insightful, entertaining and illuminating book about the business of Broadway. Full confession, when Riedel and I are in agreement, there is no other fun read, but when he says something that irks me, I feel that he’s a pariah, a boil on Broadway, and vow never to read him again (a promise never kept). He has his fair share of detractors, but he’s obviously getting his gossip somewhere. Nowhere is that on a broader scale than RAZZLE DAZZLE: THE BATTLE FOR BROADWAY, which begins with the Shubert Brothers and ends with the deaths of Shubert stalwarts Bernie Jacobs and Gerald Schoenfeld, whose names adorn theatres side-by-side on W. 45th Street. Riedel’s history of the Shuberts, and a lesser stint with the Nederlanders, is a quick introduction to a bevy of Broadway characters and gossip, but the book truly takes off with the last brothers’ death in 1963, at which time lawyers Jacobs and Schoenfeld take over the Shubert Organization. Because so many players of the time agreed to be interviewed, the reader has a ring-side seat to the creation of so many Broadway...

United States on Jun 18, 2016

Amazon Customer: Can you imagine New York without Broadway? It’s unthinkable today, but by the mid 1970’s, Broadway was almost out for the count.

Michael Riedel’s stunning new book Razzle Dazzle charts the rise of Broadway and introduces the key players in The Shuberts and The Nederlanders, who today remain the dominant forces in the Broadway theatre community.

It charts Broadway’s history through to the 1970’s when due to the vice on the streets of New York and the poor financial health of the city, the Broadway theatre district very nearly became extinct, and the artistic and managerial forces of a few extraordinary individuals who stepped in, and through extra-ordinary measures ensured that Broadway was restored and developed into what we know and treasure today.

Riedel’s book is exceptionally well researched and pulls no punches in his assessments of some of the major players in this century long saga. As a fan of Gerald Schoenfeld’s memoir Mr Broadway, it was interesting to see Schoenfeld and Bernie Jacobs of the Shubert Organisation presented with perhaps a few more foibles, but with ultimate admiration for their efforts in restoring Broadway.

Razzle...

United Kingdom on Jan 14, 2016

Kimonline: Michael Reidel is a "love him" or "hate him" character and I'm little interested in the type of gossip he reports in his New York Post column, yet this was a thoroughly enjoyable read that I finished in one sitting. Some Reidel haters may quibble about the authenticity of what he recounts in his book but I loved it and would recommend it to other theatre buff wanting an inside view of New York theatre and, particularly, the all powerful Shubert organisation.

United Kingdom on Oct 24, 2015

Russell J. Sanders: With Razzle Dazzle: The Battle for Broadway, theater columnist Michael Riedel has provided us theater nuts with a very satisfying look at the last six decades of Broadway, throwing in a bit of history from before the 1960s as well. His book focuses on the enormous influence the Shubert Organization has had on the American theater, starting with the three Shubert brothers and continuing to their successors, Gerald Schoenfeld and Bernard Jacobs, who took over the organization after J. J. Shubert’s death. We also see the contributions of the other legendary theater company, that of the Nederlanders, exploring the feud between the Shuberts and the Nederlanders and their eventual truce. Riedel tells so many wonderful tales in this book, not the least of which are stories of the wildly original Broadway character, producer David Merrick. Some of those Merrick stories I had read before; others were new to me. But all were immensely entertaining. What Riedel has given us is an account of how the Broadway theater was corrupt in the 1960s and how it has emerged as a big money business once again, and in a sense has saved New York City. It is a fascinating book. That being said, I found...

United States on Oct 14, 2015