This juicy, jaunty book is about Broadway in the 1990s, a period of great change that paved the way for the industry’s recent artistic and financial prosperity. Singular Sensation offers less an explanation of present-day abundance, however, than a reminder of all that has been lost.

Reading Riedel has long been mandatory for theater insiders. They may complain about his journalistic practices, his tendency to sensationalize and distort, his refusal to let a fair review of the facts get in the way of a good scoop, his speculative and often erroneous conclusions. But his copy is sinfully entertaining, full of dish and drama and delivered with the wicked wit Broadway pros can’t help but admire.

Given his longtime standing as a New York theater doyen, Riedel has unique access to the vast cast of players he surveys, which yields an embarrassment of anecdotal riches.

... told with all the wit and style readers could wish for.

Structurally, [Riedel] is comfortable: Again Riedel centers his chapters on shows, painting his pointillist picture of Broadway, this time in the booming 1990s. His gimlet eye for masterstrokes of marketing and producing is still there, enriching our understanding of the business, as is his ear for the sharp retort and the clash of egos.

Riedel certainly has a flare for drama, as evidenced by his chapter titles.

... fun and gossipy.

... masterful.

... brisk, insightful, and deliciously detailed.