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Associated Press NEW YORK — Spider-Man’s web has gotten tangled on Broadway. Several delays and at least two actors who were left helplessly dangling from cables high in the air marred the first preview of the mega-musical “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.” According to published reports, Sunday night’s performance of the reported $65 million show ran over three hours because flying tricks went wrong and the production had to stop at least five times. And though Spidey’s debut on Broadway wasn’t exactly spectacular , that doesn’t mean U2 bandmates Bono and The Edge have anything but high praise for the mesh of comics and rock music found in “Turn Off The Dark.” In an interview conducted last week, the musicians elaborated on the connections between rock music and graphic novels, and the various ways they’re describing the ambitious collaboration between themselves and “Turn Off The Dark” director Julie Taymor. The Broadway League said that single performance grossed $200,605 from a sold-out crowd of 1,928. The majority of the publicity the musical has gotten stems from its constant delays, the bloated budget, and even a death! At various points, overhead stage wires dropped on the audience, scenery appeared on stage missing pieces and the show’s star was even left swaying helplessly over them midair during what was supposed to be the climatic end to the first act. But all of those “difficulties” have not been worked out yet as the show reportedly had to be stopped five times on Sunday during stunt work that had actors suspended in the air with harnesses. But the ambitious, technically complex production began 24 minutes late, and then went downhill from there. Not only was this the first preview performance, but it was the cast and crews first run through of the show. As in, they didn’t rehearse!

“The show is like a graphic novel, but a three-dimensional one,” he said. Specifically, each of the producers said in separate interviews, Mr. Jungwirth asked if they had productions in the works that might be a future fit for the Foxwoods Theater and asked them to keep the 1,932-seat theater in mind as they developed or optioned productions for Broadway. The spider is the radioactive arachnid that bites Peter Parker, giving the photographer his superhuman Spider-Man powers.

“I’m calling it a pop-up, pop-art opera… because I’m pretentious. Each of the producers noted that Mr. Jungwirth was reaching out as a newcomer to running a major theater, which was customary. Parker’s love interest, Mary Jane, was supposed to be saved from atop the Chrysler Building. Each also said that Mr. Jungwirth, when asked about the potential longevity of “Spider-Man,” did not offer any hard predictions and referred to the producers’ hopes for a healthy run. The leaders of “Spider-Man,” like the lead producer, Michael Cohl, and the director, Julie Taymor, have been straightforward in acknowledging that the show is a gamble given its high costs and technical complexity. Instead, Spider-Man got stuck in midair and swung back and forth over the crowd as three stagehands leaped up and down futilely trying to grab onto one of his feet to haul him back to earth. To me, it seems as if they’ve been throwing a lot of bad money after good money,” said Filichia, who has charted other theatrical embarrassments in his book “Broadway Musicals: The Biggest Hit and the Biggest Flop of the Season — 1959 to 2009.” “I can’t say that this strikes me as something that was wise, but history is littered with fools who just had to continue even when they knew that they were doomed, hoping that as long as they were in the race some miracle could happen that could save them. There may be a miracle that does save them,” he said.

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November 29, 2010 at 4:26 pm by jamesdean
Category: Showbiz News
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