Just what is going on with the Spider-Man musical anyway?

We’ve written about Spiderman here at Culch before. I know its a world away in New York but its got an Irish interest considering Bono and The Edge are involved. Plus frankly its an incredible story, with the daily developments of the troubled production proving to be just as entertaining (and maybe even moreso according to some early viewers) as the show itself. Read all about the ups and downs of this remarkable production after the break.

So where on earth do we begin? The show has been in development for 7 years, and previews finally began on Sunday November 28th 2010. This was after the first preview was pushed back 3 times from January, then February, then November 14th, before a final two weeks to the 28th. Those two weeks were to allow for final touches to be made to the special effects and stunts, whereas the February to November delay was due to the fact that the show, very famously, completely ran out of money. Never fear though, after reading about his own shows financial woes in the New York Post (the shows number one enemy, but more on that later) Bono recruited his friend Michael Cohl of Live Nation to get the show back on track. Which they did, to the tune of $65 million, making it easily the must expensive musical ever made (the previous record holder was Shrek the Musical, with reports of between 30-40 million so that’s quite an increase!).

The creative team: The Edge, Julie Taymor & Bono

The show has drawn the attention and ire of theatre critics and bloggers like no show ever before. And it seems that most of this criticism is a direct result of the one thing that will either make or break this show: its director Julie Taymor. Taymor has been hailed as a genius, a visionary, an artist who changed the face of Broadway with her interpretation of The Lion King for stage. Indeed the Lion King is one of the most successful stage shows ever (currently the 7th longest running in Broadway history) and is one of the few shows to rake in more than $1 million each week in New York. But it was not just commercially successful, also being hailed by critics as a masterpiece. There’s no denying that Taymor pushed boundaries with the show. But her myriad of detractors claim that she pushed them too far. Her original costumes and headpieces had to be changed after claims that they were too strenuous on the actors backs, and many dancers have reported serious long term injuries after performing roles in the show (where they are often stooped over for extended periods in an attempt to represent certain animals). Taymor has long been decried by some, as a director who places her own artistic vision before the wellbeing of her cast members.

But could we even claim this show is art to begin with? Well Bono certainly seems to think so - “We’re wrestling with the same stuff as Rilke, Blake, ‘Wings of Desire,’ Roy Lichtenstein, the Ramones — the cost of feeling feelings, the desire for connections when you’re separate from others. If the only wows you get from ‘Spider-Man’ are visual, special-effect, spectacular-type wows, and not wows from the soul or the heart, we will all think that we’ve failed.” Taymor has taken an artistic license with this piece and ran with it - “What I really wanted to do, and what the ‘Spider-Man’ movies and comics haven’t done, is go to this absolutely fantastical, mythic place that is out of time, somewhere between reality and the dream world”. Taymors background is in mythology and folklore. As such she has drawn a lot of inspiration from Greek mythology, and created a brand-new villainess named Arachne, based on the woman who was turned into a spider by the goddess Athena and doomed to spin webs in the shadows for eternity. It is Arachne who creates Spiderman in this stage version, not a radioactive spider. The jury is still out on whether this will incite or intrigue fans. But Taymor is going nowhere. Bono and The Edge personally insisted she direct the piece, only agreeing to come on board if she did. Bono worked with her before on her Beatles musical Across the Universe, and he is very much a member of the Taymor fan club.

An example of the aerial work on display

But is she pushing boundaries too far? Certainly the show is like nothing that Broadway has seen before. It features aerial maneuvers which see Spiderman swoop over the audience at several key points in the show, swinging from the stage right up to the upper levels of the theatre, and an aerial battle with the Green Goblin, right over the heads of the audience members. Its these stunts which have caused uproar, with claims that they are simply too dangerous and risky to pull off in such a confined environment as a theatre. The concerns are not without merit, with two actors injured in rehearsals, one hurting his leg, and the other breaking both wrists when he landed awkwardly attempting the stunts. The detractors are claiming that safety protocols are not stringent enough, that the desperate rush to get the show to previews resulted in lower standards. Taymor herself isn’t doing herself any favours on that front - “Delaying just costs too much money, too much money, too much money”. That was when the show was due to open on January 11 (or 01/11/11). It has since been pushed back yet again until February. With $65million on the line, delaying a show by as little as two weeks is a major cause for concern.

And it was money that made the decision to open on November 28th. With rumoured running costs of over $1 million per week Spiderman has to earn at least that much just to cover costs. Only money earned after that will go towards paying back the $65million investment, and only money earned after that will be a profit. On a given week only 5 or 6 shows will gross more than $1million so this is a considerable goal. But having been pushed back two weeks from the 14th, there was simply no more waiting. The show had to open and had to start making money. The fact that the first preview was the first time the show had been fully run through from start to finish should give you an indication of just how much pressure was on the producers. Previews are usually respected as a period where a show is given a bit of breathing room, the focus is taken off to allow the producers to test the show with audiences and make necessary changes before they present a final finished product to critics for review. A lot of big budget shows start with out of town tryouts, away from the glare and scrutiny of Broadway. The producers here made the brave but some have said foolish decision of staying in New York. And as a result that first preview was under an unheard of level of media scrutiny. Twitter was abuzz with so much talk of the show that ‘Broadway’ was trending that night (that’s a big deal folks, it never happens!).

And, as expected, things didn’t exactly run smoothly. The show began 24 minutes late and stopped 5 times in total. Act 1 ended prematurely leaving Spiderman dangling over the audience while stagehands tried to grab his foot and pull him down. There was a 45 minute intermission during which the audience began to slow clap and one woman stood up and shouted her disgust claiming she felt like she was watching a dress rehearsal (she was booed). What’s interesting about all of this, is that it isn’t unusual in previews for shows to stop. Certainly not in shows this technically complex. Only a few years ago, 9 to 5, the Dolly Parton musical, was one of the most technically complex shows ever produced, with the most moving set pieces ever seen in a stage show. On its first preview Dolly herself, infamously had to entertain the crowd during technical problems. At the time, that was reported in a light hearted and jovial fashion. Not so the write ups in the New York Times, New York Post and various other media outlets of Spiderman the following day. Indeed reading Michael Riedel of the New York Post you would imagine it was the greatest disaster that ever befell a stage production. He has been chief amongst its detractors since day one. Reading his column you would be forgiven for thinking Spiderman was the only show playing on Broadway. He has been decrying the production for years now even going so far as to admit “I’ve got my foot on its neck, and I’m having too much fun to take it off”. Watch Riedel talk about the show on CNN here.

So with all the talk of disaster, and all the negative press, how did theatre goers react? Well with the strongest display of faith yet placed in the production. The show sold over $1million of ticket sales within 24 hours of the first preview. Within 3 days the show was down to one 5 minute delay. Positive developments to be sure, but things didn’t keep getting better. The very next afternoon there were rumours in the New York Times that the Foxwoods Theater where the show is playing, was pulling the plug on the show. Late on Monday the theatre’s general manager, Erich Jungwirth, confirmed that he had talked to producers “to see if there are any shows coming up that may be able to play in our venue.” Considering the theatre had sat vacant waiting for the show since its initial intended opening in January, that was a pretty big statement about the theatre’s faith in the show after just one preview. The Foxwoods, seating 1932 people, is an impressive venue and clearly not one Mr Jungwirth wishes to waste on an inferior show. There have been no more developments on this front but there are still rumours.

New villain Swiss Miss and Mary Jane

Then, a few days later, it emerged that actress Natalie Mendoza, who plays villainess Arachne, had suffered a concussion during the first preview (that was after spending 6 minutes suspended over the audience herself earlier in the night). She had apparently been struck in the head by a rope holding a piece of equipment. She insisted she go on at the next performance but was later forced to step down due to the physically demanding nature of the role. She has since pulled out of the show in what is seen as an embarrassing blow and an artistic loss. But her injury was minor compared to the shows next, which would prove its most infamous.

At the Monday 20th December performance, Spiderman stunt double Christopher Tierney was seriously injured after falling 26 feet on stage after his safety cable snapped. The show was abruptly called short and the audience asked to leave. It later emerged that his injuries included four broken ribs, a hairline skull fracture, a broken scapula, a bruised lung, three cracked vertebrae and broken bones below his elbow. It was the strongest indictment yet of shows safety protocols. The next two performances on Wednesday were cancelled as producers met with officials from the Department of Labor to put in place new safety protocols. Meanwhile members of the cast started to speak out anonymously to the press of a meeting which took place between the cast, crew and producers on the day following the accident. By all accounts it was a tense affair with cast members openly challenging Taymor and voicing their concerns that simply not enough was being done to ensure their safety. She was challenged as to whether it was possible to really ensure safety given the rate of change occuring on a daily basis and the pace with which scenes and maneuvers were being altered. According to the New York Times ‘by all accounts Ms. Taymor responded calmly to the questions and emphasized that the safety of her cast and crew members was her foremost concern. She and others went through some of the safety measures being added to the show this week in the hope of preventing another accident like Mr. Tierney’s’. The cause of the accident was later attributed to human error. The cable was attached to Tierney but not secured to the stage to prevent him from falling.

And while the safety concerns seem to be the main focus of peoples contention with show, there was also a considerable amount of criticism mounting against the shows book (script), dialogue and music. Before this accident even occurred the shows opening was already delayed from January 11th to February. At the time the producers announced the delay was intended to provide more time to stage a new final number, allow for further rewrites to the dialogue, and consider adding and cutting scenes and inserting new music. Detractors were claiming Taymor was out of touch, focused solely on her single minded vision for the show. Rumours were circulating that producers wished to bring in a script doctor to work out the problems in the show (which Taymor co-wrote) but that she was resisting. A further delay from February has not yet been announced but wouldn’t be too surprising at this stage.

Green Goblin vs Spiderman

So it seems the show was having problems on all fronts. It has since been given the all clear from safety inspectors and its back to business as usual at the Foxwoods. It has been consistently selling very well at the box office despite all the negative press and safety concerns. Tierney has undergone surgery and intends to be in the audience on opening night. Despite rumours that he make take legal action (and some fellow Broadway performers very publicly urging him to) he has asserted his continued belief in, and devotion to the project. But whether the show can last on Broadway remains to be seen. Things on The Great White Way have been particularly tough of late. Of the 39 shows running on Broadway in December, 19 are due to close in January (or have already closed at time of writing). That’s half of whats currently on offer completely wiped off the slate. Most of these closings are due to poor business. It seems producers are failing in their attempts to give the theatre going public what they want. The success of Spiderman isn’t solely relevant to its own producers. If it succeeds it may well usher in a new age of big spectacle, entertainment ‘events’. If it fails it sends a very clear message that taking chances is not a good idea in the current climate. Producers will hesitate to invest in anything original or risky. After all, if Bono, The Edge and Julie Taymor can’t succeed in making a big budget musical successful, then who can? Whether the show succeeds or not though, there’s no denying the impact it has already had on Broadway.

A very funny parody video of the shows woes
(and a good example of what the show is up against)

Update: Watch the cast, including Christopher Tierney, and Natalie Mendoza’s replacement T.V. Carpio talk about the show and the controversy surrounding it, on Good Morning America here.