# FOURTH accident at the Broadway show Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 21, 2010, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fourth-accident-at-the-broadway-show-spiderman-turn-off-the-dark/564963 "2010-12-21T15:49:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fourth-accident-at-the-broadway-show-spiderman-turn-off-the-dark/564963/181 "2011-03-09T21:34:39Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Taymor had her head up her ass the whole time. I posted earlier that she’ll never work on Broadway again. I agree with \*\*storyteller \*\*& **DooWahDiddy**. You’re completely off-base here, and saying it multiple times will not make it happen. Julie Taylor will have no trouble finding a future show on Broadway to work on. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fourth-accident-at-the-broadway-show-spiderman-turn-off-the-dark/564963/182 "2011-03-09T21:50:35Z")
I dunno, it’s not like Michael Cimino was awash in job offers after Heaven’s Gate. She has thus far spent a record shattering amount of money on the production, put actors in danger on the set, presided over a record breaking preview period (to be extended 3 more months) and they need a new creative team to re-do much of her work so that they get a product that isn’t panned by the critics. Not to say she won’t get any more jobs, but I suspect producers are going to be pretty wary of hiring her on, and she won’t get the kind of freedom she’s had in the past. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fourth-accident-at-the-broadway-show-spiderman-turn-off-the-dark/564963/183 "2011-03-09T22:52:45Z")
[IMDB reports that Taymor is OUT.](http://www.imdb.com/news/ni8416075/) ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fourth-accident-at-the-broadway-show-spiderman-turn-off-the-dark/564963/184 "2011-03-10T04:05:47Z")
[NYT Confirms.](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/10/theater/julie-taymor-spider-man.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss) ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fourth-accident-at-the-broadway-show-spiderman-turn-off-the-dark/564963/185 "2011-03-10T04:28:12Z")
I do think she’ll probably be back on Broadway at some point (if she wants to be). She’s responsible for one enormous hit show and the angle of Taylor directing another show would generate a ton of publicity. But nobody’s going to give her the kind of blank check she got on this show. From the little I know, part of the problem here was that the producers and other creators didn’t have any Broadway experience, so if she was going too far in one direction, nobody was going to pull her back. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fourth-accident-at-the-broadway-show-spiderman-turn-off-the-dark/564963/186 "2011-03-14T16:36:01Z")
Good write up on the show in the NY Times: [Spider-Man. A Superlative For All The Wrong Reasons](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/14/theater/spider-man-a-superlative-for-all-the-wrong-reasons.html?_r=1&hp) And it’s up to $70,000,000! ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fourth-accident-at-the-broadway-show-spiderman-turn-off-the-dark/564963/187 "2011-03-14T17:16:49Z")
Holy freakin frijoles. This looks craptacular. > [@](#): > > the book writer, Ms. Taymor pushed the musical toward Greek myth, creating a spider villainess named Arachne while largely discarding emotional touchstones like Peter’s Uncle Ben. “Tying this story back to mythology,” Ms. Taymor said several weeks ago, “was the main thing the movies haven’t done, which is something I really wanted to do. How can you tell Spider-Man’s story and discard Uncle Ben? It’s like doing Hamlet and losing the whole “My dad was killed by my uncle” thing. This isn’t a nit-picky “Spider-man likes wheat-cakes not waffles” quibble, the Uncle Ben thing is is the single, key defining moment of the character. Do Moby Dick but lose the bit about how the whale crippled Ahab. This, if true, is stupid beyond words. And also hearkens back to an (apocryphal?) story about the also massive flop “Carrie”. The director of Carrie had never done a musical before: she was into experimental art theater. She went up to Cameron MacIntosh or Hal Prince at a party and said “I’m doing Carrie: how would you envision the sets.” The producer replies “Grease. I see it being staged like Grease” She, having no musical experience hears “Greece” hence the columns, togas, Greek Chorus, etc. In Carrie. Which kinda undermined the whole heart of King’s story–horror/tragedy in an otherwise perfectly normal environment. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fourth-accident-at-the-broadway-show-spiderman-turn-off-the-dark/564963/188 "2011-03-14T17:36:59Z")
[In honor of the worst disaster to hit Broadway in years](http://community.livejournal.com/filk/565797.html) ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fourth-accident-at-the-broadway-show-spiderman-turn-off-the-dark/564963/189 "2011-03-14T18:00:15Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > Holy freakin frijoles. > > This looks craptacular. > > How can you tell Spider-Man’s story and discard Uncle Ben? It’s like doing Hamlet and losing the whole “My dad was killed by my uncle” thing. This isn’t a nit-picky “Spider-man likes wheat-cakes not waffles” quibble, the Uncle Ben thing is is the single, key defining moment of the character. Do Moby Dick but lose the bit about how the whale crippled Ahab. > > This, if true, is stupid beyond words. And also hearkens back to an (apocryphal?) story about the also massive flop “Carrie”. The director of Carrie had never done a musical before: she was into experimental art theater. She went up to Cameron MacIntosh or Hal Prince at a party and said “I’m doing Carrie: how would you envision the sets.” > > The producer replies “Grease. I see it being staged like Grease” > > She, having no musical experience hears “Greece” hence the columns, togas, Greek Chorus, etc. In Carrie. Which kinda undermined the whole heart of King’s story–horror/tragedy in an otherwise perfectly normal environment. Or trying to tie the origin story in with Greek mythology, which to me is akin to saying that Superman derives his powers from midichlorians. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fourth-accident-at-the-broadway-show-spiderman-turn-off-the-dark/564963/190 "2011-03-14T18:06:58Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > How can you tell Spider-Man’s story and discard Uncle Ben? It’s like doing Hamlet and losing the whole “My dad was killed by my uncle” thing. This isn’t a nit-picky “Spider-man likes wheat-cakes not waffles” quibble, the Uncle Ben thing is is the single, key defining moment of the character. Do Moby Dick but lose the bit about how the whale crippled Ahab. One wonders what she proposed for **The Lion King** before the Disney people said “you can use masks, but you **will** do the story as is.” This would have worked out better if Stan Lee had gone to the initial readthrough with a loaded shotgun, if you ask me. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fourth-accident-at-the-broadway-show-spiderman-turn-off-the-dark/564963/191 "2011-03-14T18:28:56Z")
Actually JMS (Babylon 5) did an interesting take where Anasazi (which I’m spelling wrong) – the African Spider-Trickster God had a hand in Peter being there at exactly the right moment. And it was left to the readers to decide if that was “really” his origin since the guy who told that to Spidey wasn’t a reliable narrator. So it’s possible to do well. This? Not so much. Also, Spidey shouldn’t have a [Nike-Swoosh](http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2011/02/08/theater/20110208-spiderman.html) on his thighs…and…good lord. [The Green Goblin costume](http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2011/02/08/theater/20110208-spiderman-3.html) looks idiotic…actually, it makes him look like [Count Chocula](http://horrorthon.blogspot.com/2007/03/anderson-still-on-castlevania-count.html) ---
**Author:** ![AnalogSignal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/analogsignal/32/1085_2.png) [@AnalogSignal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnalogSignal)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fourth-accident-at-the-broadway-show-spiderman-turn-off-the-dark/564963/192 "2011-03-23T00:37:41Z")
\*\*Another ‘Spider-Man’ Actress Injured \*\* Is it more dangerous to be a Spiderman actor or to work at a Fukushima nuclear power plant? > [@](#): > > ['Another 'Spider-Man' Actress Injured - The New York Times](http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/22/another-spider-man-actress-injured/) > > The actress who plays the villainess Arachne in Broadway’s “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” will be out of the show for the next two weeks after sustaining an injury during an onstage battle scene, the production’s spokesman said on Tuesday…The person said that Ms. Carpio appeared to have a neck injury, but had no details. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2011, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fourth-accident-at-the-broadway-show-spiderman-turn-off-the-dark/564963/193 "2011-04-18T16:10:40Z")
Last performance until May 12. I feel bad for the actress playing Arachne. Her lead role will be scaled way back. Sure hope the changes make the show better and not worse. 😉 > **["Spider Man" Takes A Broadway Break, Will Return with New "Angle" - Showbiz411](http://www.showbiz411.com/2011/04/17/spider-man-pauses-broadway-run-only-one-tech-glitch)** > > “Spider Man: Turn off the Dark” played its last preview Sunday afternoon after more than a 100 performances. Without ever officially opening, the $65 million musical closed for three weeks to retool– without its creator and visionary, Julie Taymor.... > [@](#): > > “Back May 12th.” That’s the day “Spider Man” will return with a new book, or a modified one, at best. Not a lot of the existing Taymor and Glenn Berger story can be changed. Taymor’s puppets will remain, so will the acrobatics and flying, most of the songs. The Green Goblin, played so well by Patrick Page, will be pumped up. Arachne, played also well by T. V. Carpio–who was in great form Sunday afternoon–will be rearranged and minimized. But sources tell me Arachne will not disappear altogether. Her weaving scene from Act I, for example, will remain, although moved. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fourth-accident-at-the-broadway-show-spiderman-turn-off-the-dark/564963/194 "2011-06-14T14:58:20Z")
Tonight. Here’s the story: [http://www.playbill.com/news/article/151764-Believe-It-or-Not-Spider-Man-Turn-Off-the-Dark-Opens-on-Broadway-June-14](http://www.playbill.com/news/article/151764-Believe-It-or-Not-Spider-Man-Turn-Off-the-Dark-Opens-on-Broadway-June-14) > [@](#): > > Following the longest preview period in Broadway history — performances began Nov. 28, 2010 — a revised version of the much-in-the-news musical Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark officially opens at Broadway’s Foxwoods Theatre June 14 at 6:30 PM. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fourth-accident-at-the-broadway-show-spiderman-turn-off-the-dark/564963/195 "2011-06-14T15:33:56Z")
At this point, how many sold-out performances will it take to break even? ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fourth-accident-at-the-broadway-show-spiderman-turn-off-the-dark/564963/196 "2011-06-14T15:46:04Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > At this point, how many sold-out performances will it take to break even? Four years worth according to one New York Times writer: [http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/14/spider-man-economics-recouping-that-initial-investment/](http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/14/spider-man-economics-recouping-that-initial-investment/) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fourth-accident-at-the-broadway-show-spiderman-turn-off-the-dark/564963/197 "2011-06-14T16:04:55Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > Four years worth according to one New York Times writer: > > ['Spider-Man' Economics: Recouping the Broadway Show's Investment - The New York Times](http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/14/spider-man-economics-recouping-that-initial-investment/) And what is the current record for sold-out performances of a show at a single theatre? ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fourth-accident-at-the-broadway-show-spiderman-turn-off-the-dark/564963/198 "2011-06-14T20:16:01Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > And what is the current record for sold-out performances of a show at a single theatre? Not sure if there’s an exact record of that, since for various reasons there’ll often be a performance here and there that is not sold out, but \*\*Wicked \*\*still has the “This performance is sold out” sign up in their lobby every night and that’s been playing since October 2003. \*\*Phantom of the Opera \*\*was playing for over 14 years before any tickets were sold at discounted prices. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fourth-accident-at-the-broadway-show-spiderman-turn-off-the-dark/564963/199 "2011-06-14T20:17:22Z")
[The Phantom of the Opera](http://online-theater-tickets-review.toptenreviews.com/top-10-best-broadway-shows-ever.html) still sells out after 23 1/2 years!!! ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fourth-accident-at-the-broadway-show-spiderman-turn-off-the-dark/564963/200 "2011-06-14T20:33:42Z")
If they manage to last as long as Spamalot or the Producers and get their money back, they should be thrilled to have escaped with their wallets intact. Even with the changes, I’m thinking it’ll be a Young Frankenstein type of exit, it’s too expensive to keep running if the house isn’t full with full price tickets practically every night. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fourth-accident-at-the-broadway-show-spiderman-turn-off-the-dark/564963.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fourth-accident-at-the-broadway-show-spiderman-turn-off-the-dark/564963.md?page=11)