# 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:** 8
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fourth-accident-at-the-broadway-show-spiderman-turn-off-the-dark/564963/141 "2011-02-09T21:00:49Z")
Spiderman: What a tangled web we weave When first we put on a horribly written boondoggle of a production and then start injuring cast members in hopes that the audience won’t leave ---
**Author:** ![Rrose\_Selavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bcef8e/32.png) [@Rrose\_Selavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rrose_Selavy)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fourth-accident-at-the-broadway-show-spiderman-turn-off-the-dark/564963/142 "2011-02-09T22:50:29Z")
How about : Spiderman: Turn off the Bad Reviews: Still not Frozen Thus Rendering Criticism Invalid. > [@](#): > > “This pile-on by the critics is a huge disappointment,” said Spider-Man’s spokesman Rick Miramontez, adding that “changes are still being made” to the $65 million (£40.4 million) production. > > “Any review that runs before the show is frozen is totally invalid,” he continued. > **[Spider-Man musical given critical mauling](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-12402503)** > > Broadway's troubled Spider-Man musical is slated by critics in its first major press reviews, published a month ahead of its official opening night. ---
**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:** [February 10, 2011, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fourth-accident-at-the-broadway-show-spiderman-turn-off-the-dark/564963/143 "2011-02-10T00:14:46Z")
In late breaking news, Julie Traymor appeared before a joint session of theater critics and theater owners, and pledged a program to open Spiderman before the end of this decade, and to return the actors safely to their dressing rooms. ---
**Author:** ![beartato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9d8465/32.png) [@beartato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beartato)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fourth-accident-at-the-broadway-show-spiderman-turn-off-the-dark/564963/144 "2011-02-13T09:55:36Z")
More good news! [Report: ‘Spider-Man’ Caught in NY Labor Dept Web](http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/02/12/arts/AP-US-Theater-Spider-Man.html?ref=arts) > [@](#): > > The New York State Department of Labor has issued two safety violations against the Broadway musical “Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark,” the stunt-heavy show that has been plagued by injuries to cast members, a newspaper reported Saturday. > > Citing an anonymous state official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to release the findings, The New York Times reported that the safety violations were related to accidents last year. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2011, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fourth-accident-at-the-broadway-show-spiderman-turn-off-the-dark/564963/145 "2011-02-13T15:32:30Z")
A travelling show is only going to be successful if the public knows and loves the songs (this applies to musicals, of course). I bought a New Yorker magazine eons ago with The Phantom of the Opera on the cover, article inside stating a NY theater being completely made over to accommodate the show (which hadn’t opened) at a cost of $12 million. Mr. Sali said, do they think it’s going to be worth it, is it going to be an enormous hit? I guess so. Because eons later when the travelling production came here, we went…all this leading up to, if Spiderman has catchy, beloved hit songs, and it came to our city some distant day in the future, we might go see it. But NOT just to watch actors swinging on wires and maybe falling into the audience. ---
**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:** [February 13, 2011, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fourth-accident-at-the-broadway-show-spiderman-turn-off-the-dark/564963/146 "2011-02-13T18:20:34Z")
[Technical glitch](http://bltwy.msnbc.msn.com/politics/spider-man-on-broadway-has-a-torrid-week-1681298.story) leaves Spidertan and Green Goblin hanging by a thread. ---
**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:** [February 13, 2011, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fourth-accident-at-the-broadway-show-spiderman-turn-off-the-dark/564963/147 "2011-02-13T18:35:26Z")
[SNL commercial](http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/spider-man-lawsuit/1291746/) for the law film of Gublin & Green, specializing in lawsuits against the show from injured actors. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fourth-accident-at-the-broadway-show-spiderman-turn-off-the-dark/564963/148 "2011-02-17T17:00:33Z")
Looks like it is being re-written, at least partially, at the last minute. Wow, this is seriously late game to be re-writing something. [LA Times Story](http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2011/02/playwright-comic-book-author-roberto-aguirre-sacasa-asked-to-doctor-spider-man-script.html) ---
**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:** [February 17, 2011, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fourth-accident-at-the-broadway-show-spiderman-turn-off-the-dark/564963/149 "2011-02-17T17:11:55Z")
Ditto [NY Times](http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/16/spider-man-producers-have-their-eye-on-script-doctor-with-superhero-credentials/?ref=theater) Not a good sign: Can’t they get it right the first, fifth or 100th time? Andrew Lloyd Webber is now working on two separate versions of his Phantom sequel, Love Never Dies. One is going to tryout in Austraila, one in Toronto. If either works, it will hit Broadway. But I ain’t holding my breath. ---
**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:** [February 20, 2011, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fourth-accident-at-the-broadway-show-spiderman-turn-off-the-dark/564963/150 "2011-02-20T19:16:14Z")
Taymor is out. [Phil McKinley](http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/problem_plagued_spider_man_bringing_3tlskNrQ8hQVSUjXM4Yp9I) is in. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2011, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fourth-accident-at-the-broadway-show-spiderman-turn-off-the-dark/564963/151 "2011-02-20T19:57:59Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Taymor is out. [Phil McKinley](http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/problem_plagued_spider_man_bringing_3tlskNrQ8hQVSUjXM4Yp9I) is in. Sounds like not so much ‘out’ as ‘down’. ---
**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:** [February 20, 2011, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fourth-accident-at-the-broadway-show-spiderman-turn-off-the-dark/564963/152 "2011-02-20T20:11:54Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Taymor is out. [Phil McKinley](http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/problem_plagued_spider_man_bringing_3tlskNrQ8hQVSUjXM4Yp9I) is in. They are bringing in a _ **circus** _ director which is very appropriate for this show. > [@](#): > > McKinley, by no means an A-List director on Broadway, has a background in the circus — as a director of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2011, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fourth-accident-at-the-broadway-show-spiderman-turn-off-the-dark/564963/153 "2011-02-20T22:50:57Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Taymor is out. [Phil McKinley](http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/problem_plagued_spider_man_bringing_3tlskNrQ8hQVSUjXM4Yp9I) is in. The producers are denying any truth to that story. [Spider-Man Spokesperson Says Producers Not Planning To Bring in a Co-Director](http://www.playbill.com/news/article/147867-Spider-Man-Spokesperson-Says-Producers-Not-Planning-To-Bring-in-a-Co-Director) ---
**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:** [February 22, 2011, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fourth-accident-at-the-broadway-show-spiderman-turn-off-the-dark/564963/154 "2011-02-22T14:51:55Z")
But they are bringing in a new [musical supervisor and conductor](http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/21/spider-man-producers-hire-help-more-delays-possible/) > [@](#): > > The producers of the Broadway musical “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” have brought on a veteran musical supervisor and conductor, Paul Bogaev, as a consultant to help improve the performance, vocal and orchestration arrangements, and sound quality of the songs and numbers, a production spokesman, Rick Miramontez, confirmed on Monday. ---
**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:** [February 22, 2011, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fourth-accident-at-the-broadway-show-spiderman-turn-off-the-dark/564963/155 "2011-02-22T15:03:59Z")
My wife is in the theatre industry, and knows a few people working on the show. We wish them well, and for the show to have a nice substantial run so that everyone working there can have the security of a good job. However, it’s difficult to read these reports without laughing at what a cock up it’s turned out to be. ---
**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:** [February 27, 2011, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fourth-accident-at-the-broadway-show-spiderman-turn-off-the-dark/564963/156 "2011-02-27T18:39:06Z")
Opening may be delayed [again](http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/26/spider-man-producers-mulling-another-delay-for-opening-night/) ---
**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:** [February 27, 2011, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fourth-accident-at-the-broadway-show-spiderman-turn-off-the-dark/564963/157 "2011-02-27T19:05:18Z")
Well, I am seeing this today (will I be the only person on this board to have seen it?) so I’ll let you know what I think. Unfortunately I have an extremely crappy seat, so I may not even be able to see much of the aerial work, which kind of defeats the purpose of me even seeing it but whatever. Maybe I can change seats at intermission if there’s an open one somewhere else. ---
**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:** [February 28, 2011, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fourth-accident-at-the-broadway-show-spiderman-turn-off-the-dark/564963/158 "2011-02-28T05:11:33Z")
What. The Fuck. That was… certainly something. The book really is as bad as people have said. The first act was pretty straight-forward, basically just the plot of the first **Spider-Man** movie, but the second act, my God! I don’t know \*what \*they were trying to do! It just meanders all over the place and makes no sense whatsover! The last 10 minutes are especially bad, as it seemed like they realized the show was already running long and just decided to thrown in a bizarre ending. (My seat, which had been in the very back row of the Orchestra, actually wasn’t that bad. The height of the Mezzanine was such that I was actually able to see most of the aerial stunts. I was able to change seats at intermission to center row H though, woohoo!) Surprisingly, for all the talk about the aerial effects, they were few and far between. Very well done, but I actually thought there’d be more flying. The set is amazing, the forced perspective and comic book-like setting work very well, but that’s about the only positive thing I can say. I can see how they have potential to have a good show in there, but they’d need to seriously rewrite the book to have any positive effect. The “geek chorus” is one of the dumbest things I’ve ever seen on stage. Glad I only paid $30! ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2011, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fourth-accident-at-the-broadway-show-spiderman-turn-off-the-dark/564963/159 "2011-02-28T05:36:04Z")
Wow, only $30 for rear orchestra? I thought the tickets were starting at something like $70 or $80. How did you also get to switch seats? Were you with someone else who had that seat and you guys traded? ---
**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:** [February 28, 2011, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fourth-accident-at-the-broadway-show-spiderman-turn-off-the-dark/564963/160 "2011-02-28T06:08:04Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > The book really is as bad as people have said. Why are you calling it a “book?” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fourth-accident-at-the-broadway-show-spiderman-turn-off-the-dark/564963.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fourth-accident-at-the-broadway-show-spiderman-turn-off-the-dark/564963.md?page=9)