Lol, it seems to happen during the Gwen Stacy/MJ bridge scene. Looks like it’s Spider Man that made “Snap!” this time.
What a clusterfuck.
I met Reeve Carney a couple of years ago before it was announced that he was going to play Spiderman. He’s a really nice, unpretentious guy. I saw his band a couple of times as an opening act for two different favorite bands of mine and spoke to him at a club after one of the shows. I expected to just shake his hand and tell him that I enjoyed the show and we ended up having like a five minute conversation. I’m not a fan at all of musical theater so I’ll never see this show but I wish him all of the best.
The show hasn’t officially opened. They are doing previews to work out the (heh) bugs. Opening night is supposed to be February 7.
I can imagine my theater arts teachers rolling their eyes. They taught minimalist sets, theater in the round. Theater is supposed to be abstract and require imagination. As part of the stage crew I flew people on wires. Nothing like the ridiculous stuff they are doing in Spider Man.
I’m not a fan of these over done productions. It’s too much like a movie set. There’s something wrong when a theater production needs a stuntman.
The problem is it’s not really theater at all. They are trying to put on a circus in a theater venue.
They should get Cirque du Soleil to do a Spidey-themed show. It’s probably safer to have people whose lives are all about high-flying stunts doing them than playing yo-yo with your typical Equity performer.
I read that the theatre itself was retro-fitted, and is somewhat too small, to do some of the bigger stunts. It’s been a mishandled mess from day one.
♫ Springtime for Hitler and Germany ♫
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The last time I went to a movie (last month), they had changed the cell phone courtesy notice from “turn off your phone” to “silence your ringer, or set to vibrate”.
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There’s absolutely no chance this show could ever tour, is there? I hadn’t realized just how much extra “stuff” has been packed into newer theater productions…the last time I saw a play at Ogunquit Playhouse (historic theater in Ogunquit, ME) many comments were made prior to the show about the amount of work that had gone into modifying the stage to accomodate the set pieces.
While this isn’t my cup of tea either, there are very few absolutes about what theatre “is supposed” to be. Giant budget shows with stunts are something that people want to pay hundreds of dollars to watch, so why shouldn’t they? I personally don’t like to see the producers scream “Look at my budget! LOOK AT IT!” any more than you do, but to state that theatre is “supposed to be abstract and require imagination” is much too broad a statment. Some theatre is supposed to be that way. Other theatre is not. One way is not more correct or necessarily better art than the other.
It’d be a bitch and a half to do it. You’d have to cherry-pick your venues in only the larger cities (which is expensive), you’d need to spend a lot more time setting up and tearing down, and because of these things you’d need to spend more time in each city to make your money back. No short stops in medium-sized places like St. Paul or Portland, but only Chicago, L.A., Atlanta, and other very large cities. Not to mention that if they’re having trouble with the rigging here, in the one venue that it was specifically designed for, they might have more trouble on the road. Were I an actor, I might be leery about signing on for the stunt roles.
So yes, definitely, this will tour if and only if it has a couple years at minimum of successful Broadway performances. Producers want their money back, and they want it a lot.
appleciders, touring theatre technician.
A friend of mine is a big Broadway fan (he’s seen 200+ productions) and his review of this show was: An absolute disgrace - F.
When I asked what was so bad, he said the story was terrible, the stunts/effects were overblown, and the music was awful (and he’s a U2 fan).
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Giant budget shows with stunts are something that people want to pay hundreds of dollars to watch, so why shouldn’t they? I personally don’t like to see the producers scream “Look at my budget! LOOK AT IT!” any more than you do, but to state that theatre is “supposed to be abstract and require imagination” is much too broad a statment. Some theatre is supposed to be that way. Other theatre is not. One way is not more correct or necessarily better art than the other.
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I’ve heard a Broadway critic say (in the documentary Show Business, about the 2003 Broadway season) that “People pay $100 a ticket, they want to see that money on the stage.” That pretty much sums up my feelings. When I go to the theater, I want to be entertained. While there is a place for minimalistic, reduced theater productions, I think that Broadway is not that place.
People want to be blown away. Pushing the envelope is what Broadway is about, and while the hype for “most expensive production” might be a bit superficial, it’s the logical conclusion of that. Hollywood works the same way - I’m sure few people enjoyed Avatar for the surprising plot twists.
Now that would work as a Broadway show! The music is a lot better than the vast majority of the Broadway musicals I’ve heard in recent years, the staging wouldn’t be very difficult at all, and the whole idea is that the props look cheesy. And it would attract a whole new generation of people to the theater.
Apparently the folks there don’t understand safety then. Its pretty rare to NOT have backup safety procedures when safety is an actual concern.
Someone mentioned this upthread, but I’ve been wondering about it, too – Cirque du Soleil has been putting on amazing acrobatic shows for years, across the world. Why couldn’t they hire some Cirque-caliber acrobats, re-choreograph the thing, and still put it on?
As a huge comics geek, I’d be interested in seeing the musical (even though I don’t like U2) if it weren’t for the chance that I’d see someone maimed or killed.
I imagine there’s a pretty small number of Cirque actors who can also sing at the level people are used to seeing in Broadway shows. No doubt they can use some “singing doubles” but I think it would be noticable if the whole show was done like that.
I WARNED them not to to use real spider silk for his webs!
Right, and that’s just fine. It is what it is, and there isn’t anything wrong with it. It’s not what I’m interested in seeing, but my tastes are not universal and if it’s profitable, it’ll keep happening, and I’m all for profit happening in the industry.
I believe that the guy who designed the rigging is from Cirque, actually.
The big problem with stunts in theater is you have to do it night after night. Sometimes twice a day for matinees. No matter how brave or skilled you are that’s pushing your luck too far.
Movies, you carefully design a stunt, risk your neck, and film it once. Even then things do go wrong and a stunt person gets killed or injured.
Some people are very entertained by failed stunts resulting in serious injury.