Last night we learned the shocking yet not altogether surprising news that an actor fell 30 feet and was injured during Monday night’s Broadway performance of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. As you may know, last night’s injury was the 4th of the show’s run … and the show hasn’t even officially opened yet. Today, photos and video footage of the failed stunt have come to light, making it seem more likely that the embattled musical production is just doomed to fail.

Last Friday it was announced that the embattled Broadway musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark was pushing back (again) its official opening date to February 7, 2011 so that they could hammer out their on-going technical difficulties and today we learn more troubling news about the show. During tonight’s performance of the show, an actor fell 20 feet to the ground after the cable he was attached to either broke or became detached. The show had to be ended early so that emergency medical technicians could be brought in to treat the injured actor.

The problems plaguing the ambitious $65 million dollar Broadway show Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark continue to hurt the musical because today we learn that the show’s official opening date has been pushed back from January 2011 to February 2011.

Last week we got our first look at actual production photos from the new $65 million dollar Broadway musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. As you may recall, we also learned that the show has been plagued with technical problems and safety issues … and that the show had not yet produced a single successful run-thru without incident. Last night, Spider-Man made its long-awaited and delayed debut on Broadway in front of a sold-out house of eager fans … but, as you might imagine, the show did not go off without a hitch:

All $65 million of the new Broadway musical “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” took flight on Sunday night at its first preview performance, but not without bumps. The show stopped five times, mostly to fix technical problems, and Act I ended prematurely, with Spider-Man stuck dangling 10 feet above audience members, while Act II was marred by a nasty catcall during one of the midperformance pauses. Rarely is the very first public run-through of a new musical perfect, and indeed, the creators of this “Spider-Man” — the most expensive and technically ambitious production ever on Broadway — used news media interviews recently to lower expectations that work on the musical was anywhere near done. But after a two-week delay in performances already this month, which sucked up about $4 million, the producers decided that on Sunday night the show would go on. Costing more than twice as much as the previous record-holder for a big-budget show, “Shrek the Musical,” “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” took a bit of time revealing some of the reasons for its high expense. After beginning at 6:54 p.m. — 24 minutes late, mostly because of 1,900 people taking their seats — the show unfolded for 30 minutes with few of the special effects that have been the talk of Broadway this fall. At 7:23 p.m., an aerial scene began in Peter Parker’s bedroom to the delight of some audience members — yet it was halted two minutes later with the first of four pauses in Act I, apparently to free the lead actor, Reeve Carney (who plays Peter Parker and is one of those playing Spider-Man), from an aerial harness. Most of the night’s major flying sequences — which make up a relative fraction of the show — went off without a hitch, with children and some adults squealing in delight. And there were no signs of injuries, which had been a point of concern after two performers were hurt during an aerial sequence this fall. The fourth and final pause at the end of Act I was the worst glitch of the night by far. Spider-Man had just flown and landed onstage with the musical’s heroine, Mary Jane Watson (played by Jennifer Damiano), in his arms. He was then supposed to zoom off toward the balcony seating area, a few hundred feet away. Instead, a harness and cables lifted Spider-Man several yards up and over the audience, then stopped. A production stage manager, C. Randall White, called for a halt to the show over the sound system, apparently in hopes of fixing and re-doing the stunt. Crew members, standing on the stage, spent 45 seconds trying to grab Spider-Man by the foot, as the audience laughed and oohed. When they finally caught him, Mr. White announced intermission, and the house lights came on.

The New York Times review continues after the jump …

Previews for Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark are scheduled to begin this Friday but, if you can believe it, the big budget Broadway musical was *still* dealing with safety issues just last weekend! The official opening night of the show has already been pushed back to January but, ready or not, the show will go on this week … or so they say. The New York Times brings us our first real look at the show with the release of new photos from the production. We may have gotten our real first look at the show back in August but today we get to see some of the players, Spider-Man included, on the actual stage:

Nine years in the making, the moment came on Saturday to try running through the first act of the new musical “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” without stopping … In the last week, the nervous creators of the show, the most expensive in Broadway history, have begun to see the hand-drawn sketches, the digitally animated videos, the comic-book-inspired costumes come to life — to see “Spider-Man” finally, literally, take flight. “Creating art that has never been done before is the reason I get out of bed in the morning,” said Bono, leaning forward in Row A on the aisle, as Reeve Carney, playing Spidey, rehearsed onstage. “This feels like it.” Yet time is running out. At the creators’ last dinner on Friday night before Bono and the Edge left for a U2 tour in Australia, Bono said bluntly that the show “won’t get out of the gate” and have a chance to catch on with audiences if technical problems persist, as they have in rehearsals … Every week’s delay eats up to $2 million in lost revenue and, especially, higher expenses for technical rehearsals that require additional crew members. But Ms. Taymor said she hoped that those who bought tickets to preview performances, many of which have been offered at reduced prices, will “get to enjoy the art of making theater, as well as the magic of it.” Ms. Taymor has shielded that magic, as well as most other details of the show, from public view for years now … “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,” she said. And where the fits and the starts have occurred. At the Act I run-through, as Ms. Mendoza’s Arachne began descending, her spider-legged costume came undone because of a malfunction. Ms. Mendoza was hoisted back aloft; about 20 minutes later, the scene unfolded without incident.

The rest of this excellent NYT article can be read HERE. For the most part, the show sounds amazing … but if they cannot get the technical aspects down pat AND ensure the safety of the players and the audience, then the show is DOOMED. I suspect once the show opens to previews, there will undoubtedly be some technical problems (after all, all Broadway shows have technical problems). But Spider-Man‘s problems will sound even more severe because of all the hype … which could, eventually, sink the show. I want to see it. I’m hoping they manage to keep the show going long enough for me to be able to see it for myself. After the jump, check out a newly released preview video that shows behind the scenes footage from Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark …

Despite the fact that the Broadway show has been delayed a few weeks due to safety concerns, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark is STILL coming to Broadway and it is featured in the new issue of Vogue magazine. As you may know, Turn Off the Dark is directed by the amazingly talented Julie Taymor and features original music created by U2‘s Bono. Here is our first look at the lavish photoshoot, shot by Annie Leibovitz, that the cast of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark did for Vogue magazine:

The world’s most famous webslinger is facing his scariest adversaries yet—New York theater critics and audiences—as Julie Taymor’s long-delayed rock musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, with songs by U2’s Bono and the Edge, finally drops in on Broadway in January. On a fall afternoon shortly before the start of previews, the many thousand moving parts of the $60 million production—already infamous as the most expensive of all time—are still syncing up inside the newly renamed Foxwoods Theatre (no gambling jokes, please) on Forty-second Street. In one rehearsal room, the Edge is listening to vocal arrangements. In another, the choreographer Daniel Ezralow, a Momix founder and frequent Taymor collaborator, is working with a group of arachno–chorus girls, who, requiring eight stiletto heels each, could be described as unusually leggy. Onstage, Spider-Man (Reeve Carney) and the Green Goblin (Patrick Page) duke it out on the roof of set designer George Tsypin’s pop-up Roy Lichtenstein–meets–Cabinet of Dr. Caligari Chrysler Building as Mary Jane Watson (Jennifer Damiano), trussed in a harness courtesy of the aerial-rigging designer Jaque Paquin, dangles fetchingly from a stone gargoyle. In the middle of it all, wearing a headset microphone, sits Taymor, back on Broadway following her 1997 triumph with The Lion King. Slim and snub-nosed, the 58-year-old director still exudes the passion and precocity of the bohemian enfant terrible who burst on the scene in the early eighties with visually stunning pieces rooted in the rituals of Asian theater—masks, puppets, dance—and the power of mythology. And though she hasn’t exactly been letting the savanna grass grow under her feet since The Lion King (her acclaimed Metropolitan Opera production of The Magic Flute and her new film adaptation of The Tempest open this month), it is that show, a marriage of avant-garde stage wizardry and Disney schmaltz, that remains her signal achievement. Instead of trying to reproduce the movie, Taymor took the bold step of transforming it into a purely theatrical experience, creating magic by exposing all her tricks—those giraffes were clearly actors on stilts—and inviting audiences to take an imaginative leap.

There are so many things about this Broadway production that make me worry that it is going to be a terrible bomb … but the one, over-riding thing that gives me hope that it will instead be a huge smash is that Julie Taymor is at the helm. Her mastery at bringing animated film The Lion King to life still astounds me … but, it should be noted, she was aided greatly by the fact that her show was based on a well-written movie with well-written music. This new Spider-Man show is an entirely new creation … but, again, my faith in Taymor overrides my fears of the show’s failure. It is a bit disconcerting that the show’s opening had to be postponed due to safety concerns but if they are able to pull off the acrobatic tricks they’ve got planned for the show, then Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark can be a massive smash it. But … I’m digressing. After the jump, check out a couple photos from the Spider-Man feature in the new issue of Vogue magazine to see what lavishness may be featured in the show itself …

First we heard the strange but true news that Spider-Man was being adapted for the Broadway musical stage then we heard that the show was put on hold due to technical complications and lack of funding … then we heard that the show was being canceled before we heard that show composer Bono of U2 decided to fund the production so that it could move forward … THEN we heard that the show, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark would FINALLY be opening in November (instead of February of this year). But today we learn that the show has been pushed back again … to December … but the good news (?) is that it is still set to open. The LA Times did a piece on the show and brings us our first look at one of the sets for this troubled yet still alive Spider-Man musical:

Is this for real? After delays and numerous rumors of shutdowns and financial problems, Broadway’s new “Spider-Man” musical has announced a new official opening date in December. The production, directed by Julie Taymor and featuring music by Bono and the Edge, will begin preview performances at the newly renamed Foxwoods Theatre (formerly the Hilton Theatre) on Nov. 14 and will open on Dec. 21. “Spider-Man” was originally supposed to open in February, but the escalating cost of the musical — which is said to be the most expensive ever on Broadway — caused the production to be pushed back. Tickets for “Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark” are set to go on sale to the general public in September, but no specific date was given. Organizers also announced new cast members for the blockbuster production. Tony nominee Jennifer Damiano will play the role of Mary Jane Watson, taking over from Evan Rachel Wood, and Patrick Page will play the Green Goblin, a role that was previously going to be played by Alan Cumming. Damiano received a Tony nomination last year for her supporting role in the musical “Next to Normal.” Reeve Carney is still on board to play the lead role of Peter Parker. The cast is scheduled to begin full rehearsals on Aug. 16.

The set above is of the stage-version of the Oscorp Laboratory … which looks kinda cool, I guess. Thru all of this back and forth over whether or not the show was going to open or not, I’ve still not been able to wrap my head around a musical based on the Spider-Man mythos. As much as I would love for it to be a huge hit (and it very well could be, with Julie Tamor at the helm), I fear it will fail as a silly production that cost way too much to produce. There are some amazing Broadway shows that were forced to close early due to financial difficulties that cost far less to produce than Spider-Man. I honestly have a hard time believing early ticket sales will be able to justify the show’s survival … BUT, all that being said, I absolutely want to see this show and will eat my words HAPPILY if Turn Off the Dark turns out to be a hit. But, just to be safe, I hope to be able to see the show while it is still in previews. I deffo want to see Spider-Man come to life on the musical stage. And I really want it to be good. HMMMM.

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On Tuesday we learned the grim news that production on the ill-conceived Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark Broadway musical was put on indefinite hold due to the expensive production costs that were getting out of hand. At the time, while the report suggested the show was in trubs there was no hint that it was near fatal. Today we learn from the New York Post that pretty much all hope for the production to make it to the stage is lost. The production remains “on hold” but the actors who have signed on for the show have been let out of their contracts … sounds like it’s pretty much dunzo to me:

I think it’s pretty safe to whip out the plastic flatware and give a hearty Peace the Spork Out to the Spider-Man Musical. It was a terrible idea from the start, yes, but the timing couldn’t have been worse. If they had come up with the idea about 5 years ago, when pretty much every single movie was being recycled into a Broadway show, it prolly could’ve been a marginal success. While I am still very intrigued by the notion of Julie Tamor (the woman who helmed the amazing Broadway musical based on Disney‘s The Lion King) bringing Spider-Man to the musical theater stage, nothing else about the production sounded viable. If you are one of the unfortunate folks who already shelled out for tickets to this fiasco, I’d see about getting your money back … tout suite! I guess the next time we get to see the web-slinger in action will be on the big screen.

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It turns out that even your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is not immune to the tough economic times that has gripped our country these days as new word today reveals that the Broadway musical due for release next year which is based on the web-slinging comic book hero, titled Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, has been put on hold due to soaring production costs. HMMM, I wonder if Spidey‘s spider sense gave him a head’s up beforehand:

Spidey’s Broadway debut may be hanging by a thread. “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” is entangled in a web of cash-flow problems that have forced a temporary halt to the reported $45 million production. Hello Entertainment, one of the show’s producers, released a statement confirming that “due to an unexpected cash-flow problem,” the show “has been forced to suspend its activities.” The show features music by Bono and is directed by Julie Taymor of “Lion King” fame. Producers insist the show, starring Evan Rachel Wood as Mary Jane Watson and Alan Cumming as the Green Goblin, remains set to launch into previews in February.

Yeah, this ain’t a good sign. I’m not sure what could fix the production’s “cash-flow problem” these days so I wouldn’t go holdin’ your breath that the musical will debut as promised. Broadway shows are closing left and right as less and less people are willing and/or able to fork out the money for these expensive shows. Last I heard, 9 to 5: The Musical is the latest show to close on Broadway, less than 6 months after it officially opened. To be honest, despite the fact that the amazing Julie Tamor is directing Turn Off the Dark, I never had high hopes that this Spider-Man musical would be a smashing success … it still sounds like a bad idea to me. Reports of their financial difficulties ain’t very encouraging. I guess we shall see … but if I were a betting man, I wouldn’t put my money on the success of this musical production.

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Welp, it looks like that Spider-Man Broadway musical that folks have been talking about for the past year or so is finally gonna make its way to the Great White Way. Broadway World is reporting that the show, titled Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark, will begin previews in January 2010 and will officially open in February 2010. A new official site for the show has also just launched. Here is our first look at the promo poster for the new show along with some info available right now on the show’s opening next year:

It is now official, SPIDER-MAN, Turn Off the Dark, will open on Thursday, February 18, 2010 at Broadway’s Hilton Theatre, 213 West 42nd Street (preview performances will begin Saturday, January 16, 2010). Directed by Tony Award-winner Julie Taymor with 22-time Grammy Award-winning Bono and The Edge creating new music and lyrics, SPIDER-MAN will be written by Julie Taymor and Glen Berger. SPIDER-MAN is produced by HELLO Entertainment/David Garfinkle, Martin McCallum, Marvel Entertainment/David Maisel, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Jeremiah Harris. SPIDER-MAN is produced in association with Omneity Entertainment/Richard Weinberg, the Mayerson/Gould/Hauser/Tysoe Group, Patricia Lambrecht and Jam Theatricals/S2BN Entertainment. Julie Taymor is best known as director of one of the most successful musicals in Broadway history, Disney’s The Lion King and the film Across The Universe. Bono and The Edge are half of one of the most popular rock bands of all time, U2, who will be making their Broadway debut with SPIDER-MAN. Drawing from over forty years of Marvel comic books for inspiration, SPIDER-MAN spins a new take on the mythic tale of a young man propelled from a modest rowhouse in Queens to the sky-scraping spire of the Chrysler Building, the bustling offices of the Daily Bugle, through the dizzying canyons of Manhattan, to new vistas never before seen. The musical follows the story of teenager Peter Parker, whose unremarkable life is turned upside-down-literally-when he’s bitten by a genetically altered spider and wakes up the next morning clinging to his bedroom ceiling. This bullied science-geek-suddenly endowed with astonishing powers-soon learns, however, that with great power comes great responsibility as villains test not only his physical strength but also his strength of character. Spider-Man’s battles will hurtle the audience through an origin story both recognizable and unexpected–yielding new characters as well as familiar faces–until a final surprising confrontation casts a startling new light on this hero’s journey. The principal creative and design team for SPIDER-MAN includes Daniel Ezralow, Choreographer (Across the Universe, The Green Bird); George Tsypin, Sets (The Magic Flute, The Little Mermaid); Eiko Ishioka, Costumes (Academy Award® for Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Tony Award® nomination for M. Butterfly, the opening ceremonies for the Beijing Olympics); Donald Holder, Lighting (Tony® Awards for The Lion King, South Pacific); Jonathan Deans, Sound (Fosse, The Beatles LOVE by Cirque du Soleil, Young Frankenstein, Ragtime); and Teese Gohl, Musical Supervisor (Across the Universe, Frida). Additional members of the SPIDER-MAN creative team will be announced at a later date. Casting for SPIDER-MAN will be announced soon. Group tickets now on sale. Single tickets will go on sale June, 2009. For more information about group tickets, visit the Spider-Man website at www.SpidermanOnBroadway.com or by calling 1-800-Broadway.

See … I dunno what to think about this new show. On the one hand, I love Spider-Man and a part of me (the 12-year old part) thinks it might be cool to see a comic book superhero come to life on the musical theater stage. On the other hand, another part of me (the grown adult who has seen his fair share of horrible Broadway musicals) fears that a Broadway show based on Spider-Man might be a terribly, horrible idea. A cartoony thing like Shrek (which I haven’t seen and have no desire to see) at least has a whimsy about it that sorta makes sense as a Broadway show. I cannot for the life of me imagine a singing Spider-Man trying to muffle thru his lyrics with that mask over his mouth. What does Spider-Man have to sing about? Schmaltzy love songs about Mary Jane Watson, I suppose. I’m also worried that with Bono and The Edge behind the music there will be a lot of blaring guitars and such. I’ve been able to preview the new U2 album just leaked to the Internets … I’m not impressed. I fear they won’t impress me with Spider-Man songs either. I AM VERY relieved to know that the amazing Julie Taymor is directing. She did the impossible by bringing inventive genius life to the animated Lion King so that it could thrive on the Broadway stage. If anyone can make this work, it’s Julie Taymor. I’m curious … but concerned. What do ya’ll think … good idea or bad? Would you pay good money to see Spider-Man on Broadway?

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