Any new show needs to work the kinks out. Apparently Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark has more than just kinks to work out.Just some of the problems getting this show to Broadway?
- Production has been delayed several times, due to technical issues and to add/delete/write new scenes and work out story problems.
- The show was temporarily shelved in 2009 for being $25 million in debt
- The first preview performance had to be stopped five times due to glitches
- Injuries to actors on the show have included a concussion, a broken toe, two broken wrists (on the same actor!) and now today, broken ribs from a 30 ft fall because a tether cable was not properly attached
I have worked in theatre for many, many years, and I can't even begin to imagine the pressure that this show is under. It seems to me that maybe Julie Taymor, Bono and The Edge have created something that now, after so many years of labour, could very well become this generation's Ishtar.
Some believe that, because of big-budget/scale shows such as Phantom of the Opera, Miss Saigon, etc., that Broadway shows have to be huge spectacles to be successful. But I beg to differ. Previous Tony winners for Best Musical in the last ten years include The Producers, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Hairspray, Avenue Q, Jersey Boys and this year's Memphis - all shows that are much smaller in sheer ooh-aah factor, and yet they seem to have no problem living on (both professionally and in community theatre).
Maybe $65 million is too much for a play. Besides, how do you tour it?
It's time for quality to override spectacle. After all, the play IS the thing.
No comments:
Post a Comment