A few weeks ago, Backstage magazine did a huge article about safety issues. While it was a story in general about overall safety, a lot of the story focused on the highly anticipated production of “Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark.” I knew that there were issues with the show, and didn’t really expect them to have previews until, like, now. According to the safety board for AEA, there was a lot of stunts that weren’t even passing inspection at the time the article was written. So when my friend, Ben, had said tickets were selling for the previews, I just couldn’t believe it. I mean yay, for the gutsiness of showing so many people a show that has yet to get the stunts all worked out, but what if it wasn’t an injury inflicting accident that happened, but just bad workmanship or planning that made the whole thing a joke? Could the show have a $150 plus ticket price tag and still be awful? Apperantly, the answer is yes! A more important question that I don’t have an answer for is: How is this going to hurt or help Broadway if it fails? What are your thoughts on that?
This week’s Entertainment Weekly on a single page condensed 5 or 6 of the reviews that were published for “Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark.” I have to say that reading it was pretty, uh, harsh.
However, the show is still pulling in over a million dollars on average per week for the last few weeks. The price of the tickets which run as high as $150 or as low as $75. Let’s just say that most people will pay for the median ticket prices at $80. You only have to sell 12,500 tickets in a week at that price to make a million bucks. I think there are enough people that are interested in the spectacle to keep it in the $1,000,000 club for at least another 2 to 3 months.
I have a ton of respect for Julie Taymor, but maybe she focused too much on trying to be innovative. I think the costumes looked much better on paper than they do on the actor. The reviewers have all complained about the lack of a plot or story in the show. I really, really want to hear the music. It’s not getting better comments than the story.
I would eventually hope that everything gets figured out and turns the critics around. But I doubt that she’s planning on fixing the costumes. Still, I have my fingers crossed that I’ll have the chance to see the show. I hope that it isn’t one of those shows that closes right after the Tony Awards. Only time will tell.
The Actorvist 