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Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Spider-Man's Broadway Debut

Yahoo News reported today that Julie Taymor's long-delayed new musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark will finally be coming to Broadway this year, with previews starting November 14 and an opening date set for December 21. Over the last year, the show has experienced a near-complete change of cast, and now stands as the most expensive production in history, with a budget of over $50 million so far. In other words, it needs to be an enormous hit.
I personally still can't get behind this one. On paper, it sounds like a total disaster. For one thing, the title is lame. Then there's the score by Bono and the Edge, which isn't necessarily bad but will it work with this kind of story? Then of course there are the numerous delays and casting changes, which of course casts doubts on the production. Finally, its a Spider-Man musical: can this work? I guess we'll find out in November.
If the show is a huge hit and turns out really well, Taymor could potentially have a really big year. In September, her newest film, the also-oft-delayed The Tempest, will premiere at the Venice Film Festival, and is receiving Oscar buzz already. Should both of her projects be critically and financially successful, this could be the year she really breaks through as one of the most imaginative directors working in stage and screen today. Of course, if they both bomb, she may never work again. So here's hoping for success.

2 comments:

Dorothy Gale said...

wow I had no idea this was even going on. It sounds interesting, I think in order to turn Spiderman into a Broadway Musical it has to be huge, he has to be like flying from the walls and things need to blow up and be on fire, they gotta bring their A game to put this on the stage. Can you imagine if this turns out to be huge? Then there will be every superhero on the stage, and maybe the stage will be bigger than the screen. Doubtful but its interesting to think about.

Jason H. said...

I don't think very many other superheroes would work on Broadway though. I mean, Spider-Man is a very acrobatic, agile character, and it kind of makes sense for him to do a little song-and-dance routine (or at least its a little easier to suspend disbelief for him). But someone like Batman? No way.

I'm not completely opposed to the project, but it needs to impress me to convince me. I'm hoping for some real imaginative work.