Spidey on Broadway review

[spiderwasp]

I know we talked a bit about Spider-man: Turn Off the Dark somewhere before but I didn't remember where so I just started a new thread.
Anyway, I went to see it last week. I'm glad I went as I did get some enjoyment from it HOWEVER it was not at all what a $65-$70 million production should be. The flying/swinging effects were cool. We sat in the balcony and Spidey would swing up and exit down the aisle or enter from the edge of the balcony sometimes. The first time he did it, I was sitting on the aisle and something brushed against my leg. I thought some kid had fallen down the stairs, but it was actually Spidey crouched in a pose. He then jumped up onto the edge of the balcony, they quickly fastened the harness and off he went. That part was totally cool.
The music was not good at all. I think the show could have been more successful if they hadn't made it a musical at all. That would have allowed them to delve a little more deeply into the characters and plot.
The single worst moment of the show came when Peter fought the wrestler before donning the suit. They actually (And I'm not making this up) used a huge inflatable doll as the wrestler. I was honestly a little embarrassed for everyone involved.
The villain costumes were not intimidating at all. Carnage's costume was not bad and oddly enough enough, the best costume in the bunch was the lame Swiss Miss villainess made up as part of the show's "Sinister Six." However, Kraven had a great big Disneyworld kind of head, Swarm was corny, Electro was unrecognizable and the Lizard looked like a green version of Barney. Once Spidey swung in to save the day, all he had to do was spray them each with webs one time and they were instantly defeated. All, that is, except for Swarm. He attacked him with bug spray and that was it. I couldn't help but think that if that's all it took, Spidey was hardly needed. I could have beaten Swarm.
The battle with the Goblin was much better because it was airborn. Of course, the Goblin looked nothing like the comic book or movie version and had wings but I guess since they wanted the battle to be over the audiences heads, wings were a neccessity. Of course, I also think that if you really wanted a villain with wings for that sequence, the Vulture would have made more sense but that flaw was small compared to some of the others.
Anyway, I don't recommend the show for anything more than to see the swinging. Very disappointed.
As an aside, for anyone who's interested, I did also see an excellent show - "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" starring Daniel Radcliff and John Larroquette. I give this a much stronger recommendation and both stars were excellent. I was stunned at how well Radcliff sang and danced.

[humanbelly]

Yep, that thread was around here somewhere- but easy enough to join up with you right here, eh?

Man, SW, I'm gonna exalt you for taking the Curiosity Bullet (by seeing the show) on all of our behalfs (behalves??), here.

I do think we'd gleaned through earlier interviews and articles that Julie Taymore had little-to-no regard or respect whatsoever for the primary source material-- but your description sounds like it reached a level of campy cartoon contempt that may have surpassed our worst fears. The costume design alone would suggest that her rejection of source material for her own "mythic vision" was practically a foregone conclusion. Ohhhh it makes me mad.

I also had very little hopes for the music. In spite of the current dominance of jukebox musicals and musicals written around pre-existing pop songs-- there is no proper substitute for committing to writing actual musical theater music. It can be rock music, stylistically, if that's appropriate-- but its nuts and bolts still need to be rooted in the genre-- and thus the project shouldn't be handed over to unproven outsider "stars", who are dead-rookies when it comes to working in and understanding the conventions of this form-- regardless of the boundaries it's trying to push.

As an aside. . . is Pete's story inherently a "rock music" kinda tale? Again, he's not a "rock music" oriented character, even. If I recall, he was a Mahalia Jackson fan, of all things. . .

Okay, okay-- I'll stop here-- I could go on 'waaaaaay too long on this topic.

HB

[sharkar]

Against my better judgment, I went to see Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark last night. (I'd received an offer I couldn't refuse.)

Some thoughts:
We had great seats, in the orchestra. It was supposed to start at 7:30pm, but that time came and went and no Spidey. After 15 minutes of waiting for the curtain to rise, someone announced that the delay was due to technical and staging problems backstage:"We want to make sure nothing unplanned happens." Finally, at 8pm or so, the problem was resolved and the play began.

The music was the weakest part--very generic work on the part of Bono and the Edge. There were snatches of older U2 music--for example, Beautiful Day was used as phone "hold" muzak (yeah, Bono and Edge, we get it!)...but the new music was pretty simple and uncomplicated. It was okay, I guess, when used for the milieu of high school and teenage loner angst. Peter's music had a bit more bite (pun intended) but not much more; and later on when the Goblin and villains were showcased, the music was flashier. (Speaking of which--yes, Flash Thompson shows up.) Overall the music was forgettable.

The story was flimsy and had a lot of holes. Subplots were introduced and forgotten (for example, Mary Jane's father). And what should have been a turning point-- Uncle Ben's death--had its circumstances changed so as to provide an unconvincing (IMO) impetus for Peter deciding to fight crime.

I'm sure the production has undergone changes since Spiderwasp saw it back in August, but I thought the Green Goblin make-up/mask evoked the classic comic book version of the character, with the Osborn/Goblin long face/chin. I appreciated the facial similarity to the familiar comic book version. GG was well played by the understudy, Timothy Warmen, and he was having fun hamming it up.

I didn't mind the villains' costumes as much as much Spiderwasp did (though I agree the Lizard was ridiculous). I think the visual reference for the costumes, as well as the wrestler (which, as Spiderwasp mentioned, was a huge blow up doll) and Jameson's suit, were deliberately unrealistic and outsized, similar in effect to what Warren Beatty did in his Dick Tracy movie, which in turn was based on the Gould comic strip. In other words: deliberately cartoony and flat. And the spider that bites Peter was laughed at by the audience--it looked utterly ridiculous.

I was turned off by the creepy spiderwoman character, Arachne (I kept thinking of that Marvel Two For One issue when Alicia mutated into a spider-woman in a Marvel Two For One--yuck!). As we discussed some months ago, the inclusion of such a character seems forced.

On the plus side:
Some of the sets/backdrops seemed to be attempts to evoke the claustrophobic feel of the Ditko panels, which IMO was a good choice.

I agree with Spiderwasp about the swinging--the acrobatics are spectacular. Spidey swinging all over the theatre is a great way to use the entire theatre space, not just the stage, and I (along with most of the audience, it seemed) found it thrilling.

As mentioned we had great seats, in the center orchestra, and the climactic Spidey-Green Goblin fight took place right over our heads! I must confess I had a pang or two or fear that a piece of the Goblin's hokey costume would fall off and stab me in the eye, but fortunately my worries proved unfounded.

The nine Spidey stunt doubles took a bow at the curtain call and received well-deserved applause. The actor who played Peter/Spidey, Reeve Carney (distant relative of Art), was great too, more like the Ditko (or Maguire) Peter/Spidey than the broad-shouldered Romita version. I have to admit I enjoyed the production primarily because of the swinging; I think it's such a great way to engage the audience.

As a comic book fan I enjoyed the call-outs to the Spider-Man mythos: it was not surprising that the line "with great power comes great responsibility" was said at least a couple of times, but there were also throwaway lines like when Jameson barked "Fire Betty Brant!", or MJ offhandedly saying "Gwen told me..."; or when Peter gives up being Spidey and proclaims "Spider-Man no more!" (a call to the classic Silver Age cover and story in Spider-Man #50). I also liked when Green Goblin wants Spider-Man to be his partner in crime and says Spidey can be GG's "boy wonder." ;D There were also mentions of "genetically engineered super-soldiers" and "gamma rays."

I also liked a line of Peter's when he mentions "People hate spiders...", which I take to be a reference to the (apocryphal?) tale of Martin Goodman advising Stan why a comic about a teenage web-slinger is a bad idea.

No, this production will not satisfy hardcore Spidey/ Marvel purists--this is a most definitely a "Spidey for Dummies"--nor will it appeal to people who want to see a really solid piece of musical theatre; but it still provided some nice entertainment. I had an enjoyable evening and got swept up in all the swinging and special effects, so much so that I even picked up a cool Spidey T-shirt as a souvenir.

[humanbelly]

Heya Shar, way to take one for the team! (Many of us can now put away that stack of quarters we've been collecting to pay for the $100 ticket. . . )

Man, 9 Spidey stunt doubles! One assumes they all make an appearance in every performance? Geeze- that's 10 people to play one character. In fact, more people to play ONE character than many musicals have characters entirely-! Sheesh.

It sounds like the appeal would be much more analogous to the modern, artsy-circusy events that are so hugely popular these days-- which is absolutely fine. But man-- I still think it's nervy to call it musical theater. If the music's weak, and the story's weak, then what exactly makes it musical theater, eh? But as we've said before, what it obviously is not doing is trusting the source material at all, and having the courage to rely on it. That's really too bad. Is Spidey ultimately a sound vehicle for a musical theater treatment? I still really don't think so-- but then many folks said that about Jesus Christ Superstar and Jekyll & Hyde (hmm, and they were right on that one, IMHO) and many other shows that went on to be hits. Heck, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, even-!

From what I've seen of them, you're very easy-going regarding the costumes-- which is fine, of course. ;D And I think the set design is very cool both artistically & functionally--- but I almost feel like a more gritty, realistic treatment would, if anything, help ground the story much more effectively.

Ahhhh, but that's just me. And I am apparently the scourge of all legitimate designers. . .

(gurmblemumblegrumpspppthrrmphetcetcetc. .. )

HB