Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark, The Unluckiest Musical Ever?
Published on Tuesday 7th December, 5.03pm, Written by Jonathan Dudley
Is a real-life supervillain lurking in the rafters of Broadway’s Foxwoods Theatre in a malevolent attempt to sabotage Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark?
Probably not, but the show has been plagued by problems from the outset. First we had financial troubles, which is unsurprising considering the staggering $65 million that the show is reported to have cost. Then there was the distinctly iffy preview that left Natalie Mendoza dangling in mid-air for more than seven minutes thanks to a wire malfunction.
Is a tiny supervillain disguised as Spider-Man to blame? (Image via greyloch@Flickr)
The same preview also featured missing pieces of set, repeated pauses to deal with technical issues, more wire malfunctions, and a smattering of heckling from the audience. Rather than dazzling the masses, the preview managed to starkly and publicly highlight the staggering amount of kinks that Julie Taymor, the show’s producer, has to iron out before opening night.
Embarrassing slip-ups are not the end of Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark’s seemingly endless run of bad luck. Three actors have been injured while working on the show. Kevin Aubin broke both of his wrists when he smashed into the lip of the stage while rehearsing one of the show’s flying sequences; another actor broke a foot, again during the flying scenes; and most recently Natalie Mendoza suffered concussion after being “hit in the head by a rope holding a piece of production equipment”.
What on earth is causing this show (which by all rights should be brilliant) to suffer such ghastly luck? Can we blame the Bono-penned music? It can’t be theatre ghosts, I’ve got clothes older than the Foxwoods Theatre. It can’t be finance-driven cost-cutting, it’s the most expensive show in Broadway history. So that only leaves one explanation, there’s a supervillain up to no good, dropping sandbags on actresses, fiddling with harnesses, and being a general nuisance.
Or perhaps it’s just the unluckiest musical of all time?
