emanon

Good thing you checked this thread, then - I'm sure it'll aid you in your quest to actively avoid this matter.

Giles

that's just insane...

Hokeyboy

Funny... I feel exactly the same when it comes to U2's post-'91 output!

Supermallet

Make that post-93 and I'd probably agree with you (I love Zooropa).

Numanoid

I'm with ya, sister!

Mabuse

I hadn't heard about this before 60 minutes, but I did scoff when I heard the story. It's like someone watched the Hold Me, Kiss, Me, Thrill Me video and decided they should do the same thing BUT WITH Spiderman AND LIVE ON STAGE!

The biggest mistake was hiring Bono/Edge. I like U2, but it's better to hire some unknown song writer with a fire in his belly than pay top dollar for U2's b-sides and cast offs.

Also, #1 sign of a stinker is the horible title "Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark" WTF does that mean? That's a terrible title.

islandclaws

Oh, man. I watched the 60 Min segment yesterday.... cripes, does this look like all kinds of terrible. The songs were astoundingly bad, and all the stage antics and goofy masks looked lame. Plus, Bono and Taymor created a villain? I don't even want to know how stupid it is, because I know it has to be retarded. I'd only ever want to watch this as some oddity to laugh and recoil in horror at.

Chrisedge

I agree the one song I've heard all the way through sounds just like HMTMKMKM.

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DRG

Minus the music, this sounds like something that should be an hourly stage show at Universal Islands of Adventures, not a Broadway show and especially not a musical. If they wanted to do a musical based on a Marvel property maybe they should have went with Dazzler.

MBoyd

Now the actress playing "Arachne" has a concussion!

http://broadwayworld.com/article/SPI...esday_20101202

If I was an actor in this, I'd be fearing for my life at this point. I wonder if it will even open "officially."

wm lopez

I'm sure they must have done a tapeing of the show so they could sell it on video.

Chrisedge

Fixed

DRG

Maybe they could package a DVD of just the accidents as market it as Spider-Man Bloopers? I imagine the Benny Hill theme playing as we watch the characters fly around on wires, with 'boing' noises as they collide, or 'banana peel slip' sounds when they fall on stage.

Chrisedge

A review from a couple nights after preview from a U2 fan.

cungar

This sentence alone is enough to prove this is a fanboy that I really can't trust to be reliable.

cdollaz

Where can I just hear the music?

story

Conan O'Brien has had two pretty funny spoofs on the Spider-Man musical this week. Bummer the freeze frames on the vids give away the funny ending reveals.

First:
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Second:
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Giles

more show problems:

Broadway 'Spider-Man' stunt double falls to stage
Dec. 21, 2010, 9:25 AM EST

NEW YORK (AP) -- The troubled Broadway musical "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" was plagued by its fourth accident since it began previews last month when an actor performing an aerial stunt fell about 30 feet, fire officials said.

Firefighters were called to the Foxwoods Theatre at about 10:45 p.m. Monday after the 31-year-old actor fell near the end of the latest preview performance. He was taken to Bellevue Hospital with minor injuries, police said.

Bing: 'Spider-Man' Broadway show woes

Police did not release the actor's name, but a performer in the show identified him as Christopher Tierney. The performer spoke on condition of anonymity because the performer was not authorized to speak publicly about the accident.

A nurse at Bellevue Hospital said that a Christopher Tierney was admitted and was in stable condition, but would not provide details.

Tierney is the show's main aerialist and performs stunts for the roles of Spider-Man, and the villains Meeks and Kraven.

The cable to Tierney's harness snapped during a scene in which Spider-Man rescues his love interest, Mary Jane, the performer said. It was unclear if Tierney was properly harnessed when the cable snapped. The performer said the show's actors are responsible for hooking themselves up to harnesses used for aerial stunts.

Actress Natalie Mendoza, who plays Spider-Man's evil love interest Arachne and herself was injured during the show's first preview last month, posted a Twitter message asking people to pray for the actor.

"Please pray with me for my friend Chris, my superhero who quietly inspires me everyday with his spirit. A light in my heart went dim tonight."

Tierney fell during a scene in which Spider-Man rescues his love interest, Mary Jane, but managed to land on his feet, the performer said. It was unclear if the actor was properly harnessed before the accident.

Rick Miramontez, a spokesman for the production, said the fall happened about seven minutes before the end of the performance, and the show was stopped.

"All signs were good as he was taken to the hospital for observation," Miramontez said.

On Friday, the show's lead producer Michael Cohl delayed the show's official opening for the second time, pushing it back 27 days, from Jan. 11 to Feb. 7.

In a statement that day, Cohl said, "The creative team is implementing truly exciting changes throughout the preview process. Due to some unforeseeable setbacks, most notably the injury of a principal cast member, it has become clear that we need to give the team more time to fully execute their vision."

The $65 million musical was conceived by Tony Award-winning director and co-writer Julie Taymor and U2's Bono and The Edge, who wrote the music. More than eight years in the making, delays and money woes have plagued the show's launch. Three other accidents have injured actors, including one who had both his wrists broken while practicing an aerial stunt.

The first preview on Nov. 28 did not go well. The musical had to be halted five times because of technical glitches and Mendoza was hit in the head by a rope and suffered a concussion. Her injury would eventually keep her sidelined for two weeks.

The show — whose costs easily dwarf Broadway's last costliest show, the $25 million "Shrek The Musical" — may be about a comic-book hero, but it has now itself become easy fodder for comics, with both Conan O'Brien and "Saturday Night Live" spoofing it.

MBoyd

Oh wow. That just doesn't sound like a good idea at all. Can you imagine that on a film set? And this show is pretty much trying to do movie style stunts.

islandclaws

I was thinking the same thing. $65m and you don't hire someone to do one of the most important jobs?

cungar

I bet the insurance for this disaster just quadrupled.

cungar

Am I the only one who just sees white scrolling boxes? Is there something I don't have installed?

Lemmy

My prediction:

Giles

it's a giant clusterfuck ready to implode - I have a spidey feeling this will fail on Broadway.

Chrisedge

Yea, I gotta chime in again...After reading about the mess of the story now, with Bono/Edge staying in NYC to try and fix the 2nd act, plus all these accidents it doesn't look good. I did get a complete recording of one of the nights that I am trying to fix soundwise just so I can hear all the music, but I bet it's shut down soon with all the problems...