Spiderman News - Part 2

[Canadiens1131]

I love how they always call in Steve Lillywhite when it seems they need their asses kicked into gear

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Anybody else think they should have just done the music without all the association to U2 and hoop-la...maybe just a little credit line at the bottom of the poster?

"Music and arrangement by David Evans and Paul Hewson"

indeed.

 

[mama cass]

I love how they always call in Steve Lillywhite when it seems they need their asses kicked into gear

i wonder if they feel they are in over their heads and need a bit of help?

 

[Canadiens1131]

Spiderman: Turn off the Snark

 

[Canadiens1131]

U2 - A Boy Falls from the Stage

 

[powerhour24]

 

[11 Oclocktictoc]

Spiderman: Turn it off before it jumps the shark

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

boo

 

[doctorwho]

Anybody else think they should have just done the music without all the association to U2 and hoop-la...maybe just a little credit line at the bottom of the poster?

"Music and arrangement by David Evans and Paul Hewson"

While I think this could have worked, having U2 members' names associated always helps (like with the M:I remake Larry and Adam did).

There are plenty of U2 fans - look at how well the tour is doing. Those fans will increase business. It's the same reason Elton John's name is often touted for music (in movies and plays).

Even the naysayers will drum up publicity (from the old saying, "any publicity is good publicity"). That is, it gets people talking about it. Mockign Bono, the delays, the injuries and the budget does have some benefit - people are talking about the play. Curiosity will get an audience just based on this.

Lastly, the open discussion of the play allows us U2 fans to see what U2 is doing. It would be a shock for some NY fan to one day write on here, "Hey, I saw this 'Spider-man' play the other day, and it said in small print that the music was by Paul Hewson and David Evans. Are those the U2 guys?"

 

[bonocomet]

And Bono was back there again last night, still working on it. (or at least watching)

 

[jaynejenjune]

Finally !!!! Had tix to Spider-Man last year ..... got bumped 3 times..... saw the show last nite (came out to 12" of glorious NY SNOW!!).... I loved it.... I've never seen anything like this on Broadway ....The music was haunting. My fav is "Boy falls from the Sky".. The sets were something incredible ...comicbook /video /live theatre..combined in a fantastic collage (Bono mentioned that it's like a Lichtenstein painting..and it is) ....The actors are fantastic (Reeve Carney is the perfect PP)...Flying sequences take your breath away... one tip if you see this show ... sit in the Flying Circle! My friends and I had first row of the flying circle and you have a complete view of the show ...Spider-man landed a foot away from us! ....only weakness is the storyline ...(they are still working on the show -could use a little less Arachne)... Bono & Edge were there .... and you could see Bono making notes in his computer through the second act. Don't listen to critics or people that have not seen this show ... it is something to experience....

 

[mirrorballman12]

Finally !!!! Had tix to Spider-Man last year ..... got bumped 3 times..... saw the show last nite (came out to 12" of glorious NY SNOW!!).... I loved it.... I've never seen anything like this on Broadway ....The music was haunting. My fav is "Boy falls from the Sky".. The sets were something incredible ...comicbook /video /live theatre..combined in a fantastic collage (Bono mentioned that it's like a Lichtenstein painting..and it is) ....The actors are fantastic (Reeve Carney is the perfect PP)...Flying sequences take your breath away... one tip if you see this show ... sit in the Flying Circle! My friends and I had first row of the flying circle and you have a complete view of the show ...Spider-man landed a foot away from us! ....only weakness is the storyline ...(they are still working on the show -could use a little less Arachne)... Bono & Edge were there .... and you could see Bono making notes in his computer through the second act. Don't listen to critics or people that have not seen this show ... it is something to experience....

Happy to hear some positive reviews on the show. I'm waiting for the official opening to see the show. Can you please tell me the audience's general reaction to the show if you are able to: did they seem into it or not. The irish central newspaper also ran a very good review of the show. It finally seems like things are coming together.

 

[jarradhedley]

Hey Im from Australia coming to the states for a holiday in July and wanna go see spiderman when Im in NY. Surely its still going to be running during the holiday period in July? What do you guys think?

 

[jaynejenjune]

Happy to hear some positive reviews on the show. I'm waiting for the official opening to see the show. Can you please tell me the audience's general reaction to the show if you are able to: did they seem into it or not. The irish central newspaper also ran a very good review of the show. It finally seems like things are coming together.

The audience was definitely in to it.... applauding ..laughing ,gasping at some points ... they re-worked the ending so it's truely a show-stopper ... won't give it away ..that , I hope they keep the same ... like i said ..all the elements are incredible ...done to absolute perfection... the storyline is ok (take out the "shoe" sequence) ...that said ..it is still something not to miss..

 

[dstalksalot]

I have read countless remarks saying " take out the shoe sequence" but so far the creative team is not listening. They probably need the song to fill space for set or costume changes. But really? They can't put something else in its place? People are starting to wonder what the composers are doing now. Has any one noticed any musical changes?

 

[stargift]

We tend to keep request threads in the Music on the Internet forum, and there is one for Spidey.

Yes the whole show is there and now in its proper order.

 

[nirniva]

Spiderman: Turn off the Snark

 

[biff]

Yikes! Here's the first of the reviews from a real theatre critic, and there will be more in the next few days. The Toronto Star is Canada's largest paper and Richard Ouzounian is a highly respected veteran theatre critic. Very bad news, I'm afraid.

By Richard Ouzounian
Theatre Critic

NEW YORK—Let’s cut to the chase.

The only truly amazing thing about Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, is how unequivocally awful it is.

This $65 million musical, with its years of postponements and months of previews, lies there on the stage of the Foxwoods Theatre like the biggest beached whale in existence.

In fact, the quality of the show is so bad that the cynical part of me wonders if all the sound and fury about its technical troubles might have been nothing more than strategic cover.

Think about it. By the time you see a preview performance (as I did) that takes place without interruption, injury, or intervention from the U.N. Security Council, you might think it’s such a triumph that you’re willing to forget the value of the experience.

When I went to Spider-Man recently, the show had just finished two months of previews (for which the audience is paying full price), more than the normal gestation period usually allowed on Broadway. The show recently announced one more delay to its official opening night, moving it to March 15 (Ides of March, anyone?), which would mean that it will have had more than 3 1/2 months of previews, after months of earlier delays in even getting to that point. Only an elephant takes longer to give birth.

So most of the critical fraternity in NYC are privately letting it be known they plan to see the show over the next week and will probably be filing their notices on Feb. 8, which is the day after the opening was supposed to have taken place.

The new final flying sequence had been added on Jan. 19 and U2’s Bono (co-composer of the score, along with The Edge) has let it be known that there are going to be no new songs or substantial changes to the existing ones. So why wait any longer? I went online, bought a $140 ticket in the centre of the “Flying Circle” and went down to see the show.

With all respect to director Julie Taymor, I doubt that waiting another month, or two, or three, would have resulted in my seeing a much better product. A bit smoother, perhaps, a bit less lumpy oatmeal-like in its scenic transitions, but still the same thing that’s currently onstage.

And what is that? A fairly straightforward saga about Peter Parker, his spider bite, his magic powers, his love for Mary Jane Watson and threats from the evil Green Goblin who’s out to make everyone unhappy.

All of this will seem normal enough to fans of Spider-Man in its previous incarnations. But you might not be ready for the changes that authors Taymor and Glen Berger have added, like the new character of Arachne, an evil Spider-Woman (didn’t Chita Rivera play this already?), or the chorus of adolescent Geeks, who make it look like the cast of The Big Bang Theory have wandered into a musical and aren’t quite sure what they’re doing there.

But you don’t go on a thrill ride for the narrative, you go for the dips and curves and stomach-churning thrills. That’s what Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark promised to deliver. With all of its numerous cast accidents and skyrocketing budget, you’d certainly think you’re going to get them.

Alas, they don’t materialize. Every now and then, a single one of Spider-Man’s aerial trajectories has a breathtaking grace to it, but when any kind of sustained combat is attempted, you can see the wires, in every sense of the word. It’s simply not very exciting and that’s the ultimate failure of the show.

In a Broadway world where Green Day had proved in American Idiot that rock could make a musical soar, I was really looking forward to what Bono and The Edge were going to provide here. But what comes through the sound system is a kind of audio sludge, with no melodies, rhythms or lyrics standing out, except for one haunting ballad, “The Boy Falls from the Sky.”

There have been complaints about the sound system since the first preview and they don’t seem to have been addressed satisfactorily. At this point, one wonders if they ever will be.

People trying to find something nice to say about the show have turned to the set designs of George Tsypin and, as each new vista unfolds, they do have an awesome graphic novel grandeur about them.

The trouble is that they totally dwarf the human-sized actors standing next to them, so appealing performers like Reeve Carney (Peter) and Jennifer Damiano (Mary Jane) struggle simply to be seen.

Only the bad guys, like Patrick Page’s sardonic Green Goblin, or Michael Mulheren’s unctuous editor, J. Jonah Jameson, really register with us.

Who is to blame for this disaster? Ultimately, the fingers must all point to director/co-author Taymor, whose vision this is and whose failure to tap into the grander myth inherent in a comic book hero makes the whole thing so disappointing.

But it’s only right that, having created one of the greatest hits of our generation in The Lion King, Taymor should now shoulder the burden of one of its greatest flops.

Call it the flying circle of life.

Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark: Epic comic-book musical a $65 million disaster - thestar.com

 

[Catman]

I'm worried...

 

[corianderstem]

OUCH.

Interesting about the muddy sound system. that sort of thing is so frustrating. If multiple reviews/people are noticing it, why don't they address it? Are they ignoring it because there's too much else to worry about, or are they waving off the complaints, figuring that people don't know what they're talking about, that it sounds fine to them?

 

[Val]

Everyone I know who has seen it, loves it.

 

[coolian2]

But what comes through the sound system is a kind of audio sludge, with no melodies, rhythms or lyrics standing out, except for one haunting ballad, “The Boy Falls from the Sky.”

so it's like all that you can't leave behind?

 

[plp]

I went last night and just want to say that the above review from the Toronto Star is dead on. I honestly couldn't belive how bad it was.

 

[MikeyJB]

If he calls Boy Falls From the Sky a 'haunting ballad', I just wonder how reliable and accurate the rest of his piece is really.

 

[domo-kun]

At least he doesn't shove it all on Bono and Edge, like most people do
Its sad to hear that tiny things like audio systems, get overlooked by the many major problems in the play.

I have to agree that "haunting ballad" made me laugh.

 

[powerhour24]

Rise Above is the major 'ballad' of the whole thing.

 

[kassandra]

Wow that is tough. I don't know though, like Val said everyone I know who has seen it U2 fan or not loved it.

 

[MikeyJB]

I'm sure at this stage, after all the fiascos, critics are gonna be dying to slam it. There was a complimentary article about how the play looked like it was going to become a hit in the UK's Guardian newspaper the other week -
Spider-Man the Musical: The webbed crusader comes out fighting | Stage | The Guardian

 

[Dane-Dane]

Saw the show this past Friday night. Was a bit apprehensive before seeing it but it was truly amazing. The music and lyrics is U2-no doubt about it. Bono even throws his signature line in one of the songs, "this is a house not a home" (I kind of chuckled at that) And Reeve Carney...damn can he sing. The Boy falls from the Sky was perfect. Pull the trigger is another great song. The sets are amazing, the costumes were great, music spine tingling, talented cast, the story I felt was mediocre but there is so much going on you can forgive that. Hopefully they work out the kinks on the story before the opening. You will hear little tidbits of U2. New Years Day on a car radio, and Vertigo in a club scene which may seem a little kitschy to the non-U2 fans. Everyone in our section seemed to be extremely pleased with the play. People were talking positively about it on the way out. I know that Sean Penn and his daughter were at this performance because I cut him off on line as we were entering. opps! sorry Sean.

 

[powerhour24]

I don't know where that critic got the insider information that they weren't making any other changes, if that was true then why would the opening be delayed again knowing full-well that would get them slammed in the press again? If it is true somehow that is really disappointing, the prospect of them fixing some of the story issues could have helped them save face. Everyone's marveled at the spectacle and ambition, many like the music while others are ambivalent or worse towards it, but almost everyone agrees the book needed to be more focused, especially in the Act 2, and they have prime & ample opportunity to correct that... yet they'll leave it as is? I hope not.