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November 14, 2011, 10:03 pm
In Esquire, Taymor Says She Was Unfairly Maligned by U2 Leaders Over 'Spider-Man' Woes
By PATRICK HEALY

In a new interview with Esquire magazine, the theater director Julie Taymor accuses Bono and the Edge of U2 – her former collaborators on the Broadway musical "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" – of maligning her as exhausted and overwrought as a bogus explanation for ousting her from the production in March and then overhauling the show as they saw fit.

Edge, who wrote the music and lyrics for "Spider-Man" with Bono, had previously used those two adjectives to describe Ms. Taymor's state of mind last winter. Of those adjectives, Ms. Taymor told Esquire, "I think that those were important to paint a picture of a director who you needed to release in order to make this big change. I had to be characterized that way in order for something to happen." After her firing, "Spider-Man" shut down for three weeks to insert new dialogue and scenes that Ms. Taymor's former colleagues had been secretly preparing and sharing with the producers during the winter.

Bono, at least, had no idea about her energy or psyche last winter, Ms. Taymor said, because he was mostly absent while she was making changes to "Spider-Man" during preview performances.

"There's no doubt by the end of February, when I felt all of this stuff happening, that I was exhausted by that, but not by the show and not by the inspiration that I was getting from the actors," Ms. Taymor said. "What was exhausting was the fact that the producers were absent." She added, "Those people weren't there, so how does Bono know? I'm sorry."

Ms. Taymor chose to give her first interview about "Spider-Man" to Esquire for its Americans of the Year issue in December; it goes on sale Nov. 22. She is now suing the show's lead producers in federal court over royalties and copyright infringement, while also pursuing a separate arbitration claim through her directors' union over back pay and royalties.

Calling last winter and spring "very dark times," Ms. Taymor said her firing in March came as a "complete shock" – in part because she believed the $75 million musical, by far the most expensive in Broadway history, was "really working" at that point. The show's lead producers, Michael Cohl and Jeremiah J. Harris, were more critical of the show in private, and they viewed Ms. Taymor as resistant to cutting characters and scenes that some theater-goers found confusing or ominous.

Ms. Taymor, a Tony Award winner for "The Lion King," whose roots are in experimental theater and mask-making, told Esquire that Bono, Edge, and others knew her brand of artistry when they recruited her to direct and help write the "Spider-Man" script.

"I say they asked me to get involved, they've seen my work," Ms. Taymor said. For the record, she added that she would not want to go through the nine-year process of creating "Spider-Man" again with the colleagues and friends who ultimately abandoned her. "Not with this group of people," she said, "not with these producers."

Rick Miramontez, a spokesman for the "Spider-Man" producers, said on Monday, "No one from the production has read this article, so there is no comment." Esquire provided an advanced copy of the article to the Times.
 
So her gist is "Bono wasn't there, so Bono doesn't know my state of mind"?

I dunno .... that seems rather reasonable to me.

I don't think anyone is surprised she's filing suit.
 
yeah, i felt sick seeing all the huggy-kissy-kissy-sweetie-darling crap on the revamped opening night - it looked sooooo hypocritical! if i were Taymor i would've just decked them good and hard there and then right on that stage :D

(i know the situation was a nightmare, but it was handled horribly)

"What was exhausting was the fact that the producers were absent."
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exactly
 
"(I would not work) with this group of people...Not these producers". Ouch. Is Bono's ego okay? :sad:
 
corianderstem said:
So her gist is "Bono wasn't there, so Bono doesn't know my state of mind"?

I dunno .... that seems rather reasonable to me.

I don't think anyone is surprised she's filing suit.
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She sounds sulky and a little childish. I understand her suing, but I still think that after she, Bono and Edge cuddled up so closely at the Spiderman premiere, she'll be having a hard time sounding credible.

This is getting personal which is ugly. Shame this is happening.
 
last unicorn said:
This is getting personal which is ugly. Shame this is happening.
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Yeah, I hate seeing these personal attacks.


From a show stand point, people are saying the show is a lot better now and it took getting her out of the picture to make the changes happen that needed to happen before opening. Things were just not progressing fast enough otherwise.

Is she suing for royalties? Isn't she still listed as director in the Playbill? I guess I am a bit confused.
 
dstalksalot said:
Is she suing for royalties? Isn't she still listed as director in the Playbill? I guess I am a bit confused.
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I believe she is suing for royalties, to which the show's producers have answered that she has been compensated appropriately. She's really suing for hurt feelings and image, IMO. She needs to salvage what was otherwise a fairly well respected Broadway career---she needs to be thought of as the creator of the spectacular Lion King musical, not as the woman who was resistant to change and hung up on ideas that no one understood or liked.
 
dstalksalot said:
Yeah, I hate seeing these personal attacks.


From a show stand point, people are saying the show is a lot better now and it took getting her out of the picture to make the changes happen that needed to happen before opening. Things were just not progressing fast enough otherwise.

Is she suing for royalties? Isn't she still listed as director in the Playbill? I guess I am a bit confused.
Click to expand...

I don't know about currently, but in the Playbill from July 2011 (after her firing and the show's "reimagining") she is listed prominently as "Original Direction by" in large bold type. She also has top bold billing under "Book by".
(Also a Mask Design credit)

Also just wanted to add how this differs from the original Playbill before the changes (from Dec 2010). The only real difference is the wording. "Directed by" was changed to "Original Direction by". But she's still listed there solely.
 
Broadway's Spidey turns two, breaks house record | Reuters
The $70 million show, which was plagued by a series of stunt-related cast injuries in its early days, not to mention a record-length preview period which eventually brought director Julie Taymor's ouster, broke the Foxwood Theatre's house record last week, grossing $2.07 million at the box office.

Despite its troubled history -- or perhaps in part because of the media attention paid to it -- the show, which began previews on November 28, 2010, has consistently played to packed houses.

Since its June opening, which drew fairly scathing reviews even after a post-Taymor overhaul, more than 600,000 people have filled seats at the cavernous 42nd St. theater.
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Theater record 4 weeks ago? That's nice.
Multiple all-time Broadway records this week? Now that's impressive.

press release:
New York, NY – SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark, Broadway’s most popular new show, rang in the New Year as the highest grossing show on Broadway, shattering the record for the highest single-week gross of any show in Broadway history. The total gross for the record-breaking week ending Sunday, January 1 was $2,941,790.20, besting the previous record of $2,228,235 set by Wicked in 2011. Playing to 17,375 audience members (100.02% capacity of The Foxwoods Theatre), SPIDER-MAN also enjoyed the highest single-week attendance by any show in Broadway history (playing a standard 9-show holiday schedule).

The Foxwoods previous box office record of $2,070,195.60 was set by the show just four weeks ago. Currently in its second smash-hit year on Broadway, SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark began preview performances on November 28, 2010, and has become one of the most famous theatrical events in Broadway history, playing to packed houses and standing, screaming ovations nightly.

"We are thrilled that the public has taken such a liking to this show," said producers Michael Cohl and Jeremiah J. Harris. "The audience continues to grow, and it is great to enter the New Year with such momentum."

SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark has been seen by more than 700,000 audience members from around the world. It features music and lyrics by 22-time Grammy® Award-winners Bono and The Edge, direction by Philip William McKinley (The Boy From Oz), original direction by Tony® Award-winner Julie Taymor (The Lion King, Across The Universe, Frida), and book co-written by Taymor, Glen Berger (Underneath The Lintel) and Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (Fantastic Four and Spider-Man comics, "Big Love"). The show currently stars Reeve Carney as "Peter Parker/Spider-Man," Patrick Page as "Norman Osborn/Green Goblin," Rebecca Faulkenberry as "Mary Jane Watson," and Christina Sajous as "Arachne."

Inspired by nearly 50 years of Marvel comic books, SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark follows the story of teenager Peter Parker, whose unremarkable life is turned upside-down when he’s bitten by a genetically altered spider and wakes up the next morning clinging to his bedroom ceiling. This bullied science-geek suddenly endowed with incredible powers soon learns, however, that with great power comes great responsibility as villains put both his physical strength and strength of character to the test.
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:up:

i would expect this time of year to be super busy though... hopefully it will continue (for years and years so they can at least break even :D )
 
I've seen this news pop up a bunch of different places now, and I even heard a story on NPR the other day.

I'll betcha that ticket sales over the last few days have been stronger than usual for the next few months worth of shows.
 
corianderstem said:
So her gist is "Bono wasn't there, so Bono doesn't know my state of mind"?

I dunno .... that seems rather reasonable to me.

I don't think anyone is surprised she's filing suit.
Click to expand...

In most states there's a thing called "at will employee". You are working "at will". You can choose to quit with a moment's notice if you so desire and your company cannot do anything about it. Conversely, the company can dismiss you and not even provide you with any reasoning. They just don't want you there. That's what "at will" means - they let you work at "their will" and you work at "your will".

So there didn't have to be a reason to fire here - they just could.

But even if there was some contract in place, they could still state that she was dismissed as being uncooperative, too headstrong, unwilling to work with people, unwilling to compromise, etc. There were NUMEROUS faults with the production, including people getting hurt, and she refused to listen to any of her superiors. That's also called insubordination and that IS a reason for dismissal.

Therefore, her claims that "Bono did not know my state of mind" are frivolous. Those were just public relations explanations for her dismissal. If she goes forward with this lawsuit, I think there will be a VERY ugly picture of her painted that could seriously hurt her reputation. And suing your former boss is never a good thing - that is already hurting her reputation. I'm not some big shot Broadway producer, but if I was, I wouldn't hire her no matter what experience she has. She's proven that if you want changes she won't do them and if you dismiss her as a result, she'll sue you. Yeah - that's a catch.

As for South Park - they are hilarious. But my #1 complaint against them is that they never mock themselves. Oh sure, sometimes they do a bit of joking about the poor animation, but that's very light. When they say Bono is nothing but sh*t and openly have Tom Cruise and Travolta and others "in the closet" and make Streisand a monster, mocking your animation style is about as pathetic as it gets. They really need to look in the mirror and mock their own egos more. Then I'd accept their humor. Right now, I've grown a bit weary of their self-indulgences.
 
Dragonfave said:
SPIDER-MAN Producers Respond to Julie Taymor's Lawsuit & File Countersuit
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Good for them. I'm really thinking this Taymor woman is a true b-word. She really seems out to lunch - she nearly ruined the show, refused any direction, was fired for poor performance, and now sues? She had her chances and her failure is WELL documented. If any of us tried to sue after being dismissed for poor performance, I doubt we'd have a chance to win. Plus, I believe NY is an "at will" state - meaning they can fire at will.

With regards to her copyright claims - I don't know enough there. But it sounds like this new show is nothing like her show. So she'll probably lose there too.

My next guess is that she'll try to sue Bono and Edge for the music that she will claim she wrote.
 
bloody hell... it's getting even uglier...

why why why was anyone so brainless as to actually let Taymor WRITE the book in the first place? christ, she's no writer!
she only survived in The Lion King because she was only allowed to do what she was good at and had an able team working very closely with her which CLEARLY was not the case with Spider-Man where she was just left in la la land to her own devices!

as Ian Dury would say, What a Waste!
 
mama cass said:
bloody hell... it's getting even uglier...

why why why was anyone so brainless as to actually let Taymor WRITE the book in the first place? christ, she's no writer!
she only survived in The Lion King because she was only allowed to do what she was good at and had an able team working very closely with her which CLEARLY was not the case with Spider-Man where she was just left in la la land to her own devices!

as Ian Dury would say, What a Waste!
Click to expand...


As the leader, though, Taymor should have hired the right people to get the job done, if she felt the current team wasn't capable.

But I think the team around her was very good - she just wouldn't listen to anyone. She seemed to want "more, more, more" - more dangerous stunts, more abstract storylines, more control. When people started getting hurt, when early reviews were fiercely negative, and when people around her made suggestions, she should have stopped and re-evaluated. But her ego wouldn't allow for it - and more injuries and bad reviews occurred. Eventually it came to a head and she was let go.

I don't blame Bono and Edge for this. They had 2 jobs - the music and help generate $$. They played the role of "behind the scenes" producers, getting funds and investment money. They did that role well. While they have tons of experience on putting on a show, they do rock concerts, not Broadway musicals. Hence they left the actual direction in what they felt was award-winning hands. Instead, Taymor seemed to go off the deep-end.

Now that the show is working and is a hit, she wants to cause further damage by refusing to let the show tour. Shame on her.

I realize her reputation is hurt, but she's pretty much flat-out destroyed it now. She had a zillion chances to act professionally - she's blown all of them. This law-suit may create such a negative vibe that she might not work in Broadway again (or at least not at that top level).
 
doctorwho said:
As the leader, though, Taymor should have hired the right people to get the job done, if she felt the current team wasn't capable.

But I think the team around her was very good - she just wouldn't listen to anyone. She seemed to want "more, more, more" - more dangerous stunts, more abstract storylines, more control. When people started getting hurt, when early reviews were fiercely negative, and when people around her made suggestions, she should have stopped and re-evaluated. But her ego wouldn't allow for it - and more injuries and bad reviews occurred. Eventually it came to a head and she was let go.

I don't blame Bono and Edge for this. They had 2 jobs - the music and help generate $$. They played the role of "behind the scenes" producers, getting funds and investment money. They did that role well. While they have tons of experience on putting on a show, they do rock concerts, not Broadway musicals. Hence they left the actual direction in what they felt was award-winning hands. Instead, Taymor seemed to go off the deep-end.

Now that the show is working and is a hit, she wants to cause further damage by refusing to let the show tour. Shame on her.

I realize her reputation is hurt, but she's pretty much flat-out destroyed it now. She had a zillion chances to act professionally - she's blown all of them. This law-suit may create such a negative vibe that she might not work in Broadway again (or at least not at that top level).
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by team i meant the producers, Doctorwho... the ones that are suing her - they're the ones who should have been keeping a close eye on things... they were complete novices to Broadway and they didn't do their job and just left her to it... creatives left to their own devices just keep creating and creating and creating and creating - the creative possibilities are endless lol which is not so great when there's a deadline to meet... which is why she needed her producers on her back...

and the fuck-up was well before opening night - she wasn't even ready for the previews back in November 2010(?) despite all the delays - she missed her deadline, but where were the producers? they should have been hounding her weeks and months before then making sure the whole production was on target... and we all know Bono and Edge were nowhere in sight at that crucial stage what with the tour - the composers/musical arrangers NEED to be onsite for Broadway really tbh... so it really isn't PURELY Taymor's fault by a long long stretch...

also, she was working with her own shoddy material (the book) and because she was the one who wrote it and she had free rein to keep tinkering with it, maybe that's why the production was never finished - it wasn't even finished in time for previews - so there wasn't a good foundation for the production... like i said, if she'd had a solid finished quality book to work with she would've had more focus and maybe things would have worked out differently, like for The Lion King... the whole thing was completely mismanaged...

i guess because the book was her "baby" maybe that's why she was so antagonist about taking suggestions - plus by January it was way too late in the day for "suggestions" and new ideas - all that should have come much much earlier! the whole lot of them are at fault - not just Taymor...

and Bono and Edge weren't meant to be "behind the scenes producers" - they wrote the score - which was also one of the main problems with the show! - and they should've had their asses onsite to work with the actors properly like a normal composer would LOL
 
Julie Taymor reaches partial settlement on 'Spider-Man' musical - latimes.com
The producers of "Spider-Man" announced Thursday that they have reached a settlement in their arbitration with the union that represents Taymor -- the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.

As part of the settlement, the producers said they have agreed to pay Taymor full royalties for her services as director of the New York production. The payments cover the period beginning with the inception of the musical, as well as subsequent productions outside of Broadway, such as a possible tour.
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you know what really pisses me off?

when people/celebrities with massive egos and more money than sense just feel they can dabble in anything and everything they want, theatre, film, fashion, art, whatever, and at best don't do it very well or at worst make a pig's ear of it, but just keep on going and going and going, because no-one ever says "no" to them

B-man i'm looking at YOU!
 
Bono hasn't dabbled in all that much, really. Except if you count his charity work as "dabbling".
 
nielsgov said:
Bono hasn't dabbled in all that much, really. Except if you count his charity work as "dabbling".
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he has actually, and no i definitely don't mean his campaigning work (although that isn't always positively looked on by some NGOs actually either)
 
Artists need to dabble in other media- they get otherwise bored and burned out. I enjoy it when the artist has real talent to work with. Now, celebrities that clearly don't have talent and just attach their names to things, well, that's very annoying.

I for one am glad that Bono and the rest of the band try other things like this, even if it falls flat, the challenge can be rejuvenating to the creative juices. Of course, if it fails massively it can destroy one's creativity, but that can happen with the artist's traditional medium as well. Creativity is risky.
 
I'm on Taymor's side. Nobody comes out of this smelling of roses, but I'm amazed anyone would think Taymor was more at fault than B&E. They handled this like Beavis and Butthead, sheer incompetence, sheer ego, sheer vanity.
 
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