Spiderman Discussion - Part III

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Early summer opening? Pretty sure it may be in that 10-day gap between the Oakland and Anaheim shows. :hmm:

Great. So I buy tickets to a U2 show and have to wait over a year and a half to actually see it. Then I'm "treated" to some shit like "Rise Above" to promote their new musical. And perhaps some plodding, unfinished garbage like "North Star" as well.
 
So Taymor is no more, a "couple of new songs" in the mix and early summer opening. My concern is just how much more of Bono and Edge's time is this going to eat up? If the mythical new album is anywhere near completion, I can imagine Larry and Adam getting VERY pissed over this.
 
The additional time commitment required by this new plan will make it impossible for director and co-book writer Julie Taymor to continue on in her day-to-day duties with the production.

Nice spin!

Aguirre-Sacasa is both an acclaimed playwright and a noted writer of Spider-Man comic books.

Oh good, I'm glad he was the one they chose. I hope they do keep some of the Arachne elements, though. I realize a lot of it's a mess, but the concept and staging intrigue me. The weaving scene in particular sounds gorgeous. I think in the right hands, this character and portion of the story could be workable. Maybe just cut it down a bit?

Producers Cohl and Harris said, in a joint statement, "Julie Taymor is not leaving the creative team. Her vision has been at the heart of this production since its inception and will continue to be so. Julie's previous commitments mean that past March 15th, she cannot work the 24/7 necessary to make the changes in the production in order to be ready for our opening. We cannot exaggerate how technically difficult it is to make such changes to a show of this complexity, so it's with great pride that we announce that Phil McKinley is joining the creative team. Phil is hugely experienced with productions of this scale and is exactly what SPIDER-MAN Turn off the Dark needs right now."

More spin. They must be dizzy. :wink:

Bono and The Edge added, "Julie is a truly gifted and imaginative director. This is an epic ride, and the standing ovations we have seen from the preview audiences have confirmed our absolute faith in the project. We are listening and learning and, as a result, we have a couple of new songs we are very very excited about putting into the mix. All of us on the creative team are committed to taking SPIDER-MAN to the next level. We are confident it will reach its full potential and when it does, it will open."

What? They're speaking in unison now? Or is it more like an old married couple telling a story where they interject and take turns telling it, finishing each others sentences? :lol:
 
Julie Taymor: The Charlie Sheen Of Broadway
by Jaime Weinman on Wednesday, March 9, 2011 3:18pm
Julie Taymor: The Charlie Sheen Of Broadway - TV Guidance - Macleans.ca

I know stories about the Spider-Man musical have worn out their welcome even more than Charlie Sheen stories; at least we can see his show (given how often it’s on in syndication, we have to work hard to avoid it), whereas most sensible people will stay away from ever seeing Spider-Man. Still, it looks like Taymor is going to be forced out of the show she directed and co-wrote, the show where she turned a familiar pop-culture character into a side attraction.

(Update: I should clarify that the flippant Charlie Sheen comparison had to do with getting fired from a show completely built around her. Nothing to do with personal lives.)

It’s a little amazing. Plenty of directors and writers are forced out or forced to accept help, but until Bono turned against her (or that’s the impression these stories give anyway) Taymor was allowed to do virtually anything she wanted. Now the producers are finally running it like a real show where you replace people and write new songs and so on, but it may be too late; it is, if nothing else, one of the worst-produced shows in theatre history, since it’s the producer’s job to make sure they do this kind of thing before too much time and money has been wasted.

For those who find the Spider-Man story dull now but find theatre tryout stories interesting — I do, because even though I didn’t see the shows, I love how exposed and public the whole process is — I’d like to call attention again to this 1993 New York Times story on the Spider-Man of the early ’90s, the musical version of The Red Shoes. The producer of that show fired many key people, including director Susan Schulman (a recent fixture at Stratford, who has done a lot of their musical revivals) and re-tooled the whole thing from a quasi-feminist reinterpretation of the movie to a more straightforward re-telling of the film’s story. But though the show bombed and lost a ton of money, at least the producer was doing what producers of such a big show are supposed to do when there are creative conflicts: step in and take one side instead of the other, and retool the whole thing in keeping with the side that wins.

lol
 
the site, atU2 . com has an official announcement posted. Taymor stays on.
 
the site, atU2 . com has an official announcement posted. Taymor stays on.

Well, the atu2 article doesn't link to a source, but most of it seems consistent with what mama cass posted a page ago, which contains this:

Producers Cohl and Harris said, in a joint statement, "Julie Taymor is not leaving the creative team. Her vision has been at the heart of this production since its inception and will continue to be so. Julie's previous commitments mean that past March 15th, she cannot work the 24/7 necessary to make the changes in the production in order to be ready for our opening.

So while technically she's "not leaving," (debatable; they could just be spinning it in a way that makes her and themselves look better) she certainly is no longer in control, either.
 
Well, the atu2 article doesn't link to a source, but most of it seems consistent with what mama cass posted a page ago, which contains this:



So while technically she's "not leaving," (debatable; they could just be spinning it in a way that makes her and themselves look better) she certainly is no longer in control, either.

yep, it pretty much looks like technical spin - the legal, contractual, and proprietary implications are HUGE - if they don't give her the credit she's due (her script, her visuals, her moves, her ideas etc.), things could get nasty and they would have to start everything from scratch...
 
it is, if nothing else, one of the worst-produced shows in theatre history, since it’s the producer’s job to make sure they do this kind of thing before too much time and money has been wasted
:up:
 
So in other words... julie will sue to keep us from using any of her creations if we fire her outright , so the only way we can get her to go away is if we continue to pay her.

Well played, ms. taymor. Well played, indeed.

it must be because she's on a higher celestial plane of course :D
 
Well, Bono doesn't understand art or the creative process or artists and he has had an absolutely irrational hate for this thing from the beginning that really makes no sense in a way that is quite evil in a historically unprecedented way and he is unfairly passing judgement without having ever understood what it is when it is really real but is unfairly and irrationally only judging what he is seeing based on what he is feeling while he's not thinking because he can't because he is blinded by his inability to view the groundbreaking astral plane from an artistic and sensible way and thus Spider-man is great which should be pretty obvious to any one who is not blinded.
 
can't we all just understand that the woman has a vision, and if we can't understand that vision it's our own damn fault?
She believes in love. Yes, she believes in love! Love! Money! Love! She believes in poetry! Electricity! Cheap cosmetics! She believes in the sky over her head and her silver shoes beneath her! She believes in Broadway! She's been there! She knows that it exists. She believes in you! She believes for you! She has a vision! She has a vision! She has a vision! She has a vision! Television! Television! Television! Television!
 
Considering they're starting the tour again later this month with no big break until the end of the summer, I can't imagine that's even remotely the truth.

How does one direct a Broadway show still being revamped, whilst rocking the masses around the western hemisphere? Talk about multi-tasking.

?

U2 replaces Bono with Justin Beiber for the duration of the tour?
 
What's Next for SPIDER-MAN on Broadway? New Songs & Bono!

Thursday, March 10, 2011; Posted: 08:03 AM - by BWW

...

We're hearing that at least 4 new songs are expected for the production, including a big new Act 2 opening song. In the meantime, the show is back in rehearsals starting this afternoon including work on Deeply Furious/Think Again, the Death of Uncle Ben, Splash Page and more...

In today's New York Post, Michael Riedel provides additional details about what's next for the show, most notably that Bono and The Edge are now expected to be fully, hands-on collaborators in the show as well as Bono himself going out to be the new 'face of the musical' for press.

Riedel writes that "With his new, though decidedly B-list, creative team in place, Bono, who with The Edge wrote the score to the musical, is going to "rip the show apart from top to bottom," says a production source. "They're going to start from scratch."

...

Read more: What's Next for SPIDER-MAN on Broadway? New Songs & Bono! 2011/03/10


this seriously can't be true can it?

eta: not brave, just really bloody stupid if there is a grain of truth to this shit...

i do hope someone is pulling Riedel's leg!

it's got to be utter bollox, they're off on a major leg of the tour in no time at all, and that is no way near enough time to revamp Spidey unless they are living in cloud cuckoo land...

what a massive massive waste of time and money...
 
Riedel writes that "With his new, though decidedly B-list, creative team in place, Bono, who with The Edge wrote the score to the musical, is going to "rip the show apart from top to bottom," says a production source. "They're going to start from scratch."


and..... with that goes all hope for a new album. Done. Final nail in coffin.
:|
 
the entire NY Post article

Bono is now captain of the Titanic.

After keeping a low pro file for months while director Julie Taymor was steering "Spider-Man, Turn Off the Dark" into the iceberg, Bono is spearheading a last-ditch attempt to salvage this $65 million musical -- the most expensive in Broadway history -- from disaster.

Bono threw his friend Taymor, who staged and co-wrote the musical, overboard yesterday, replacing her with Philip William McKinley, who staged "The Boy From Oz" with Hugh Jackman, as well as circus productions for Barnum & Bailey.

Also joining the show is Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, who writes Spider-Man comic books for Marvel.

With his new, though decidedly B-list, creative team in place, Bono, who with The Edge wrote the score to the musical, is going to "rip the show apart from top to bottom," says a production source. "They're going to start from scratch."

He met with cast and crew backstage last night, and told them the changes that were coming are "in the best interests of the show," said a production source. "Spider-Man," which played its first preview back in November, will likely shut down at the end of April for at least four weeks while undergoing the massive overhaul, production sources say.
The new opening night will be in mid- to late-June. Bono will become the face of "Spider-Man," sources say, and is planning to do a series of high-profile interviews talking up the new version.

"At this point, he's the only person on the show who has any credibility left," says a source.

Yesterday, lawyers were negotiating Taymor's exit package. She will no longer be listed as director, although she may receive credit for some of her production designs.
Taymor, who directed "The Lion King" -- a global smash that has earned $4.5 billion -- is being demoted to "director of masks and puppets," one source snickers.

Bono began to lose faith in Taymor back in December, when, after completing a concert tour of New Zealand, he finally caught the show for the first time. "He was not happy," a source says.

For a while, he seemed to be putting distance between himself and the production. When "Spider-Man" became a media circus because of injuries to cast members, Bono was hobnobbing with his media-mogul friends in Davos, Switzerland.

After the show took a pounding from the critics in February, Bono realized that major changes were needed, or else "Spider-Man" would go down in history as the most expensive Broadway flop ever.

But Taymor, sources say, refused to alter her script or production in any substantial way.

"The show on stage right now is the show she believes in," says a source.

Meanwhile, the problem-plagued production suffered another embarrassment last night when an aerial stunt came to an awkward halt.

A soaring flight over the audience by Green Goblin suddenly stopped when his steering mechanism failed -- leaving the Goblin dangling, Spider-Man standing on a balcony ledge waiting to take off and some audience members howling, "Refund!"

The stunt was canceled for the night for safety reasons.

But bigger problems behind the scenes came to a head last week when Taymor made it clear to producers that, as far as she was concerned, "Spider-Man" was ready to open March 15, as scheduled.

Whether Bono knows how to save the show remains to be seen.

He may be at the helm now, but that iceberg is still dead ahead.

Spiderman Broadway show will try to be saved by U2 rock star Bono - NYPOST.com
 
if it is, and B is pretty much going to be spending his entire spring and summer promoting spidey... well... i think that means he doesn't really have plans to be promoting an album during that time.

the tour has no effect on it, really... he can easily fly in and out of NYC, and owns a place here and all... and most of the shows are on weekends and clustered together which would leave most of his weeks open to be at rehearsals and all...

but yea, certainly wouldn't leave much time for album promotion.
 
Produced by Michael Cohl & Jermiah J. Harris, Land Line Productions, Hello Entertainment/David Garfinkle/Tony Adams, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Norton Herrick & Herrick Entertainment, Billy Rovzar & Fernando Rovzar, Jeffrey B. Hecktman, Omneity Entertainment/Richard G. Weinberg, James L. Nederlander, Terry Allen Kramer, S2BN Entertainment, Jam Theatricals, Mayerson/Gould/Hauser/Tysoe Group, Patricia Lambrecht and Paul McGuinness; By special arrangement with Marvel Entertainment; Associate Producer: Anne Tanaka

Bono and Edge are NOT among the producers ? No shit.

Good to see the the wacko "Bono throws Julie Taymor under the bus" theory is gone. About up there with "sharing the blame" for Spiderman. And him "taking over".
 
and "shut down at the end of April"?

are they still planning on continuing with, what, "previews"? to a paying audience until then?

wow... just wow...
 
Produced by Michael Cohl & Jermiah J. Harris, Land Line Productions, Hello Entertainment/David Garfinkle/Tony Adams, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Norton Herrick & Herrick Entertainment, Billy Rovzar & Fernando Rovzar, Jeffrey B. Hecktman, Omneity Entertainment/Richard G. Weinberg, James L. Nederlander, Terry Allen Kramer, S2BN Entertainment, Jam Theatricals, Mayerson/Gould/Hauser/Tysoe Group, Patricia Lambrecht and Paul McGuinness; By special arrangement with Marvel Entertainment; Associate Producer: Anne Tanaka

Bono and Edge are NOT among the producers ? No shit.

Good to see the the wacko "Bono throws Julie Taymor under the bus" theory is gone. About up there with "sharing the blame" for Spiderman. And him "taking over".

umm... the theory isn't gone, and the evidence that he might be taking over at least the public face of the show is actually growing stronger, soooooo i don't know what in god's name you're talking about, but that's not new.
 
Good to see the the wacko "Bono throws Julie Taymor under the bus" theory is gone. About up there with "sharing the blame" for Spiderman. And him "taking over".

i take it you haven't read today's NY Post article :wink:

:lmao:
 
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