Spiderman Discussion - Part III

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LemonMelon said:
Seriously, I think Bono finally saw the production and went insane. This is the only explanation.
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i agree. and i think this actually speaks sort of highly of him. it's not like he sought out blow job starfucker opinions (like from Glen Beck) and convinced himself that it was amazing and that the critics were just haters who didn't understand the celestial genius of Julie Taymor. he knew it was crap, probably because he's used to dealing with U2 and especially Larry for so long -- he's retained enough of a grasp on reality to know that his stray farts aren't going to get a good review in the NYT and be the next Wicked. say what you will about the last three albums, they sure as shit aren't lazy or unaware or dialed in (in fact, they're too self-aware and too painstaking and too labored-over, if anything). sure, he might think the music is better than it is, but at least he's objective enough to do more than rearrange the deck chairs.

further, he's really the only person involved who could actually fire, or, "fire," Julie Taymor. she may have done Lion King, but he's fucking Bono.
 
Irvine511 said:
this has long been one of the best threads in Interference. i welcome more popcorn munching -- if only they could put the drama in here up on stage!
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I'll start working on the acrobatic flying stunts!

I vote that we put Headache in a big slingshot and launch him over the audience. Bono will catch him.
 
GirlsAloudFan said:
It looks as if LeMel and B_212 have discovered the Spiderman thread.
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We've discovered the waterlogged corpse of New U2 Album. Who wouldn't want to grab a stick and join in?
 
Irvine511 said:
i agree. and i think this actually speaks sort of highly of him.
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yeah i agree... i think he's crazy, but i am a bit secretly proud of him that he's willing to stand up and take the heat and try to get things sorted

Irvine511 said:
it's not like he sought out blow job starfucker opinions (like from Glen Beck)
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yep, he can't choose his fans so to speak...

Irvine511 said:
he's retained enough of a grasp on reality to know that his stray farts aren't going to get a good review in the NYT and be the next Wicked.
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let's hope they tighten up the score then... i hope they will

Irvine511 said:
she may have done Lion King, but he's fucking Bono.
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Million Dollar Hotel anyone?

sorry... :D
 
mama cass said:
my worries are to do with Bono not being best qualified for this particular job, which i've ranted on about enough in these threads already... not to mention him not having the time to focus on it full-time what with him constantly being pulled in so many different directions...

i think this whole outcome is downright insane... but i have to admit, i seriously will be so impressed if he can pull this thing off... even though i do feel quite irked by it LOL

and i really do hope he can pull it off, otherwise he will be totally crucified by the press! i know he's meant to have a messiah complex, but still! ;)
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There are a few reasons I think this could work. First, I don't know if he's actually "in charge," as in total control, the way Julie was. It could be part of the team's decision to have him become the public face of this thing. So in essence, he could be like a figure-head. Involved, his input accepted, but still mainly in charge of the music. Or, he could actually be in charge. If that's the case, I think it still could work, because Bono is a natural collaborator. We've witnessed it for years - with the band, with other artists, with his activist work, etc. He doesn't have even a hint of Julie's control freakishness. And how often have we heard that U2 is a democracy, and that the best idea wins out? So I'm sure it'll be a purely collaborative effort, and the new people brought in will be well utilized, with the book guy and the new director's ideas being used, if they're the best thing for the show.

I do agree about the risk to Bono if it still flops. I don't think it will though, because I've heard more and more how the show has improved, and tons of input as to what should be changed to make it better. With the news that has come out in the past 24 hrs alone, it sounds like they're going to be addressing many of those weaknesses. .

corianderstem said:
If ... and that is a big-ass IF ... the album is done and was being planned for a May release, and this Spidey bullshit is potentially delaying stuff, don't you think the rest of the band would have some say in the matter?
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Definitely.


Re: the hype machine, if there is a new album coming out, they've already gone against normal procedure by keeping it fairly under wraps, so that could be a hint as to the likelihood of this release not being "business as usual." Other than P McG's couple of statements, and the now famous "maybe...we'll see" (lol, my favourite new phrase) thing, it's been pretty quiet on the album release front.
 
corianderstem said:
I'll start working on the acrobatic flying stunts!

I vote that we put Headache in a big slingshot and launch him over the audience. Bono will catch him.
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sounds good! i will stage-fight medley! where is he/she? :D
 
VintagePunk said:
There are a few reasons I think this could work. First, I don't know if he's actually "in charge," as in total control, the way Julie was. It could be part of the team's decision to have him become the public face of this thing. So in essence, he could be like a figure-head. Involved, his input accepted, but still mainly in charge of the music. Or, he could actually be in charge. If that's the case, I think it still could work, because Bono is a natural collaborator. We've witnessed it for years - with the band, with other artists, with his activist work, etc. He doesn't have even a hint of Julie's control freakishness. And how often have we heard that U2 is a democracy, and that the best idea wins out? So I'm sure it'll be a purely collaborative effort, and the new people brought in will be well utilized, with the book guy and the new director's ideas being used, if they're the best thing for the show.
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that's really encouraging, yeah, spot on... :up:

i reckon cast and crew will breathe a sigh of relief actually... maybe they will be listened to and heard now... :heart:
 
PhilsFan said:
Aside from the fact that Bono threw Taymor under the bus and has taken over, I too am glad the theory is gone.
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Not really. Taymor is very much still a part of Spiderman. Except with co-writers. Oh wait, they're also getting a musical consultant so who pushed Bono and Edge around for that one ?

And being a "public face of Spiderman" isn't "taking over"...

especially since in a few months time they will be back on tour and are recording the new album. But interference was never shy of crackpot theories.

SPIDEY GETS CREATIVE RE-BOOT; OPENS THIS SUMMER
Posted: March 09, 2011
By: Tassoula / @tassoula
It's official: Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark won't be opening on March 15 as scheduled (or... um... re-scheduled), but will instead begin regular performances in "early summer." No specific date was given.

Also, rumors that Director Julie Taymor would be leaving were apparently false — she'll stay on, but they'll be adding Philip William McKinley and Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa to help implement new staging and book rewrites. They've also hired musical consultant Bogaev (Sunset Boulevard) and sound designer Peter Hylenski (Rock of Ages), who have been working on the show in recent days.
 
U2girl said:
Not really. Taymor is very much still a part of Spiderman. Except with co-writers. Oh wait, they're also getting a musical consultant so who pushed Bono and Edge around for that one ?

And being a "public face of Spiderman" isn't "taking over"...

especially since in a few months time they will be back on tour. But interference was never shy of crackpot theories.

SPIDEY GETS CREATIVE RE-BOOT; OPENS THIS SUMMER
Posted: March 09, 2011
By: Tassoula / @tassoula
It's official: Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark won't be opening on March 15 as scheduled (or... um... re-scheduled), but will instead begin regular performances in "early summer." No specific date was given.

Also, rumors that Director Julie Taymor would be leaving were apparently false — she'll stay on, but they'll be adding Philip William McKinley and Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa to help implement new staging and book rewrites. They've also hired musical consultant Bogaev (Sunset Boulevard) and sound designer Peter Hylenski (Rock of Ages), who have been working on the show in recent days.
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that's old news U2girl... get on the right page will ya! :wink:
 
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/10/theater/julie-taymor-spider-man.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&ref=theater

On Wednesday night, the producers, along with Bono and the Edge, told the “Spider-Man” cast that Ms. Taymor was out. According to one person who was there, Bono said that Ms. Taymor would still be part of the show, but that he felt sad she would not be there day to day.

According to two investors in the show, Mr. Cohl said to them that he told Ms. Taymor on Monday that she had to leave the show.

So which is it ? And it looks like Cohl did the firing...makes sense since he's the principal producer.

Bono and the Edge, for their part, are expected to play a greater role; one of their songs is expected to be a new Act II opener that reflects Peter Parker’s struggle between being a young man and being Spider-man. Currently the act begins with an odd-fitting ode to the greatness of Spider-man, replete with dancing clergy and Columbia University professors.

You mean writing the music, which is what they are there for in the first place ? Shocking...

eta the official statement

http://spidermanonbroadway.blogspot.com/2011/03/new-creative-team-additions-announced.html

Producers Cohl and Harris said, in a joint statement, “Julie Taymor is not leaving the creative team"

I see. I guess that is producer speak for "being thrown under the bus by Bono".
 
U2girl said:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/10/theater/julie-taymor-spider-man.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&ref=theater

On Wednesday night, the producers, along with Bono and the Edge, told the “Spider-Man” cast that Ms. Taymor was out. According to one person who was there, Bono said that Ms. Taymor would still be part of the show, but that he felt sad she would not be there day to day.

According to two investors in the show, Mr. Cohl said to them that he told Ms. Taymor on Monday that she had to leave the show.

So which is it ? And it looks like Cohl did the firing...makes sense since he's the principal producer.

Bono and the Edge, for their part, are expected to play a greater role; one of their songs is expected to be a new Act II opener that reflects Peter Parker’s struggle between being a young man and being Spider-man. Currently the act begins with an odd-fitting ode to the greatness of Spider-man, replete with dancing clergy and Columbia University professors.

You mean writing the music, which is what they are there for in the first place ? Shocking...

eta the official statement

SPIDER-MAN TURN OFF THE DARK: New Creative Team Additions Announced

Producers Cohl and Harris said, in a joint statement, “Julie Taymor is not leaving the creative team"

I see. I guess that is producer speak for "being thrown under the bus by Bono".
Click to expand...

read a few pages back, the articles are there

oh fuck it here's an extract from today's NY Post, clear enough for you?

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.
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mama cass said:
read a few pages back, the articles are there
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To assist those of us that are more and more confused (i.e., ME), do you mean to say that the articles U2Girl linked to are outdated, and that the updated information coming from newer articles are the ones posted on the previous page(s) yesterday?
 
Read into this what you will, but this statement is basically saying that Taymor will remain on the creative team, but will now no longer be front and centre:

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.”
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Thanks for the edit with the NY Post info, but ... and I hate to be THAT person, but I'll do it anyway .... is the NY Post a reliable source? Has there been anything straight from anything resembling a horse's mouth in regards to the shake-up?

Edit: Ah, BoMac's post has something horsey. Thanks. No idea what that means re Bono.
 
Of course, another possiblity is that the May 27 Amazon date was actually wrong.

Whether you take the No Line single/album timing as a strict-ish guide, or assume that they might see that as having dragged, and that tighter timing this time would be better, either way it all works a bit funny with the 360 scheduling, the South American leg at least. You’d think they wouldn’t let that generally manic leg pass by. And they haven’t done a 360 ‘live’ video clip yet, which is unusual for them, especially so with this tour of all tours. Given that one of the main hopes for this album would be that it both helps breathe a bit of new life into the NA360, and possibly even help float a final Euro swing, a cool video clip with a guaranteed manic SA360 crowd (guaranteed even if they don’t know the song) would make for a great little cross promotion. Comparatively a very quick turnaround on that too, and fits with a bit of a ‘music first/no bullshit’ ethos, if that is part of this.

But, for May 27, a single for South America is a longer drag than Boots/No Line. And it might be seen as a bit of a shitty thing to either drop it midway through or immediately after that leg, when it would be ‘due’ on a No Line-or-tighter timeline.

So maybe Amazon had it wrong. Nothing else has suggested late May, or early May, or mid May, just ‘May’. We all figured initially, before Amazon, that most likely meant early to mid May, with a shorter timeline on everything. Late March announcements and single. Early to Mid May album. And before GaGa. That still makes a bit more sense.

Pretend Spider-man and all its issues and negativity don’t exist for a minute. Announce an album and single at the same time a few days before SA – five or six weeks out from the album, bang on No Line. Debut the single within 24hrs of that. Wrap it all up with some one-off relatively high profile TV performance or stunt or something. Jump on a plane, bask in South America. Have a live clip of the single at one of those first gigs turned around and on air within a couple of weeks. Return in mid-April. Album promo burst on both sides of the Atlantic. Album releases in the first two weeks of May. Knuckle down on rehearsing what will no doubt be a decent overhaul of 360 for the NA leg. Hit the road.

Even with the Spider-man cock ups, there’s still room for that. It actually still makes decent sense. The only thing that Spider-man at the moment, with an assumed May 27 release, will really cock up is any opportunity to spend a few days in some mix of Dublin/London/Paris/Elsewhere pimping the album. But… So it’s a “Late April” shutdown for Spider-man. Depending on what “Late” means, there could be a few days to over a week (or more) between that and the SA360 finishing in Mid-April. There’s at least a little London (or elsewhere) window if they’re on an Early-Mid May release timetable. And they could easily juggle the US side of it and Spider-man at once. From the theatre, they wander up a few blocks north and blast out a song or two on Letterman while they wait for some kid to get his wires and lycra untangled from the rafters or whatever. Easy.

Its possible. And again, I’m also of the opinion that even these latest delays and disasters don’t have to effect an album. If it is coming in May – especially if its earlier than the 27th - its probably too late anyway. Its not just Larry and Adam, Universal and retailers will have a fucking fit for the ages if U2 ditched an album so close to its (supposed) release. Seriously, that’s a nightmare.

“Oh hi Universal, soooo, we can’t play on as many teevee shows as we wanted and I’m getting heaps bad publicity for this circue-du-spidey thing so we don’t want to do the album anymore. Cool?”

(Harvey Weinstein voice and attitude) “So fucking what Boner. We’ve sold the thing in. The orders are confirmed. We and the retailers have budgeted all of this in for Q2 and the year. We’ve booked and paid for half your nutty mega-marketing campaign. Our operations team are well down the road on getting this and all its ridiculous super deluxe editions sorted and scheduled for manufacture and distribution, which we are within an inch of beginning. Forget your fucking tv shows and fuck LycraBoy or whatever. This album is happening.”

I think the real Spider-man impact might be felt by those at the first few NA shows. They might not get a chance to get up to speed on a larger 360 overhaul from the get go because of this, and might instead ‘creep’ changes in.

If the album was happening a couple of weeks ago, it’s still happening.
 
BoMac said:
Read into this what you will, but this statement is basically saying that Taymor will remain on the creative team, but will now no longer be front and centre:
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and as has been pointed out, there's probably copyright issues with removing her totally, since she designed so much of it, so she "remains" legally, but for creative purposes, she's out. and if i were her, i would continue to get paid and not offer up a dime's worth of fresh ideas after all this.

and, yes, all of this is producer-speak. we also call it "spin."
 
corianderstem said:
To assist those of us that are more and more confused (i.e., ME), do you mean to say that the articles U2Girl linked to are outdated, and that the updated information coming from newer articles are the ones posted on the previous page(s) yesterday?
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there were a couple of articles from today reporting Bono's more in-depth involvement in the show...

here are the links to the posts...

http://www.u2interference.com/forums/f189/spiderman-discussion-part-iii-209885-10.html#post7147262

http://www.u2interference.com/forums/f189/spiderman-discussion-part-iii-209885-10.html#post7147271

re. Julie remaining in the creative team, well it looks like she has basically been sidelined so that they can go full steam ahead and implement the changes she was obstructing...

yep, spin, as we've been saying...
 
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