There’s an old saying about artists suffering for their art.
In Julie Taymor’s world, the actors usually bare the scars.
I remember seeing a preview of “Lion King” before it opened on Broadway way back in 1994. A jungle was virtually re-created in the New York City theater — an elephant walking down the center aisle, birds swooping high overhead, giraffes sauntering across the stage.
I had to pick up my jaw from the floor.
Even the stars of the show were adorned as lions, with huge headpieces that extended forward during the performance to add menace to the music.
Those same headpieces would later cause enormous physical problems for the actors, dancers and singers wearing them.
But Julie got her aesthetic….and her Tony Awards.
Eventually they re-engineered the headpieces so they wouldn’t do permanent physical damage.
I’m sure those same actors are watching the news reports coming out of the “Spiderman” musical on Broadway and shaking their heads — if they still can — in sympathy and understanding.
Human injury has never stopped Julie Taymor in her quest to stay true to her vision in the past. Do we really think it will stop her now?
The producers need to stop her. We need to stop her. But will we?
We are a nation of voyeurs. As the accidents stack up, the producers of “Spiderman” know audiences are even more curious to see the spectacle. We don’t want anyone to get seriously hurt, but…
We wanna see a show.
Julie, make it a safe one. Or take it down.
Once bitten
I have been conflicted about seeing Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark.
Word of mouth on the show has been awful, and the first reviews unforgiving. The only fan so far? Glenn Beck.
(Yet another reason not to attend.)
But no one seemingly can deny the spectacle of the show. So when a ticket became available for last night’s performance — fourth row center and cheap – I couldn’t pass it up.
Now I’m conflicted about what I saw.
Their attempts to explain the meandering action are annoying at best. Thanks for trying. It isn’t your fault. And that ending? Well, let’s just say, I literally threw up my hands at how they tried to tie up a dangling plot point.
The score by Bono and the Edge consists of a whole bunch of moody Bono ballads — not the most inspiring backdrop for an action-packed Broadway musical. There was only one song that really got the audience going…and that was the second to the last one in the show.
That’s a long wait, people.
Visually, the show bears the creative stamp of Julie Taymor. There are elements that are stunning, particularly in her manipulation of perspective. She takes the audience to the very top of the Manhattan skyline with Spiderman and Green Goblin and again on the plunge to the streets below.
It’s amazing what she both conceived and brought to life on that stage.
But stylistically, the show is inconsistent. Sets are slick and sophisticated one moment, cartoonish and high school drama club the next. Did Spiderman really just wrestle a blow-up doll? On a $65 million budget????
Oh yes, he did.
All that being said, the actors and stunt men who flew Spidey and Green Goblin all over the Foxwoods Theatre did an incredible job. I feared for my life at every swoop — sometimes mere feet above my head — and was ever grateful for the triple redundant safety measures* now in place.
Who knows? Perhaps everything you are reading here is a symptom of survivor syndrome. Because I did survive the greatest flop in Broadway musical theater history.
Now, there’s a reason to see it right there!
*Those measures eliminated Spiderman’s final planned flight of the evening when a safety rope slipped before take-off, the only apparent tech diff of the night.
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Tagged art, ballads, Bono, Bono and the edge, Broadway, Broadway reviews, comics, commentary, design, entertainment, family, Foxwoods Theatre, Glenn Beck, Greek chorus, Green Goblin, high school drama club, Humor, Julie Taymor, life, magazines, Manhattan skyline, moody ballads, Movies, musical score, perspective, Spiderman, Spiderman comic book, Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark, triple redundant safety measures, word of mouth