The News Blog of Comics Culture
While America has been been locked in a massive ideological battle over birth control and offensive radio show hosts of late, in Canada, they have even more powerful and shocking issueS that galvanize a nation to action. Namely, network Global TV was forced to apologize for failing to warn viewersthat an episode of Family Guy included a scene where Bugs Bunny died a grisly, lingering death.
Your studio coffee run might be cold and late this week, but it’s also venti-sized for your weekend reading enjoyment, with the latest news on Game of Thrones, John Carter, Oblivion, The Walking Dead and many more tasty comic and nerd movie and film tidbits.
After months of peaceful performances, this was a rocky week for the Spider-Man musical. On Tuesday original director Julie Taymor sued over royalties and on Wednesday there was yet another injury to the cast. Back-up Spidey Matthew James Thomas, who plays the title role at matinees Wednesday and Saturday, was injured backstage while racing from one scene to another. The injury required a 10-minute pause in the musical, a trip to the hospital, and stitches for Thomas.
Oh yeah, it’s on.
After being ousted from the directing chair of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, the troubled Broadway show about the webslinger, director Julie Taymor kept a tight smile at the opening of the show. However, now the gloves are off and she’s suing the producers over her creative rights and unpaid royalties.
Based on this trippy preview, we’d say probably.
This stage show opens July 19th in the UK, and arrives in America in 2012.
The Spider-Man the Musical Saga closed another chapter of its saga last night with a star studded opening — President Bill Clinton attended, as did Matt Dmon, Cindy Crawford, and of course, composers Bono and the Edge. Even more notably, director Julie Taymor, who got fired three months ago, showed up and took a curtain call. On the red carpet she was repeatedly asked if she missed being a part of this, to which she fired back, “I AM part of this.” At the end of the curtain call, Taymor and Bono even shared a cold, celebratory smooch.
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN writer Dan Slott attended the premiere of the NEW, revised, less Arachne Spider-Man musical last night, and he tweeted his review!
What’s left after Borders? Does someone actually have a sketchbook whose theme is superheroes throwing up? Read on for the answers.
Someday, we predict, someone will write an opera about the Spider-Man musical, which will be all about immensely talented egos, wasted money and mythic archetypes; it will be the Nixon in China for those days.
Seriously, how could you have predicted the scene when fucking BONO would have to step out in front of a theatrical group and take the reins as creative leader, saying they had to move forward without the director he himself had chosen?
Well, it looks like The Beatwill have to see Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark again! Because when it officially opens–in JUNE this time–it could be a different show.
The NY Times reports that what everyone was whispering yesterday was true: the opening has been delayed until June, and the production — the most expensive in Broadway history — will take a break to try to fix some of the problems, and probably bring in a fixer.
So I finally got to see Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark.
I use the word “finally” although the show has only been in previews for a couple of months — still nearly the longest preview run of any show ever. Primarily, I use it because I’ve been writing about this show for nearly four years. And looking back at my predictions in my very first post about the show, there is indeed a song about Mary Jane’s eyes — so that is one point for me. I also predicted it would be great — hm, that is maybe one half a point. But NO ONE could have predicted the rest of the saga, from running out of money (after spending $60 million) to people breaking their backs, to Spider-women storming out in fear of their brains being bashed out and a parade of colorful incidents that have already made this one of the most legendary shows in Broadway history.
A new name joins the fabled Spider-Man musical.
Although the official opening isn’t until March, figuring the troubled Spider-Man musical has had enough time to get things right by any reasonable standard (but not by Julie Taymor’s) theater critics are flouting tradition by releasing reviews of the show during previews. And they are administering the kind of beating that Spider-Man would normally expect only from Venom.
The never-ending story of the Spider-Man musical continues:
• Director Julie Taymor is out and about promoting her film THE TEMPEST, and also answering questions about the musical. As many have pointed out…it’s still a work in progress. Maybe that book — the script — does need a bit of work:
Well, it has actually happened. We’ve been covering the Spider-Man musical story since it was first whispered, 5 or 6 years ago, and last year, at the Foxwoods Theatre in Manhattan, the very first public performance of the musical, directed by theater great Julie Taymor, with music by Bono and the Edge, of well known rock band, U2. Some thought this day would never come.
Tweet The Spider-Man musical is becoming more of a legend by the day. If it wasn’t epic cost overruns and cast changes, it was a stage setup so ambitious and dangerous that people were breaking bones. Safety concerns have led the Dept. of Labor to inspect the set after a stunt player broke both wrists [...]
Recent Comments