Well this is sad. T.V. Carpio, who plays the much-dreaded Arachne character, has been on hiatus from the soon-to-be-rebuilt Spider-Man musical after what some are saying is whiplash:
According to a person familiar with the injury, it came during the Act II showdown between Arachne and Peter Parker, who was played at that performance by Matthew James Thomas. While “Spider-Man” has drawn attention from state and federal safety officials for its aerial sequences, the scene that brought harm to Ms. Carpio involves some fairly aggressive hand-to-hand combat between Arachne and Peter, as well as the two characters swooping and swinging from heights to confront each other on stage. The person said Ms. Carpio appeared to have a neck injury, but had no details. This person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the producers did not want to release details about the incident.
This is the FIFTH injury on the Spider-Man stage, and follows the now well-known saga of director Taymor’s ouster yadda yadda. Ironically, when recently interviewed about the troubled show, Carpio was incredibly tactful about the mess:
What do you think about the reports that your part, Arachne, is going to get drastically cut?
I actually don’t even know that either. Nobody’s said anything to me. It’s just stuff I’ve read online.
What might your reaction be when you finally do get word about your role being diminished?
As an actor, we’re all storytellers, so if it helps to tell a better story, then I’m all for it, you know?
In the play. Carpio is often hoisted above the crowd in a little capsule that resembles a kind of insectoid thorax, and she whips around and fights Spider-Man in it — kind of like a pod racer for Broadway. She puts her all into the role and we hope she has a speedy recovery.
Spider-Man is going on hiatus from 4/19-5/11 to retool. Much of Taymor’s script — including Arachne — is slated to be scrapped. Personally, we’re amazed that they think they can fix this thing in just three weeks but…anything that reduces the number of injuries would be a good thing at this point.
“Personally, we’re amazed that they think they can fix this thing in just three weeks but…anything that reduces the number of injuries would be a good thing at this point.”
Oh, come on. They could fix this thing in three weeks. Just write a new script adapting the themes of the comic book stories — you know, the ones written by people with talent who actually like Spider-Man.
she’s purty.