The Stage

Unlike Spiderman: Turn Off The Critics, the BATMAN LIVE - World Arena Tour is a stunt-show, albeit probably one with more plot than the old second act of STOTD. The story is devised by Allan Heinberg, Stan Berkowitz and Alan Burnett, and cast photos from the production -- which kicks off in the UK -- have just been released. There's also a piece from the BBC which suggests this show will include tons of aerial stunts:

While the Spider-Man musical has been struggling along with all the momentum of an elderly man wearing roller skates trying to go up Lombard Hill after it has been covered with lard, another nerd-derived Broadway musical has opened with the fanfare of a million angels playing Handel's Water Music while flying over a burning fireworks factory.

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-Nan musical after what some are saying is whiplash:

Was God trying to tell them something?

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.

BTW, did you know that while the Spider-Man musical has been painfully making its way to a long-delayed opening, South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker have done what they should have done years ago and created a Broadway musical? The Book of Mormon opens at the end of March. It's a collaboration with Robert Lopez, creator of the cult puppet hit Avenue Q. Parker and Stone wrote the book and the songs, as they did with the South Park movie, TEAM AMERICA, and countless episodes of South Park.

And so far, people actually like it!

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.

It has become legend. The reason this time? Well as Steven Bunche and many others have pointed out, the musical still lacks an ending. Git 'er done! Producers announced the show will be delayed until March 15 (pushed back from February 7) and several performances have been canceled between now and then to allow more time to fine-tine the technical aspects of the show -- which is the most complex ever brought to Broadway -- and to work on the ending, and allow Bono and The Edge to work on the unpopular score.

As you probably know, the Spider-Man musical claimed another victim when Christopher Tierney, 31, the main aerobatic Spider-Man, plummeted 20 feet when his safety harness malfunctioned. Although he managed to tuck and roll...