UK Telegraph Reviews SPIDER-MAN: 'Please, Lord, make it stop'
By: Robert Diamond Feb. 07, 2011
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The major Broadway critics haven't gone in (yet) but now the UK Telegraph is the latest paper to break the gentleman's agreement of holding reviews until after the official opening, an agreement which generally assumes a typical amount of previews.
Well-known UK Critic Charles Spencer writes that "Never mind turning off the dark. I spent much of this dreadful new musical muttering Please, Lord, make it stop."
He goes on to write that Technical hitches aside, there is no time to make major improvements now, and the musical strikes me as being beyond salvation.
The director Julie Taymor, who was responsible for the hugely enjoyable stage version of Disney's The Lion King, has come up with a dire script in collaboration with Glen Berger. Not only does she drag the ancient Greek myth of Arachne into the storyline, a brilliant weaver who was turned into a spider by the goddess Athena, she has also added a Geek Chorus (geddit?) of nerdy comic-book fans who are supposed to be making up the narrative as the show progresses. As a result the production often seems both baffling and pretentious. We are a long way here from the guilty pleasures of the Marvel comic-books and the terrific Spider-Man movies."
For the full review, click here.
After the show's last delay, BroadwayWorld.com reached out to multiple major critics after the announcement that the opening was being delayed (again) who have told us that they were talking to their editors and expect that given that the show will now have been seen by potentially 200,000 audience members before its opening night, that they will NOT wait until opening night to review the show and were instead looking at seeing the show near to the February 7th previously scheduled opening night.
Rick Miramontez, Spokesman for SPIDER-MAN Turn Off the Dark told us that "The official position of the Spider-Man team is that critics should not review the production until invited by the production. We deem critics to be theater lovers, and to review the show before it is frozen is not, in any way, in the spirit of Broadway and all it represents."
Lead producers Michael Cohl and Jeremiah J. Harris announced that SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark has delayed its opening night (previously set for February 7, 2011) to Tuesday, March 15th to allow for more time to fine-tune aspects of the show, including the new ending. Directed by Julie Taymor and featuring a book by Julie Taymor and Glen Berger, and new music and lyrics by U2's Bono and The Edge, SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark is now in previews at Broadway's Foxwoods Theatre (213 West 42nd Street).
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