Perpetually Doomed "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" Loses Julie Taymor
3/14/2011 Posted by Admin
Broadway News
By our guest blogger, Nick Hanover
In a move that should surprise no one, Julie Taymor has officially left "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" as director, according to the New York Times and others. Taymor will be staying on with the production in a reduced fashion, but it's not entirely clear yet what that role will be.
The production has been plagued since practically day one, with a disastrous preview showing resulting in hilarious setbacks that seem to be ongoing since a performance a few nights ago found the actor playing the show's villain the Green Goblin dangling from the rafter for some time. The musical, which is scored by Bono and The Edge from U2, has been the most costly in Broadway history and the setbacks have only made it increasingly less likely that it'll ever recoup its $65 million costs.
The New York Times' article indicates that Taymor's ousting may have less to do with the myriad technical failures of the show and instead may be because of her "perfectionist" personality. The director is said by the NYT to have been at odds with nearly every member of the musical's staff and crew, refusing to make changes to the production and brushing aside all concerns from those involved. Stepping in for Taymor will be Phil McKinley, a veteran of Barnum and Bailey's who may be able to make some sense of the technical disasters.
Even with that change in direction, though, what are the odds that "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" won't still go down in history as the Heaven's Gate of Broadway?
0 comments:
Post a Comment