"Spider-Man" Performance Canceled After Actor Seriously Injured
NEW YORK (CBS/AP) The troubled Broadway musical "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" will postpone a Wednesday matinee performance after an actor was seriously injured during Monday night's show.
A spokesman for "Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark" says producers met with federal and state labor officials and the Actors' Equity union on Tuesday to discuss additional safety measures after a performer doing an aerial stunt fell about 30 feet.
PICTURES: "Spider-Man" Actor Injured
Rick Miramontez says the measures will be enacted immediately. He didn't say what changes the show would make, but said that Spider-Man would take to the stage again on Wednesday night.
Miramontez added that Monday's audience will be contacted individually and offered an exchange or refund, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Actor Christopher Tierney, 31, is currently in serious condition at New York's Bellevue Hospital, a hospital spokesman told THR.
The New York Times reports that Tierney sustained broken ribs and suffered some internal bleeding as a result of falling from the platform, according to a person familiar with his medical condition, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private medical information.
The show's director, Julie Taymor, visited with the actor in his hospital room on Tuesday, the Times reports.
Audience members reported seeing Tierney, playing Spider-Man, fall near the end of the show.
"Spider-Man was on a bridge, and Mary Jane was dangling from it," audience member Jonathan Dealwis told CNN. "She drops down, as is meant to happen. Spider-Man went to the end of the bridge there. I think he was meant to sort of swoop over there, but he just fell off... The harness, you could see it just flick off his back and fly backward."
After, "it just went black, and the producer came on and said we're going to pause for a moment. You could hear Mary Jane weeping," Dealwis added.
Tierney's fall is the latest in a string of accidents and injuries that have plagued the show in recent weeks. In a little over a month, one actress suffered a concussion, while two other actors were injured during a flying sequence, one breaking his wrist.
Natalie Mendoza, the actress who suffered a concussion, posted a message for Tierney on her Twitter account. "Please pray with me for my friend Chris, my superhero who quietly inspires me everyday with his spirit. A light in my heart went dim tonight."
To see the accident, click on the video below.