Broadway's Spider-Man To Delay Opening Until Early Summer
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- It's official: Spider-Man's landing on Broadway has been delayed. Again.
WCBS 880's Peter Haskell reports that re-tooling may be just what the show needs
Podcast
Producers on Wednesday confirmed that "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" would now open in early summer 2011 to revamp the show with a "newly expanded creative team" after it received a drubbing from theater critics last month and following a series of injuries to cast members.
That news came shortly before Wednesday's preview performance came to a halt when the Green Goblin's flight stopped when his steering mechanism failed.
The stunt was part of a fight scene between the Green Goblin and Spider-Man. A stage manager finally told the laughing audience that the stunt would have to be canceled for safety reasons.
Julie Taymor, who directed and co-wrote the book for show will no longer helm the production but will be a part of the creative team, the producers said.
The show's representative, Rick Miramontez, said no preview performances would be canceled during the overhaul.
The highly unusual move came as "Spider-Man" continues to defy the reviews and post impressive numbers at the box office. It was the second highest-grossing show on Broadway this week, after "Wicked," pulling in close to $1.3 million -- though it was slightly down from the week before.
But unlike "Wicked," tickets to "Spider-Man" are now available at the discount TKTS booth -- a possible reason that total grosses were down.
"Spider-Man" has been tangled in a web of troubles for years, from bankruptcy to technical glitches that came to a head when actor Christopher Tierney plummeted 35 feet off-stage in December.
Podcast
1010 WINS' Juliet Papa with New Yorkers at the Foxwoods Theater
"It was tethered to my back but it wasn't tethered to the stage and I just went for it. There was no pulling myself back," he told CBS 2's Dana Tyler back on January 1. "The last thing I remember was going 'Oh God' and then I passed out."
Tierney woke up with broken ribs and a head injury. He became the fourth actor to be seriously hurt during the show's run, which is still in previews.
Last week the U.S. Department of Labor slapped the pricey musical with three serious violations.
"The team will be implementing a new plan to make significant and exciting revisions to the production," lead producers Michael Cohl and Jeremiah J. Harris said in a statement. "This amended schedule will allow the time necessary to execute the plan, which will include revisions to the script."
What do you think? Leave a comment below…
(TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
