The Word of the Day is "Spidenfreude."
I don't know how many of you have been keeping up with theatre news lately, but the buzz over the Spiderman musical (yes, you heard me right) has been branching out into most other news circles too as of late. Directed by Julie Taymor (of Frida, Titus, The Tempest, and Broadway's The Lion King fame), the musical has turned out to be one of the biggest disappointments on Broadway since Carrie or The Adams Family. But so, so much worse. Some stats:
-It is the most complex show ever on Broadway, with with 27 aerial sequences of characters flying. There's a multitude of moving set pieces, and lots of screen projections.
-Because of this, it is also the most expensive show ever to be put on on Broadway. Tickets are incredibly expensive (not even topping at $300.00), and the show will have to play to SOLD-OUT houses for four years jut to break even.
-There is one stunt scene in the show that has gone wrong in almost every rehearsal and performance, causing two actors to break both wrists and one to break both his feet. At another point, one actress suffered a concussion when a flying piece of scenery hit her in the head, and one actor fell 20 feet from his harness into the orchestra pit.
Anyway, now that that's out of the way,I direct you to the best review of anything ever.
In case the bit about Glenn Beck seemed to come out of left field, here's what they were talking about.
Now, I can't speak for the actors' performances or any of that. I wasn't there. But it certainly seems like this thing would make Ed wood himself gleam with admiration.
It's an interesting point he brings up about "broken theatre," though. Personally, I'm a HUGE fan of breaking the fourth wall, and self-parody, even if it isn't really purposeful, is a great thing to be able to do.
-It is the most complex show ever on Broadway, with with 27 aerial sequences of characters flying. There's a multitude of moving set pieces, and lots of screen projections.
-Because of this, it is also the most expensive show ever to be put on on Broadway. Tickets are incredibly expensive (not even topping at $300.00), and the show will have to play to SOLD-OUT houses for four years jut to break even.
-There is one stunt scene in the show that has gone wrong in almost every rehearsal and performance, causing two actors to break both wrists and one to break both his feet. At another point, one actress suffered a concussion when a flying piece of scenery hit her in the head, and one actor fell 20 feet from his harness into the orchestra pit.
Anyway, now that that's out of the way,I direct you to the best review of anything ever.
In case the bit about Glenn Beck seemed to come out of left field, here's what they were talking about.
Now, I can't speak for the actors' performances or any of that. I wasn't there. But it certainly seems like this thing would make Ed wood himself gleam with admiration.
It's an interesting point he brings up about "broken theatre," though. Personally, I'm a HUGE fan of breaking the fourth wall, and self-parody, even if it isn't really purposeful, is a great thing to be able to do.