Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark, the most expensive and technically ambitious stage musical ever produced, is to be delayed a fifth time.
Plagued with numerous preview delays, the Julie Taymor (The Lion King) directed show with music and lyrics by U2’s Bono and The Edge, will now suffer yet another opening night delay, rescheduled to March 15 at New York’s Foxwoods Theatre.
With a budget of $65 million, Spider-Man is more than twice the cost of the previous most expensive shows on Broadway (Shrek: The Musical and The Lion King). It is also the most technically advanced stage show Broadway has ever seen, with computer-controlled high-wire technical stunts above the audience. The show can now add a third trophy to it’s cabinet, for whenever it does actually open (we hold our breath for 15 March), it is now guaranteed to have been in previews longer than any other show in Broadway history (first preview 28 November 2010).
With so many previews and no opening night, Spider-Man is yet to receive official press reviews. Media about the quality of the show so far has come unofficially from bloggers, with many panning it’s plot. The musical has also suffered several cast injuries, including one serious injury placing a member in hospital due to a harness malfunction during a fIight sequence, several cancelled preview performances, public complaints about the cost of preview tickets and the withdrawal of a main cast member before the show’s official opening.
What Spider-Man needs next is a little bit of good luck…
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