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Ouch! Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark 2.0 reviews NOT coming up roses for Spidey
Aloysius J. Gleek:
--- Quote from: Meryl on March 08, 2011, 11:39:11 pm ---This is getting ridiculouser by the minute. They need to face the music, so to speak, and realize it is what it is. What's that old proverb about a sow's ear....
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--- Quote from: Jeff Wrangler on March 09, 2011, 09:52:56 am ---I wasn't paying close attention, but I believe I heard on the news this morning that Julie Taymor is definitely out of the show.
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Yup, you got it quite correct.
http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2011/03/spider-man_delayed_another_thr.html
Taymor Out, Spider-Man Delayed
Another Three Months
By: Julie Gerstein
3/8/11 at 9:01 PM
The producers of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark have decided to fire director Julie Taymor and delay the show's opening for another three months in order to perform a "significant" overhaul, sources close to the musical told the Daily News.
"Taymor is out. She's left the building," a source told the Daily News.
The show has been hit with endless production delays, budget overruns, cast injuries, and largely negative reviews. New York' s Scott Brown wrote that the play is "by turns hyperstimulated, vivid, lurid, overeducated, underbaked, terrifying, confusing, distracted, ridiculously slick, shockingly clumsy, unmistakably monomaniacal and clinically bipolar. But never, ever boring."
The Times noted "no one has worked on 'Spider-Man' more intensely than Ms. Taymor, who is its director, one of its script writers, its mask designer and far and away its chief creative force." She told the TED conference this week that "anyone who creates knows — when it’s not quite there ... Where it hasn’t quite become the phoenix or the burnt char. And I am right there ... It is my trial by fire. It’s my company’s trial by fire. We have survived because our theme song is 'Rise Above.'"
The Daily News also said the production would temporarily shut down for two to three weeks to retool yet again, driving up the the price tag of what is already by far the most expensive production in Broadway history. There was no word as to who might replace Taymor, although press reports in February said that Phil McKinley, director of the Tony-winning play The Boy From Oz, might be brought on as a co-director.
On Tuesday, show press representative Rick Miramontez said: "Opening night remains scheduled for March 15.” This week it completed its 99th performance in previews, more than any other show in history. At least they broke one record, right?
Aloysius J. Gleek:
--- Quote from: Buffymon on March 08, 2011, 03:26:02 am ---They need to give James Franco a call :P
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Monika--! :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
Front-Ranger:
If you can't stand the sticky, stay out of the spideweb!!
Aloysius J. Gleek:
http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2011/03/spider-man_adds_director_as_ju.html
Spider-Man Adds Director
as Julie Taymor Steps Back
By: Kyle Buchanan
3/9/11 at 9:40 PM
It's official: The beleaguered Broadway production of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark has announced its long-rumored opening night delay (it's now rescheduled for "early summer") and the hiring of Broadway vet Phil McKinley, director of the Tony-winning play The Boy From Oz. Contrary to the producer's previous statement, [Julie] Taymor has been removed as director and McKinley is in. In a meeting with the cast, co-creator Bono said that Taymor would still be a part of the show, but would not be there from day to day.
Said the producers in a statement:
"Julie Taymor is not leaving the creative team. Her vision has been at the heart of this production since its inception and will continue to be so. Julie's previous commitments mean that past March 15th, she cannot work the 24/7 necessary to make the changes in the production in order to be ready for our opening. We cannot exaggerate how technically difficult it is to make such changes to a show of this complexity, so it's with great pride that we announce that Phil McKinley is joining the creative team."
Those familiar with Taymor and the show say that problems have been long-simmering, and stem from her unwillingness to accept outside criticism and changes. According to four of her colleagues, Taymor refused to meet with outside collaborators; did not act on suggestions for improvements; and disagreed with cast and crew about changes to the musical's story. The show's producers and Taymor's co-creators Bono and The Edge also expected she would make more changes to the show's problematic second act. In the end, they decided she lacked the objectivity to make the necessary changes to the show.
Eventually producers Michael Cohl and Jeremiah J. Harris lost patience with Taymor. And on Monday, Cohl told Taymor she had to leave.
“Julie’s an extremely sensitive person, and she has always felt like a mother to her plays, a mother to her characters,” said Jeffrey Horowitz, a friend and artistic director of New York’s Theater for a New Audience, and one of the few people who has gone on record about the Taymor and the production. “This is like a mother being taken away from her family. She loves that family. She wants that family.”
Good luck with this one, Bono!
Jeff Wrangler:
This is all getting just a little too ridiculous. For a show that hasn't "opened" it's taken in how many gazillions in ticket sales?
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