Author Topic: Ouch! Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark 2.0 reviews NOT coming up roses for Spidey  (Read 80044 times)

Offline Monika

  • BetterMost Moderator
  • BetterMost 5000+ Posts Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 6,587
  • We are all the same. Women, men, gay, straight
They need to give James Franco a call :P

Offline Aloysius J. Gleek

  • BetterMost Supporter!
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 10,011



They need to give James Franco a call :P


 :o ::) :laugh:


"Tu doives entendre je t'aime."
(and you know who I am...)


Cowboy Curtis (Laurence Fishburne)
and Pee-wee in the 1990 episode
"Camping Out"

Offline Aloysius J. Gleek

  • BetterMost Supporter!
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 10,011


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/09/theater/09spider.html?hp



‘Spider-Man’
to Postpone
Its Opening

By PATRICK HEALY
Published: March 8, 2011



An official start in June would be the sixth delay to the
opening of "Spider-Man" in the show's long history.



The producers of “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” are planning a significant overhaul of the $65 million Broadway musical that would involve shutting down performances for two to three weeks, as well as delaying its scheduled opening on March 15 for about three months, according to people who work on “Spider-Man” or were briefed on the producers’ plans.

The precise dates for the shutdown — needed to give the cast a break and to hold new rehearsals — have not been set, but they are expected to cover late April and early May, the people said. They spoke Tuesday on the condition of anonymity because the producers were working on the details and wanted to disclose the plans themselves. An official announcement was expected this week.

The new opening night was also not clear as of late Tuesday; a shift to a time around the Tony Awards, which are on June 12, could prove controversial among Broadway producers who are bothered by the media and public interest that has focused on “Spider-Man” instead of on their shows. “Spider-Man” has been among the highest-grossing shows on Broadway since beginning preview performances on Nov. 28, taking in $1.28 million last week.

Who would oversee the creative changes has been an open question. The producers on Tuesday continued negotiating with their director, Julie Taymor, and her fellow creators, U2’s Bono and the Edge, about the composition of the artistic team going forward and about whether it would continue to include Ms. Taymor, according to the people briefed on the producers’ planning.

The musical’s press representative, Rick Miramontez, said on Tuesday, “Opening night remains scheduled for March 15.”

An official start in June would be the sixth delay to the opening of “Spider-Man” in the show’s long history, which began in 2002, when Marvel Entertainment reached out to the Broadway producer Tony Adams (“Victor/Victoria”) about developing a musical. The endeavor has survived Mr. Adams’s death in 2005, a near-bankruptcy in 2009 and a number of technical challenges involving its aerial stunts, which contributed to injuries involving four performers during the fall and winter and led to several findings of state and federal safety code violations.

“Spider-Man” completed its 99th preview performance on Tuesday night, more than any other show in history; it is also twice as expensive as the next big-budget Broadway show, “Shrek the Musical.”

No one has worked on “Spider-Man” more intensely than Ms. Taymor, who is also one of its script writers, its mask designer and far and away its chief creative force. But the producers have concluded that the show needs fresh eyes and ideas to improve in light of sharply negative reviews from most of the nation’s theater critics last month. The producers have asked Ms. Taymor to work with new collaborators or face another resolution, possibly even leaving.

The producers have contacted at least two Broadway musical directors, Christopher Ashley (a Tony Award nominee for “Memphis” and “The Rocky Horror Show”) and Philip William McKinley (“The Boy From Oz”), about coming aboard, the people said.
"Tu doives entendre je t'aime."
(and you know who I am...)


Cowboy Curtis (Laurence Fishburne)
and Pee-wee in the 1990 episode
"Camping Out"

Offline Meryl

  • BetterMost Supporter
  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 12,205
  • There's no reins on this one....
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....
Ich bin ein Brokie...

Offline Jeff Wrangler

  • BetterMost Supporter!
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 31,165
  • "He somebody you cowboy'd with?"
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.
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.

Offline Aloysius J. Gleek

  • BetterMost Supporter!
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 10,011






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....




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.




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?
"Tu doives entendre je t'aime."
(and you know who I am...)


Cowboy Curtis (Laurence Fishburne)
and Pee-wee in the 1990 episode
"Camping Out"

Offline Aloysius J. Gleek

  • BetterMost Supporter!
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 10,011



They need to give James Franco a call :P



Monika--!    :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:


"Tu doives entendre je t'aime."
(and you know who I am...)


Cowboy Curtis (Laurence Fishburne)
and Pee-wee in the 1990 episode
"Camping Out"

Offline Front-Ranger

  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 30,288
  • Brokeback got us good.
If you can't stand the sticky, stay out of the spideweb!!
"chewing gum and duct tape"

Offline Aloysius J. Gleek

  • BetterMost Supporter!
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 10,011


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!
"Tu doives entendre je t'aime."
(and you know who I am...)


Cowboy Curtis (Laurence Fishburne)
and Pee-wee in the 1990 episode
"Camping Out"

Offline Jeff Wrangler

  • BetterMost Supporter!
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 31,165
  • "He somebody you cowboy'd with?"
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?
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.