Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark
An article in the Sunday New York Times says Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark is a punchline, but a profitable one
– by Shawn Conner
An article appearing today (Feb 6) on the front page of the New York Times brings up some interesting points about the Spider-Man Broadway musical.
Mostly the article is about whether or not the spectacle can sustain interest and keep selling tickets. Buzz has been buzzing over the disaster-prone Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark (does anyone refer to it by that name?), which has been in previews since 1961, due to technical difficulties and, more seriously, the injuries of four performers.
Though it doesn’t officially open until March 15, the preview performances have attracted the likes of Glenn Beck and two of the Jonas brothers. And even though (or because) the $65m production has become the butt of jokes by everyone from The Onion to Joan Rivers to Steve Martin, it’s still pulling in $1.3 million a week.
The article also states:
Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark
– rightwing commentator Glenn Beck has seen the show four times. We’re still processing this one.
– the recent Spider-Man New Yorker cover, which shows a hospital ward full of injured Spider-Men and was drawn by cartoonist Barry Blitt, was only the second time in the history of the magazine that a Broadway show made the cover of the magazine (the first was The Producers, in 2001).
Spider-Man on the cover of The New Yorker.
– besides injuries to four performers, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark lost one of its stars, Natalie Mendoza (Hotel Babylon, The Descent 2), after she sustained a concussion backstage. She left in late Dec after signing a confidentiality agreement and being paid an undisclosed amount.
Surely she survived worse in The Descent 2. So why did Natalie Mendoza leave the cast of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark?
– one paragraph in the article states that among audience members have been a number of celebrities, “some of whom are friends of Bono and The Edge.” It doesn’t say who are close personals of the two, but it does go on to state: “Jon Bon Jovi, David Bowie, Kevin and Nick Jonas, Julian Lennon, Sean Penn and Jerry Seinfeld are among those who have seen the show.” We don’t know what makes us queasier, the thought of Bono and The Edge hanging out with Kevin and Nick Jonas, or with Bon Jovi.
– however, the article does allow Bono is “close” with Oprah Winfrey. To which we can only say: of course they are.
True story: in 2006, Bono appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show to promote his Red product line. Also, Bono owns Facebook.
Coming up: Does Bono own Facebook?
