Bye Bye, Arachne!- Page 2

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 9:03pm

If it's that easy, why did it take them 9 years first time round?

"Hi there."

[Mildred Plotka]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 9:09pm

She could still just be the spider that bites him. That song is actually quite lovely. She sings that then disappears.

Is the season of cut shoe songs I guess!

[Katurian2]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 9:12pm

I think Priscilla has enough shoes onstage to compensate for any lack of them in other shows.

I'd be all for keeping Arachne and the prologue in with any means possible though (as long as it doesn't involve keeping 'the shoe song'). I think they could just have her briefly, keep the interesting discussion about whether Peter was chosen or not, and then move on. Maybe?

[shrekster224]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 9:20pm

It could work in two ways.

1. They could keep Arachne as his "mentor" only, and keep the prolouge about her and Rise Above, since it's more like advice to him, then have her only come back in times of Peter's need, rather than just throw her into the story whenever, such as trying to steal shoes or intervene in the Peter/MJ relationship.
2. They could have TV double as Arachne and Miss Arrow, and it would be as if Miss Arrow was fantasizing about being Arachne, but in an odd way, also involved in the actually story. I don't know if I explained it well, but it would be very cool.


Speaking of the Peter/MJ relationship, in the show, MJ never officially breaks up with Flash....

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 9:23pm

I say cut back story (Or draw it back a lot) and just make her Spider-Man's creator. Cut the act 2 villain ****.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 9:25pm

"These changes are said to include much cutting of Julie Taymor's additions to the already rich SPIDER-MAN mythology including much of the Geek Chorus, and the character of Arachne."

It says MUCH cutting to the character, not just cutting completely. I would really hope they would not cut her character since she has some of the best songs in show, besides Deeply Furious. I definitely took it to read that they are just making a lot of cuts to the character and her part in the plot, but not cutting the character entirely.

[twinbelters]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 9:51pm

They should seriously get comic writer Brian Michael Bendis to be an advisor. His take on Spidey/PP in his long-running Ultimate Spider-Man is so rich with humor and emotion; his is the Spider-Man I can envision singing.

[Katurian2]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 9:55pm

Bendis advising would be too good to be true! There are NONE of Spidey's signature puns or quips in the show that Bendis wrote so well into the Ultimates. I've never really been a fan of the way he developed MJ though.... but I guess for a while at least, that was compensated for with Gwen.

[twinbelters]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 10:02pm

I've often thought a chamber-style musical focusing on Ultimate-styled Mary Jane, Gwen, Aunt May, Spider-Girl (a clone of PP, but, y'know, a chick), and Peter would be affecting. Green Goblin would be a good villain, but not in the Ultimate fashion where he is a giant Hulk-like creature.

A better musical villain might beeeeee, ummm, Doc Ock? His backstory, outside of the Ultimate books, often has the pain suited to an opera. Ultimate Venom, where the creation of Venom is tied to the cancer research of Peter's deceased father, would make for a promising musical.

No one should adapt Spider-Man without becoming familiar with Bendis's take. From what I recall Taymor did not get past the first page of the first issue where Arachne is briefly alluded.

[KylieS]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 10:26pm

I definitely read it as "there will be much cutting of Taymor's material, including cutting of the Geek Chorus and of Arachne". Obviously cutting those things would amount to "much cutting". But ultimately we'll really just have to wait and see...

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 10:42pm

I think it is entirely possible to keep Arachne. If she becomes a mentor to him through his dreams exclusively instead of entering the story as an actual character in Act 2, she could work as a character. That would mean every song but Deeply Furious and Love Me Or Kill Me would stay...and those two songs are the worst in the show anyway. Think Again was the most exciting musical moment of the show for me, so I'd hate to see it go.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 11:39pm

Doesn't Arachne fly over the audience in that huge awesome costume during Think Again?

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 11:44pm

Yes, she starts in the balcony and then swings all around the theatre. With some lyric rewrites, it could really be a good song.

[Tag]

Posted: 3/14/11 at 12:06am

If anyone thinks they are going to cut any of the major effects (with Arachne or otherwise), you are crazy. Too much time and money was put into their execution. They will rework the book with the effects already created in mind.

[willheim2]

Posted: 3/14/11 at 12:27am

i stand by my guess. the exposition laden prologue is a dreadful bore imho and runs on wayyyy to long for a show about sm, and the shoe number obviously goes, the beatuiful tapestry thing stays, nicest part of show visually, and then who knows....

[Moneyspider]

Posted: 3/14/11 at 12:34am

Arachne could be reworked as Madame Web, or as part of a show Peter sees as a child (like the Mask of Zorro or the opera in various Batman origins)..

I'm inclined to suggest comic writers or creatives with awareness of different platforms. Not so familiar with Bendis, Deadpool's my anchor character for Marvel comics. I really dug Geoff John's Superman origin GN and the last Spidey toon http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PX5zwNNuEZs

[theatreguy]

Posted: 3/14/11 at 12:37am

Scott Brown returned to the show a final time before Taymor's departure, calling it a "lavishly incompetent mess-terpiece":

http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2011/03/stage_dive_on_turning_off_the.html

[kyl3fong2]

Posted: 3/14/11 at 1:24am

Twinbelters --- Did you know that in that very same ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN comic book series, Arachne is actually mentioned in the beginning of it? When I read that comic book I found it very interesting that Arachne was actually IN one of the Spider-man comic books!

[broadwayboy101]

Posted: 3/14/11 at 1:28am

...did you even read his post?

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 3/14/11 at 2:00am

^ I'm gonna take a wild guess and say no. :)

[darquegk]

Posted: 3/14/11 at 8:55am

Arachne does, as noted above, seem like a corruption of the Madame Web character who appears in the comics since the Eighties.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 3/14/11 at 9:12am

What I had heard before this article came out was that the characters were going to be completely eliminated. I think, should that be the case, it will be mostly to do with Taymor's departure and her taking with her of certain 'conceptual elements' that are uniquely her own.

A lot of the best material in the show (as it currently stands) belongs to Arachne - both musically and visually -- it would be a loss to the production to completely remove her and Taymor is definitely staking a smart chess move in throwing the producers that curve ball.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 3/14/11 at 10:39am

This is very curious. Sounds like they are exactly on the right track. Basically, they are fleshing out the first act and tightening the focus of that story. It's precisely what I felt needed to happen after seeing the show. The two one-acts approach was completely incongruous in staging and the story made no sense.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/14/11 at 10:43am

And of course all of this can be done in 3 weeks.

[TheatreFan27]

Posted: 3/14/11 at 12:02pm

I agree @Jordan Catalano. They really need to shut down for a few months and take their time to rewrite and rework this show. I can't see how they can make such monumental changes to the core of a show and then rehearse with the cast and crew in a matter of three weeks! And that's if the majority of the cast want to renew their contracts. I can't even imagine how difficult it must be to replace in this show!

For the record, I actually liked Arachne's character too! She had the best songs in the show so I'd hate to see some of them cut!