Actor injured in Spiderman tonight- Page 3

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 12/20/10 at 11:54pm

http://gawker.com/5715514/

[Eris0303]

Posted: 12/20/10 at 11:54pm

If they come forward with the video is Julie going to swing down upon them for taping her precious illegally?

[Kad]

Posted: 12/20/10 at 11:55pm

Julie wouldn't be caught dead swinging on one of her loose tethers. That's what the actors are for.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 12/20/10 at 11:59pm

"Circuses have been doing aerial tricks for years."

And you really don't think people are injured during those? Just because the injury doesn't show up here or get wide coverage doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

"what the heck happened during "Fosse" previews that people got injured??"

Fosse and Cats have a wide trail of performance-related injuries following them, everything from issues with hip joints, blown out knees, chronic lower back problems, snapped Achilles tendons (which took Dame Judi Dench out of the original London cast of Cats, allowing "Memory" to become one of Elaine Paige's signature songs"). Starlight Express broke many a wrist and ankle of its various cast members. Again, just because the injury doesn't occur in something as dramatic as a fall doesn't make it any less serious. Hell, Xanadu lost its leading man during previews to a broken ankle from the roller skating. And let's not forget Idina missing her final performances in Wicked due to an injury inflicted on her by a trap door failure.

I do wish a speedy recovery for those injured. I just find the way people are reacting as if there are absolutely no safety measures in place on this show, and acting as if they are in the production meetings where Julie is saying "don't worry if people get hurt, we'll just hire a replacement" to be a bit over the top. Accidents happen. You can do everything possible to attempt to avoid them, but they are still going to happen. The cast all knew that this was going to be a dangerous show going in to it, nobody tricked them into signing the contract.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 12/21/10 at 12:00am

I can't wait to see how Taymor and co. try to spin this one!

"It's live theater! It happens!"

"When you're trying to be innovative like we are, sometimes things go wrong."

"We opened cold with no out of town tryout, so we didn't have time to work out the bugs."

[Eris0303]

Posted: 12/21/10 at 12:01am

Luckily, it seems as though the actor involved is okay, though there's no official word about any of this, so we're going off Twitter accounts.

Seriously, gawker? Were these twitter people under the stage with the EMTs, in the ambulance, at the hospital?

I'd bet anything that the actor is not "okay" after a 20 foot fall.

[musicalman2]

Posted: 12/21/10 at 12:02am

Report from NY Times this evening.
NY Times report

[musicalman2]

Posted: 12/21/10 at 12:02am

Report from NY Times this evening.
NY Times report

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 12/21/10 at 12:03am

Wow. When's the last time Broadway was a trending topic on Twitter? (Also: spider.)

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 12/21/10 at 12:05am

http://talkinbroadway.com/allthatchat/d.php?id=1931564
I was there tonight and what I saw from the front of the dress circle was that when spiderman goes after Mary Jane off the Brooklyn Bridge the wire that he was attached to (toward the back of the bridge I guess) appeared not to be attached and the end of it came flying out and off to the side. Seconds later you heard a woman's voice say "Oh my God" then a man's voice say "Call 911" So, unless he landed on Jennifer, I think the injured person was the spidey double.

I seriously hope he is ok, but can only imagine the worst happened tonight.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 12/21/10 at 12:08am

I don't understand how or why this show has been so unsafe. Circuses have been doing aerial tricks for years.
Word. A wire snapped? What the hell are they using, actual spider silk? I've been all on board for a crazy huge blockbuster flop Spiderman musical, but I don't have much tolerance for stupidity over something as simple as shoddy ropes.

Rant aside, I fell 20 feet as a child and walked away. It's not always paralysis or death, there's still a good chance he'll be ok.

Updated On: 12/21/10 at 12:08 AM

[wonderwaiter]

Posted: 12/21/10 at 12:10am

So, did he fall 8-10 feet, or 20-30 feet?




/There's a difference.

[Kad]

Posted: 12/21/10 at 12:11am

I think it's far too early to make any judgments about whether or not the actor is "okay" or "not okay"... though, from the reports, I'm certainly not banking on the former. 20ft. is quite a fall. I'm sure we're looking at injuries, whether they be broken ribs or limbs or a concussion or worse.

[manaboutown]

Posted: 12/21/10 at 12:11am

"actors knew it was a dangerous job going in"...

Pu-leeeeeaaSE! Actors want JOBS. And they assume that the union won't allow them to do anything that isn't safe. The fact is the union has no idea what is going on...they only hear after an injury happens.
And yes, many directors and producers think that actors are replaceable...if you break one you just hire another.
grow up...this show and it's "safety" is appalling.

[PopAria]

Posted: 12/21/10 at 12:11am

A stunt man falling from 20 feet wouldn't receive much damage if he/she was in shape and was trained to fall correctly. (google: How to fall correctly)

but who knows, he probably had a split second to think about it...

I hope Jennifer is ok.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 12/21/10 at 12:13am

I fell 20 feet as a child and walked away. It's not always paralysis or death, there's still a good chance he'll be ok.

How old were you though? One of the reasons children are able to walk away from stuff like that is because their bones are more cartilage than actual bone. The fact that he's 31 will make it more likely that he broke something.

And it all depends on how he landed and what he landed on. I'm not saying that he will be paralyzed for life or will die. But the chances that he broke something are very, very good.

A stunt man falling from 20 feet wouldn't receive much damage if he/she was in shape and was trained to fall correctly. (google: How to fall correctly)

Yes, I'm sure he knows how but we don't know what was underneath him. If it was a flat surface that's one thing but if there were chairs, boxes, etc that would change things.

btw...my definition of "okay" is zero injuries. I'm really don't think he's "okay".

Updated On: 12/21/10 at 12:13 AM

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 12/21/10 at 12:14am

I understand that this is a high profile show, which makes the accidents high profile as well, and accidents do happen in all shows. I also believe that eventually someone has to say enough is enough, and perhaps scale back on the stunts, choreography, or whatever else is constantly causing the problems, no matter what show it is.

[bjh2114]

Posted: 12/21/10 at 12:14am

but who knows, he probably had a split second to think about it...

I hope Jennifer is ok.

I hope HE is ok!

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 12/21/10 at 12:19am

This is just horrible...

If this doesn't give Julie a wakeup call then someone should just put her down...

[GlindatheGood22]

Posted: 12/21/10 at 12:23am

Jesus Christ, Taymor and Friends! What's it gonna take? NOTHING good can possibly come of any of this.

[masb19872]

Posted: 12/21/10 at 12:24am

A press representative for “Spider-Man” said in an email message: “An actor sustained an injury at tonight’s performance of ‘Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.’ He fell several feet from a platform approximately seven minutes before the end of the performance, and the show was stopped. All signs were good as he was taken to the hospital for observation. We will have more news shortly.”

"An actor sustained an injury" and "all signs were good" seems rather contradictory to me.

Also, even if things look fine right now, there are always things that may not appear immediately, like whiplash or some head injuries.
Updated On: 12/21/10 at 12:24 AM

[Kad]

Posted: 12/21/10 at 12:25am

Yes, accidents happen. In theatre, in life (hell, my mom managed to hurt her hand to the point of needing surgery when she tripped over some cables when she worked a telemarketing job). Yes, dancers may fall, actors may trip, a drop might come down too quickly- it can happen to any production, at any time, in any venue. But they tend to be occasional flukes, often not repeated during a show's rehearsal process or run (for instance, the Xanadu example: was any other injury reported during the duration of the run or any of that production's subsequent touring? I can't recall so, but I may be wrong).

But there have been four injuries for Spider-Man, and nothing along the lines of "a dancer tripped and fell". All are related to the show's technical aspect.

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 12/21/10 at 12:27am

I have to echo a previous poster and say: I don't understand why this is happening. With all the crazy Cirque du Soleil and Circus shows out there that seem to go off fine...what's going on here? Or, do things like that have just as many injuries that we simply aren't aware of because they are not nearly as high profile as this?

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 12/21/10 at 12:27am

"How old were you though? One of the reasons children are able to walk away from stuff like that is because their bones are more cartilage than actual bone. The fact that he's 31 will make it more likely that he broke something."

Eh, 10-ish. I wasn't trying to draw direct comparisons, I'm just saying that it doesn't necessarily mean the worst. I think a broken arm or leg is an "ok" outcome relative to the possibility of a broken neck.

Updated On: 12/21/10 at 12:27 AM

[thetinymagic2]

Posted: 12/21/10 at 12:28am

It's PR baby, it's PR.......let's just hope that it's not serious.....