SPIDER-MAN Delays Opening Night AGAIN - March 15- Page 2

[tking001]

Posted: 1/13/11 at 8:35pm

Is this the longest preview period ever?

[Overkill]

Posted: 1/13/11 at 8:39pm

They just need to close for about a month and rework the show. Open it officially in March.

Scale down Arachne A BUNCH, beef up Mary Jane, cut the shoe song, cut the geek chorus, bring in a play doctor like Jerry Zaks to look at the book and just keep working on the score. That's not A LOT to do in a month.

[SallyF]

Posted: 1/13/11 at 8:44pm

then what difference does it make when the Opening Night is?

[jennafan]

Posted: 1/13/11 at 8:54pm

I has come to the point they are doing everything possible to stay in the limelight.. Let's have a *new* story about &$#**@& Spider-Man every week now.

It's getting OLD!! I am utterly sick of this show and hearing about it.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 1/13/11 at 8:57pm

I still say it'll be delayed again, missing out on being eligible for the Tony's this season.

[nasty_khakis]

Posted: 1/13/11 at 8:58pm

What...a shocker.

[PitPro2004]

Posted: 1/13/11 at 9:00pm

I was wondering the same thing tking. Doesn't Nick and Nora hold the record for something like 69 previews or something like that?

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 1/13/11 at 9:11pm

I have defended this show (well not the show, but against all the drama that surounded it) but even i have to say that this is getting silly.
The best thing they can do is shut down for 1 month and sort the problems out. The company will probably have a good show in the end but all this changing the dates etc is turning everyone against it so it wont stand a chance with critics. Also the critics will now clearly go in and review before it's done which is going to do then no favours. Shut down, get the changes in and reopen.

If they shut down for even 2 weeks they would have more rehearsal time that they are getting now to sort out the problems and only lose a few weeks sales. They need to decide what is more important....making money for a couple of weeks or closing for 2 weeks, sorting the show and reopening with a lot more respect from the critics etc and a better show.

[uncageg]

Posted: 1/13/11 at 9:15pm

I was thinking about grabbing a ticket to see it next week while in NYC. Now part of me wants to wait and another part is thinking it might close before it opens and I should just go next week.

[mikem]

Posted: 1/13/11 at 9:16pm

Honestly, what is their incentive to open? They seem to believe that the show needs tuning up. The show is a sellout and making money for them currently, so financially they have no incentive -- audiences don't seem to care that these are previews. They are getting a ton of publicity now, and it will die down in a couple of months, but the show will be opening then and the publicity will start up again.

I'm not saying I agree with the idea of such a long preview period, but from the producers' perspective, it is understandable.

Assuming they don't cancel any more shows, they have something like 66 more previews to go (more than 8 weeks) -- I believe they have had fewer than 40 so far, so they are not even halfway through the preview period.

Updated On: 1/13/11 at 09:16 PM

[JennCrawford]

Posted: 1/13/11 at 9:24pm

OMG rediculous.
I would love to see this musical. When it opens. One day. Maybe.
Spidey forver!

---------------
~Jenn <3
http://beintheheights.com/jjcrawfs

[Actor2]

Posted: 1/13/11 at 9:31pm

Scott Briefer:

I applaud your post. Haven't seen it. Obviously not a perfect show. I am in complete agreement with you.

[joeyvalcort]

Posted: 1/13/11 at 9:34pm

And I hear they've banned patrons with disabilities!

Oh, I kid I kid. Just baiting FinishMyHat!!! Loves ya's all!

[Sauja]

Posted: 1/13/11 at 9:37pm

If I'm not wrong (and I can't find an official list), the longest preview period was Nick & Nora at 71. Merlin was close behind with 69. This will put Spider-Man over 100.

I mean...the one thing I can say is that a further delay does indicate that they at least are aware of how significant the problems are. Given how technically demanding the show is, I wasn't sure how they'd find time to...well, really to rewrite it. I do actually root for this show. It's easy to knock it because it's, frankly, pretty terrible. But I WANT to like a Spider-Man musical. And if they turned this around and actually made it into something good, that would be the most triumphant and unexpected story of all time.

[lakezurich]

Posted: 1/13/11 at 9:39pm

This is hilarious

[fingerlakessinger]

Posted: 1/13/11 at 9:46pm

Didnt "Dance of the Vampires" also keep pushing back the opening and just previewed then closed?

[Cape Twirl of Doom]

Posted: 1/13/11 at 9:46pm

Wow, now this is just silly. I had been giving the show the benefit of the doubt, but over 3 months of previews and 3 (4??) delays of opening night is pathetic.

[tazber]

Posted: 1/13/11 at 9:47pm

Maybe they can keep extending and open the same day as the next Spiderman movie in 2012.

[yournamehere]

Posted: 1/13/11 at 9:48pm

I understand that it's at a point where the delays are getting out of hand for ticket holders, however, it seems damned if you, damned if you don't. The same people who mock it being delayed are the first ones to say it needs to be changed big time. Actually having seen the show, it isn't as big of a disaster as people make it out to be. The score is NOT terrible - there are quite a number of songs which can stick out to you.

I think that delaying it is doing the right thing. There may be a chance that the show can finally come around. Going ahead and not making any alterations when they have obviously heard about the ending would be Taymor and her ego at the worst. Instead, the show is making attempts to fix the flaws it does have.

For all we know, the book could be completely changed. The show has already been described as enjoyable as a spectacle and perhaps these changes will actually be significant. I think that people are quick to laugh at the delays but they DID open up cold in New York which isn't much of an excuse but still.

I look back at Feeling Electric and listen to stuff from that and don't think I would have ever loved it had it not gone through the changes it did to become Next to Normal.

Here's to hoping Spider-Man wins the Pullitzer it deserves.

[bundy5000]

Posted: 1/13/11 at 9:54pm

I can't wait till they come out with a musical about Spiderman the Musical

Updated On: 1/13/11 at 09:54 PM

[jonartdesigns]

Posted: 1/13/11 at 9:59pm

If spiderman wins the Pulitzer prize it will be a dark day indeed.

As for the further delays, I just don't see much changing, from what has been published (most tellingly Isabel Keating's interview) the script has been essentially locked for at least 6 years...

[Wishing Only Wounds]

Posted: 1/13/11 at 10:09pm

Well, I will be switching my ticket.

[jv92]

Posted: 1/13/11 at 10:16pm

A friend and I were discussing this today and I was more uncertain than him to say this will be the biggest bomb in Broadway history-- even if it runs a little while. Now, I'm more certain. This is becoming a joke now. This isn't art. It's an April Fools joke.

I say it's fair game to review it now, or at least soon. This is getting ridiculous. And people complained about Dear World and Nick & Nora previewing too long!

[crewdude]

Posted: 1/13/11 at 10:25pm

Mr. Scott Briefer -While I do appreciate your armchair medical opinion as to the status of the activity in my cranium, I can most definitely assure I am not "brain dead" nor did I have any expectation that when I purchased a ticket that was for a PERFORMANCE that was to take place a full MONTH after the revised opening date of Jan 11 that my ticket was actually for a "preview" performance.
I work on Broadway. I was fully aware of the chatter and laughs in the industry regarding the show. In fact, I DID actually purchase a ticket for the first "preview" knowing full well it was a preview. I actually decided to give the scam artist producers the benefit of the doubt when I made a purchase for my second trip to the show for late February.I scheduled a day off from my own show to attend the PERFORMANCE of Spiderman. I did NOT purchase or take a night off from work to attend a "PREVIEW".
The idea that a rock promoter is producing this show should have been warning enough that some shady dealings were going to be taking place at the box office. Coupled with the fact that Taymor revealed in her interview with the NYTimes 9 days before the first preview that she had no idea how to stage the ending for the show. Bono made fun of the fact in the interview.
More than 200,000 people will have paid full price to attended these dress rehearsals and critics are expected to follow some "gentlemen's agreement" to not review the show before the producers tell them to? Apparently the producers want the critics to bend over and bark like dog while they make money off a public that has no guidance from reviews about what it is that they are laying out $300 to see.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 1/13/11 at 10:33pm

I didn't think this would happen yet again, but I do hope that it means that the book will be getting the serious attention that it deserves. I saw the show a few weeks ago and I'm rooting for it to get better, because there's a lot in it that is worthwhile for audiences underneath the craptastic book.

Michael Cohl and company can keep talking about how the show is unprecedented and how the preview period is big because the show is so big, and all that bull. The real problem is the story, and the fact that they didn't come up with something presentable during their years of delays is absolutely inexcusable. It's insulting to real writers everywhere, including the comic book guys who know the character and write twelve stories a year...and probably could have done a great job on the show. If the creative team is only now getting around to realizing just how bad the script is, so be it. At least they're trying to address it, but it's absurd that it's coming in so late.

Julie Taymor was right when she said "There's a real reason why these characters last and last; there's something that touches you deeply." Sadly, that something, that human element, only breaks through in a few small moments. I hope that the show improves, I hope that they will push ahead with what they need to do, and in that way, another comical delay is somehow encouraging.

Who knows if the critics will wait, though.
Updated On: 1/13/11 at 10:33 PM