Spiderman 2.0- Page 2
Spiderman 2.0
#25Spiderman 2.0
Posted: 5/12/11 at 10:48pm
"Exactly. The show isn't the jaw dropping train wreck it was before, now it's just a tourist musical that's not very good."
I'm guessing that means it's level with BABY, IT'S EW...
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bk
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/20/03
#27Spiderman 2.0
Posted: 5/12/11 at 10:54pmI suspect that many of the young 'uns on this board made up their mind it was fixed and soooo much better long before they stepped one foot into the theater. And so it goes. That's what the other thread felt like whilst reading it.
#28Spiderman 2.0
Posted: 5/12/11 at 10:55pm
Jordan I completely agree. It's more of a bland tourist spectacle with a weak score. Give credit where it's due though. In 3 weeks they implemented a very different book, restaged most the songs and ran the show in front of an audience for the first time without any major glitches. A huge accomplishment for the cast and crew and congrats to them.
The "spiderman!" Song that the reggae guy sang during the fashion show has been moved to the middle of act two. It is sung by the whole ensemble and the drummer is now a line cook.
The song with the generals is still in but the generals are not. They are now men in green suits who run a VIPER org that wants to make super soldiers with his research. The ensemble are now those soldiers.
MJ used to have that ballad in the apartment near the end of act 2 but it has been moved near the top of act 2 and sung on the fire escape. What was once an excruciating scene is now playful and almost cute. Peter duets near the end of the song.
No Arachne songs AT ALL except Turn Off the Dark in act two. It's the only time she appears in the act. Now she doesn't make love to him either. Just gives him advice.
Ben is no longer run over but shot by a burglar and it happens off stage to much better effect.
Overall the songs now appear to have purpose (and buttons at the end). They don't come so out of the blue like before.
Marie: Don't be in such a hurry about that pretty little chippy in Frisco.
Tony: Eh, she's a no chip!
#29Spiderman 2.0
Posted: 5/12/11 at 10:56pmare there still 2 guitar players on the stage? it didn't make any sense for them to be there at all.
#30Spiderman 2.0
Posted: 5/12/11 at 11:00pm
Does Arachne still sing in Rise Above?
Updated On: 5/12/11 at 11:00 PM
#31Spiderman 2.0
Posted: 5/12/11 at 11:02pm
No the guitar players have been moved to the pit.
bk- don't know if your comment was aimed at me, but I definitely didn't have my mind made up about anything before I stepped into the theater. If anything I thought they weren't going to able to/wouldn't be willing to make enough changes.
Marie: Don't be in such a hurry about that pretty little chippy in Frisco.
Tony: Eh, she's a no chip!
#32Spiderman 2.0
Posted: 5/12/11 at 11:05pm
What is the context of the song Turn Off the Dark now? Before didn't it have to do with Arachne creating the illusions? Sorry for all the questions by the way 
"There’s nothing quite like the power and the passion of Broadway music. "
Pan_Am_L-1011
Chorus Member Joined: 12/11/10
#36Spiderman 2.0
Posted: 5/12/11 at 11:18pmIf that's the case, it seems odd that she's still billed above Patrick Page.
#37Spiderman 2.0
Posted: 5/12/11 at 11:21pm
The Geek Chorus as announced has been cut.
The weaving scene is in, but in an altered form. Peter gives a book report about Arachne and the weavers help him tell the tale.
Turn Off the Dark is sung to Peter when he is about to lose hope and Arachne kind of explains his purpose in life the responsibility he must bear because of his powers.
Correct, TV has almost no role now.
Marie: Don't be in such a hurry about that pretty little chippy in Frisco.
Tony: Eh, she's a no chip!
Trish2
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/20/06
#38Spiderman 2.0
Posted: 5/12/11 at 11:26pmWhizzer, was there much new choreography added? Just curious what Chase Brock's contributions were....
#39Spiderman 2.0
Posted: 5/12/11 at 11:29pmAny other info on the book changes would be much appreciated.
rougeduck
Broadway Star Joined: 6/5/07
#41Spiderman 2.0
Posted: 5/12/11 at 11:49pm
^
Think Again is in according to playbill.com. Don't know who sings it though.
#42Spiderman 2.0
Posted: 5/12/11 at 11:51pm
There was quite a bit of new choreography. In fact almost every single number was restaged to a degree. Just for example the DIY number sung in the lab no longer has the moving staircase Norman swung around on. The dance has elements from before, but also many new steps.
Book changes were numerous because there is no longer a Geek Chorus to narrate the show. Therefore the story must be shown to us. Ben and May have been beefed up and are kinder. That line Peter yelled about them never being his parents has been cut. They have a scene planting flowers that is nice and Ben bonds with Peter before he dies.
Emily and Norman have a deeper relationship and the former military number is explained.
Much humor has been injected in the show. The Goblin has a scene where he calls the Daily Bugle to speak with JJ and must wade through the prompts before he can leave a message.
Marie: Don't be in such a hurry about that pretty little chippy in Frisco.
Tony: Eh, she's a no chip!
#43Spiderman 2.0
Posted: 5/12/11 at 11:54pmPlease tell me they have cut the whole deal with MJ tied to a falling piano...
"There’s nothing quite like the power and the passion of Broadway music. "
#44Spiderman 2.0
Posted: 5/12/11 at 11:59pm
I am really, really glad to hear that Uncle Ben has more to do. In the original staging, he just seemed like a crotchety jerk for all five of his onstage seconds and his death was just silly. It was the show's biggest slap-in-the-face to Spider-Man's history, and it made his decision to become a hero so unbelievable.
Does Aunt May now have anything to do with Peter after Ben's death? I remember that the only time she came back on in the first version was to bitch about Peter not getting her pills on time, or something.
Updated On: 5/13/11 at 11:59 PM
#45Spiderman 2.0
Posted: 5/13/11 at 12:00am
Think Again is listed in the playbill, but unless my friends and I zoned out it was not performed tonight.
Now only the Green Goblin is attached to the piano and it is what sends him to "splat" like before.
Adam Greer- Yes it is odd TV is still billed as a star of the show. Maybe it was in her contract? If you went by lines and stage time Isabel Keating should be up there and not her.
Marie: Don't be in such a hurry about that pretty little chippy in Frisco.
Tony: Eh, she's a no chip!
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#46Spiderman 2.0
Posted: 5/13/11 at 12:24am
OK- Just got back from the first preview (May 12).
Jordan,...you were there??/
ok-I'm gonna ramble thoughts because there's so much (or not much) to say.....
Sat with Michael Riedel.....which made it for an interesting night.
I will leave it at that. I will not divulge on any chat about the show with him, what he thought or whatever, cuz I'm sure you will read it on his column as he furiously wrote all throughout the show.
On to the show----
This is the first time I've seen this. I can't compare it to the 1.0 version but can put together all the comments, articles and stories.
I did sense more of a plot and story line. but the real credit goes to the screenwriter for the part 1 Spiderman film... because I felt like I was watching the film on stage.
The show on a whole was bland-generic.
The music did not pop. Nothing stood out.
You don't leave the theatre humming or singing anything. I left humming the guitar riff on the main tune simply because it's played in the commercials.
The sets and costumes (for some) steal the show.
It's sad when a hard working ensemble and cast of performers are upstaged by spectacle and scenery.
Speaking of cast-
i felt all the vocals were weak.
the lead players were weak.
The ones who stood out for me---the adults.
I'm talking Patrick Page, the newspaper boss and Peter's Aunt.
thank god for them- for having some life on stage.
but the only time the writing gets good is when it pokes fun at itself.
The references to 65 million dollars, the Post, time issues.
Flying sequences...shaky.
more than 1 spiderman on stage at the same time?
sequence entrance exits///fix the timing boys and girls.
I was also annoyed that all spidermen were so different physically. SOme were bulked up hulk-like---others skinny and frail...made no sense in casting the flyers.
Everyone else seemed dialed in, bored, scared, I don't know.
ARachne, MJ, and Peter were not stellar....or near it.
Their songs-bland and performances---just ok. nothing show-stopping or surprising.
Act 2 opener' freak like me'
reminded me of a mix between 2 songs from Taboo --'Dressed to Kill' and 'Give me a Freak'---but a bad version with techno beats and awkward techno-fashion show----bizarre.
On a whole: this is a show for tourists.
For people who save their pennies and want spectacle. nothing else.
It's for kids to experience theatre for the first time.
I'm surprised they didn't sell popcorn in the aisles the way they did in this theatre when Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was there---that's the kind of touristy circus crowd the show caters to.
I am VERY uncomfortable watching these young performers risk their lives on these high flying acts, over my head, on ropes...for the sake of applause.
I sat 6th row Orchestra on the aisle- Spiderman almost fell on us..by inches as he lands in the aisle....just scary. not thrilling.
i was on the edge of my seat.
Not because it was thrilling, but because I was afraid for their lives, and mine (in case anyone fell on me).
That is not thetare. The show is not musical theatre.
It's a combo of a Six Flags Batman Stunt Show and Cirque du SOleil/Fuerza bruta/Vegas-spectacle that instead of sizzles...just fizzles out really fast.
i was bored through most of it.
then when the flying/fight scenes happened. I was scared for my life- and theirs.
it was cool on a whole visually.
But the music sucked. And I'm a u2 fan since the 'Gloria' days in 1982-
i own WAR, the Unforgettable Fire, Joshua Tree and some of the recent albums....but this BLOWS hard musically.
that killed it for me.
I'm glad there was more of a story---but I felt they just took the screenplay from the film and adapted it to stage.
I was really rooting for this---
i went in with no prejudices-
i wanted to be a kid and have fun-
it was just tedious.
there were maybe 3 moments that made me chuckle.
the rest- a bore.
MIchael kept looking at his watch.
I give it 5 cracked peanuts out of 10 for visuals and effort..
But the peanuts were stale.
Updated On: 5/13/11 at 12:24 AM
After Eight
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/5/09
#47Spiderman 2.0
Posted: 5/13/11 at 12:35am
Well, they've made improvements, so they deserve credit for that. Unfortunately, what the show needed was not just a remodeling, but a start from scratch new book and score. It got neither, and so the new version, though better than the first, still falls coniderably short of the mark.
The problem is one of tone. It should be light and self-mocking with a Strouse/Adams It's Superman type score. There's a new standup routine with a telephone by the Green Goblin that scores big. (50 years ago, Shelley Berman did the same sort of thing in A Family Affair.) If only the whole show had captured that spirit! Instead, despite added humor, a clarified storyline, better orchestrations, and the elimination of the obnoxious Geeks and the reducing of Arachne's unwelcome presence, the show is still downbeat and dour, lacking suffcient energy or interest, with the same unattractive designs, not enough flyng, and a bad score. How the worst song, that former military number,
managed to show up again here in a new version is beyond me. A new second act song for the Green Goblin is almost as bad. Truly, repeated listenings of Bono and the Edge's songs here can send a person over the edge.
Anyhow, the audience response was stronger tonight than the two other times I saw it, so maybe the public will take to it.
RippedMan
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/14/05
#48Spiderman 2.0
Posted: 5/13/11 at 12:42amSo are the Geek Chorus members just now part of the ensemble, or were they fired?
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
