Lead Actress Natalie Mendoza Departs SPIDER-MAN: Turn Off the Dark?- Page 3

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 12/28/10 at 6:14pm

Perfectliar, there is a difference in an occasional accident and what's happening at Spider-Man.

In a month and a half at Spider-Man there has been:
Someone who hurt their ankle doing a stunt at rehearsal (I understand, accidents happen)

Someone breaks both of his wrists doing THE SAME STUNT!

Mendoza being hit in the head getting a concussion

Tierney nearly plummeting to his death resulting in a hairline skull fracture, 4 broken ribs, bruised lung, internal bleeding & cracks in 3 lumbar vertebrae

This isn't on simple on the job accidents, there is something WRONG with putting people who aren't professional aerialists in a harness to do this sh*t.
Updated On: 12/28/10 at 06:14 PM

[Brick]

Posted: 12/28/10 at 6:24pm

Why are earth is everyone speculating why she left. Who cares? She left. There isn't another injury, she's been out of the show, and she isn't a star.

[perfectliar]

Posted: 12/28/10 at 6:36pm

So, if you are not saying that she should have seen it coming, you ARE saying that the moment she signed the contract she did it with full knowledge that once she was hanging up there things SHOULD go awfully wrong? To the point of having injuries that could be life threatening?

NO. I'm saying that she knew that things COULD go wrong. Not SHOULD go wrong. I shouldn't have to explain this so much, you really must just want an argument.

And I don't understand why it's so hard to grasp the idea of what I'm saying about the stunts in this show. YES, Tierney knew there was risk involved in his stunt. YES, the cast knows that getting on that stage every night something COULD go wrong. Everytime you get into your car, you COULD crash it and die. Everytime you walk alone at night, you COULD be mugged or murdered. Everytime you get in an airplane, it COULD go down and you'd perish. Everytime you bungee jump, the cord COULD snap and you'd be dead.

Everytime the Spider Man actors get into their equipment, something COULD go wrong.

[blaxx]

Posted: 12/28/10 at 6:53pm

Great! Now let me introduce you to Stage 2:

Things that COULD go wrong SHOULD NOT go wrong. Wrong should be a RARE event and not common.

"One of the safest places to be in the world is the stage". - Frank Langella

Sorry, love. A performer must go onstage feeling safe, as opposed to thinking of everything that could go wrong.

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 12/28/10 at 6:58pm

Everytime the Spider Man actors get into their equipment, something COULD go wrong.

But things DO go wrong way too often with this show.

[willheim2]

Posted: 12/28/10 at 7:04pm

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/RIALTO_CHATTER_Another_SPIDERMAN_Departure_Coming_20101228

[blaxx]

Posted: 12/28/10 at 7:09pm

The statements are desperate anyhow:

Everytime you get in an airplane, it COULD go down and you'd perish.

Seriously, if an airline had four life theatening accidents within weeks from each other, would you go ahead and say "After all, when they boarded that plane they knew it could go down and kill them!"

And don't get me started if anything ever happens to an audience member. Or when I go watch this show I know I COULD get hurt too?

[Khashoggi]

Posted: 12/28/10 at 7:23pm

"She's some kind of rock star in Australia..."
Really? l live in Australia, and could pretty safely say that 99% of the population would have NO idea who she is.

[jonartdesigns]

Posted: 12/28/10 at 7:31pm

as to her "milking" the concussion, I've read in at least one article that at some point in the show she hangs upside down by the wires, I'd imagine the blood rushing to one's head like that could indeed cause the concussion pain to last longer than average.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 12/28/10 at 7:44pm

Blaxx have you worked on a show or ever signed a contract for working on a show?

Every show i have ever done has a section about accidents on the stage as live theatre is unpredictable. Now I’m not saying injuries happen all the time but they happen far more often than you think. I had 2 in the space of 6 weeks (one concussion that took 5 weeks to clear) and the next a dislocated shoulder. I’ve also had a broken ankle, 2 broken fingers and ripped my knee open due to a piece of glass set getting knocked by another piece whilst i was on stage. We had 3 actors in Fame leave due to injury who were replaced, 1 in Jesus Christ Superstar who took 6 weeks off after an on stage running with a set piece and that’s just a few.

Live theatre is always risky when it comes to working with large set pieces etc (or on roller-skates, as a Dancer), you are right that an actor should feel safe when going on stage but we are not tuned out to the possibility that sometimes things go wrong, our contracts reflect that.

2 Dancers on this show were hurt in rehearsals testing out a stunt, both will have signed a contract with all the dangers pointed out (it will also have been reflected in their pay). Its crap when someone gets hurt but did anyone really think that a show where people are flying around the theatre was not going to sustain some injuries in rehearsals? Cirque sure as hell did and that show is the closest in nature to what Spider Man is.

One actor was hit with a rope backstage, not on stage, backstage. Backstage is always very hectic and i can’t even imagine how crazy this one is, it was an accident plain and simple. And poor Chris who was the only onstage accident has said himself it was simply an accident, human error. It was awful and my heart sank for him when i watched the footage but it was a stupid accident.

Yes it looks like actors are falling out of the sky at every performance (mainly due to the press and some message board members) but the reality is very different.

As for this actress leaving the show, well if she does not feel safe then i personally would leave as well. I have to say though her Facebook status updates seem a tad dramatic about her concussion and the pills she is taking, i had it for 5 weeks and took pills to restore my sense of balance and i was back on stage within 3 days.

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 12/28/10 at 8:05pm

Written by Roger Friedman: www.showbiz411.com

Spider Man” Actress Leaving, No Tears Back StageBy: Roger Friedman in Theater // December 28th, 2010 at 12:31 PM UTC
This is tough: Natalie Mendoza is leaving “Spider Man: Turn off the Dark,” but there are no tears backstage.

Mendoza famously suffered a concussion a couple of weeks ago playing the flying Arachne. Of course, everyone was concerned about her.

But my backstage sources–not the producers or creators, the real backstage types–are not shedding tears on news of her departure.

“She’s some kind of rock star in Australia,” observed one source. “She didn’t like her role in Spider Man. After she came back from the concussion, she really milked it. I don’t think anyone will be sad to see her go.”

On Sunday. T.V. Carpio played Arachne was just fine–I reported it on Sunday night. She didn’t fly in the second act, but not because she was scared. According to my sources, her rigging had a computer malfunction that was discovered right before her scene started. She did her big number from the stage–and was quite effective anyway.

Backstagers say there are changes to the “Spider Man” story being implemented this week. But they’d better do something about the ending. Broadway audiences love to give standing ovations–but at “Spider Man” they’re confused whether the show has ended or not. Musicals need to end with a flourish, not a pause.

Updated On: 12/28/10 at 08:05 PM

[blaxx]

Posted: 12/28/10 at 8:16pm

Blaxx have you worked on a show or ever signed a contract for working on a show?

Of course, love. I only talk about what I know which is theater and whores.

Yes it looks like actors are falling out of the sky at every performance (mainly due to the press and some message board members) but the reality is very different.

True, but these have been major and so close to each other. It is my perception that more attention should have been paid not only in the execution of the stunts, but to perform them safely. It just needed more attention.



As for this actress leaving the show, well if she does not feel safe then i personally would leave as well. I have to say though her Facebook status updates seem a tad dramatic about her concussion and the pills she is taking, i had it for 5 weeks and took pills to restore my sense of balance and i was back on stage within 3 days.

That is all I was defending, she has the right to feel unsafe and to go. It might be on the best interest of the show if those who don't feel safe just walk out, otherwise the fear and the tension will just lurk around.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 12/28/10 at 8:19pm

I tend not to believe "unamed backstage sources' the same way don't believe "Official statements"
I believe the truth lies somewhere directly on the center.

[perfectliar]

Posted: 12/28/10 at 9:26pm

songandance - Thank God there is someone here who isn't crazed and/or condescending when it comes to this show. Your post was very well put.

[MCfan2]

Posted: 12/28/10 at 9:50pm

An ungrammatical article with a quote from one anonymous source whose accusations amount to nothing more than that -- in his unmedical opinion -- he thought she acted sicker than she felt. Gee, Mr. Friedman, you've sure convinced me!! She's the diva to end all divas!!! [/sarc]

[chewy5000]

Posted: 12/28/10 at 10:06pm

I'm an Australian. She aint no rockstar.
Updated On: 12/28/10 at 10:06 PM

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 12/29/10 at 12:40am

Patrick Healy's initial story has been updated again. It now quotes the two independent production sources as saying they're not sure exactly why Mendoza's leaving, and attributes the quote about her being "shaken" by Chris Tierney's injury to an unnamed cast member.

Interestingly, Healey's also removed the item about America Olivo being "expected" to replace Mendoza. The story now just mentions that both she and T.V. Carpio have been playing the role as of late. With Alice Lee being specifically brought into the show last week, I'd expect it to be announced that she is moving into Carpio's role in the Geek Chorus, with Carpio becoming the permanent Arachne.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/29/theater/29spider.html?_r=1&ref=theater

Updated On: 12/29/10 at 12:40 AM

[Mamie]

Posted: 12/29/10 at 5:29am

Interesting report on this on the news this morning. The guy reading the news said that she had been 'let go' from the show. Interesting how a couple of tiny words can change the whole meaning. I'm wondering just what exactly was said in the official press release.

[Scott Briefer]

Posted: 12/29/10 at 1:08pm

Perhaps, Ms. Taymor is taking the advise of the many earlier attendees and is dramatically cutting the part of Arachne. With this in mind, Ms. Mendoza might have no longer wished to remain in the role.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 12/29/10 at 1:16pm

Let's hope they are cutting the entire role.

[sundaymorning6am]

Posted: 12/29/10 at 1:25pm

I concur, bwayphreak. Let's hope they just cut the role. Fingers crossed!