Michael Riedel's interesting view of "Spider-Man" vs. the critics — Page 2

Yes, shows that do out of towns are reviewed twice, but the reason tryouts are mostly done these days in places like Seattle is that they are out of the reach of especially harsh critics there. Many shows that received faint praise out of town were drubbed in New York, probably because they can be viewed as works-in-progress out of town, whereas final products on Broadway.

As has been said about Spider-Man and other new shows in previews, since the days of writing a new song overnight and putting it in the next day are gone due to all the complex technical stuff that's built into a show, the preview process isn't as valuable as it once was. Spider-Man's problem is compounded by the fact that Taymor has shown on many occasions that she is not willing to fix what's not working. In the recent interview with Tom Kitt on this site, he said that, while he was sad to see songs go from next to normal between incarnations, he always just wants to serve the piece. Taymor refuses to let things that she likes go even if they are a disaster. I'm looking in particular at Deeply Furious, which she has acknowledged the public reaction to but has still ignored.

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The reason why critics wait until opening to review is that they do it when the show is frozen and will not change. I honestly don't know how much change is happening (all I've heard about is the new ending and safety procedures). While I doubt it will happen, it is possible that the show will change drastically during the next 2 months. That being said, that is what workshops and out-of-town tryouts are for. While technically, this could not have been done for Spiderman, I see a trend with shows without out-of-town tryouts being bad. (ahem, Women on the Verge).

I actually don't know the answer. Is it fair to be changing the show, while charging full price, for 4 months? Not really. But is there any other way that they could be doing it? Realistically, can it actually be saved without bringing in a brand new creative team, which obviously won't happen. (I think a new bookwriter could save the show.)