Production on SPIDER-MAN Halted Due To "Cash Flow Problem"- Page 2

[blaxx]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 8:03pm

I imagine part of its problem is weekly running costs (which have been reported to be in the unhear of million dollar range).

For real? Yup, that's insane.

[winston89]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 8:04pm

BobbyBubby, Taymore may so inventive but she also has a reputation of asking the producers for more money then originally given. One of the things that Ridel mentioned in the article is that the producer is young and doesn't know how to rein in Taymore and that might be causing the production more and more money to the point where they might just cut their losses and move on. Apparently the key to working with Taymore is to know how to put your foot down and say no if she is directing a show that you're producing so she doesn't eat out your budget and then some.

[GoodMorningBWW]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 8:05pm

Does Taymor answer to anyone? It's not like she is stealing it, SOMEBODY had to have given it to her. It's their fault the budget is what it is.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 8:09pm

GMBWW,
To be fair, once the woman eats through the budget and there is no money left and no show to show for it, you have to chose - either scrap it then and there, or give the woman more money to continue developing. Since she has a reputation for doing (usually) very good work, a person (particularly an inexperienced producer) trusts that she will make something amazing and workable in the end, so the path is continued.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 8:10pm

Oh I wasn't defending Taymor at all. I think she's overrated. But she has this reputation for being inventive. For me, true inventiveness doesn't need the maximum money. It just feels like an ego trip.

It is the producers' (all seven hundred of them) for letting Taymor go this far. Did I also read correctly that they've already started setting up shop in the Hilton? Really? 6 months before previews?

[GoodMorningBWW]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 8:10pm

Fire her ass. There are plenty of directors who can work on a budget.

[blaxx]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 8:13pm

Isn't this another way to exploit a franchise anyhow?

They seem to try to cover the fact with pseudo-artistic merits, when at the end they just want to squeeze all the money they can out of the characters, and pretend that no one notices.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 8:15pm

Taymor also seems to think Spiderman "flies". So there you go.

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 8:15pm

Those with long memories should think back to what happened with the Gershwin when they did Starlight Express. It also gutted the auditorium to make for an in-the-round experience and ended up in the red -- after a two-year run, with business at capacity to the end -- in fact, at the time, the last week's take was the highest on record (talking gross here). But the show cost too much to continue. And don't talk about the bad Times' review being responsible -- Brantley didn't like Wicked, either (I agree with him on that one), and look what a cash cow that has turned out to be.

Updated On: 8/9/09 at 08:15 PM

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 8:19pm

I don't understand how the Hilton could possibly be "in the round."

[GoodMorningBWW]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 8:19pm

Well it will be...

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 8:20pm

Ed,
Don't forget that Starlight Express came in developed, ready to go, and without the full financial commitment of a newly developed and directed show.

Bubby,
Amen on Taymor. A truly creative person wouldn't need ALL of that money to make it work. As a "true theatre artist" (paraphrasing how she sometimes describes herself), she should be a followers of the belief that a good show only needs a bare space, a few actors and a piano.. the rest is dressing.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 8:21pm

It doesn't seem like they are selling tickets that way either. How would they possibly put seats on the other side of the stage?

[Wanna Be A Foster]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 8:21pm

I don't get all the hype over Wicked's sets & effects because they are pretty dull.

WICKED's sets and costumes have been downsized since it opened. Not sure when you saw it.

Once the producers realized that people would pay big bucks regardless of what was on stage, they made the show less expensive to run, the way Disney did with BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, so they could make more money.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 8:23pm

Can we stop with the myth that Brantley's Wicked review was a pan. It was mixed.

[Neverandy]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 8:39pm

starlight wasn't really in the round.

[winston89]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 8:47pm

I don't know how they are going to do this whole in the round thing. Keep in mind that tickets are already selling for the show and according to Ticketmaster the seating chart that they have up is the typical seating chart for The Hilton and nothing in the round at all. I do wonder how they are going to convert those who have got tickets for the orchestra to have them be sitting in the round.

[Annas_Priest]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 8:48pm

How where WICKED and BEAUTY AND THE BEAST downsized once they got their footing? Just curious! I love know this kind of stuff

[GoodMorningBWW]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 8:50pm

I have no idea about Wicked (I saw it 200 but BatB was downsized when it changed theatres.

[blaxx]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 8:54pm

I don't know how they are going to do this whole in the round thing.

I doubt they mean theater-in-the-round. I'm suspecting more like, "stuff happens around you".

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 8:55pm

Maybe they can downsize Spiderman wen it moves to the dumpster.

[CSonBroadway]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 9:05pm

They are gonna have to charge premium prices as normal ticket prices if they want this thing to recoup in at least like 20 years.

Or else the only place Spidey is flying to is into a wall.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 9:08pm

I think Julie has unfortunately let the term Artistic Genius go to her head. She has always gone over budget, even in her off Broadway The Tempest, Juan Darien (the very first time around), Liberties Taken, and Transposed Heads.
She will not to take 'NO' for an answer. Secretly, I really hope this turns out to be her Waterloo. While visually attractive I have found all of her work to be lacking heart and emotion. This is something at the very core of the Spiderman story-line.

[wendilin622]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 10:40pm

I am beyond curious as to what a $45 million dollar + musical looks like. If this does indeed make it to Broadway--and they don't charge my first born to go see it--I will go to witness what I'm sure will be a production talked about for years and years.

[sweetTb'way]

Posted: 8/9/09 at 11:15pm

Hey everyone.
I know I'm new here but I just wanted to say that the Hilton is definitely not being reconfigured in the round.