SPIDERMAN - thurs. 1/20

[notabb]

Posted: 1/21/11 at 11:03am

This is only about the 1st act. I just couldn't stay for the 2nd after the pile of s**t that was the 1st.It was sad to be at a show where the audience applauded so little. By the 3rd song many people around me weren't applauding at all at the end of the songs. I imagine this was due to the songs being such garbage.Which made them a perfect match for the book and dances. I was reminded of YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN at one point where the Green Goblin does his own version of Rodgers and Harts song "Manhattan". Like YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN and "Puttin On The Ritz" you suddenly hear something worth listening to for a change. No one in the cast made much of an impression on me beside the Narrator Nerds who are just obnoxious. I had a discount seat in the Orch Q1. If you must see this junk don't sit too close or you'll go crazy trying to watch the flying segments.If you're thinking it'll be fun to watch this mess , you know,the "so bad it's good" show , forget it.Let me be plain....this was a bore. Only one moment in the 1hr 30 min got a decent amount of applause and that was the flying battle between Spiderman and Green Goblin at the end of the act. As for Julie Taymors visuals sometimes they're fun to watch but the majority is tacky and uninspired.Anything you watched on t.v. last night was probably far more entertaining.Just a sad waste of money.

[sundaymorning6am]

Posted: 1/21/11 at 11:17am

I don't know if anyone else feels like this, but your opinion is pretty invalid. If you couldn't even stay for act 2 (which was new, btw), then you can't have a fully formed opinion of the show on a whole. You thought act 1 was crap, great, but act 2 could've been amazing.

Take your petty comments elsewhere.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 1/21/11 at 11:34am

Sure Act II COULD have been better, but the poster felt like he'd wasted enough of his time. I haven't walked out on too many shows, but it was his money and his time and he's entitled to do so.

He has every right to post his opinions about what he saw.

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 1/21/11 at 11:36am

If you missed Act 2, you missed all the fun! Act 1 was like watching the two trains start running at their respective stations and chug along, but Act 2 is where you see them wreck.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 1/21/11 at 11:38am

Act 2 is even worse!

And the OP didn't evaluate the show as a whole...he spoke only about what he didn't like in act 1.

[notabb]

Posted: 1/21/11 at 11:39am

I don't need to be bored by both acts. One was enough. I also state plainly at the start of my post that I saw one act.

[ALittlePriest]

Posted: 1/21/11 at 11:41am

notabb-

Your opinion is NOT invalid at all. I completely agree (as do many) with you and perhaps I harbor more disgust for this show than you. So much potential, even greater disappointment. You are courageous for skipping act two because it is by a far margin, worse than act one in every aspect. You thought act one is boring? Act Two has children asking their parents if they can go home yet! I've seen the show twice, once early on, and this week to see the new ending, and SORRY 6AM, there is not a new second act by any means. What are you talking about? The only differences I noticed were a net added to the final scene with Arachne. Then, at the end of the show, Peter Parker flies over the audience a la Mary Poppins, though not as gracefully. There has been no progress that I've seen since I saw it last year. The one thing I consistently hear and tell people about this show, is that it IS BORING. Only short 15 second flying sequences for 3 hours of awful dialogue that is always irrelevant. The experience is not worth the full price.

[WestVillage]

Posted: 1/21/11 at 11:54am

The OP's opinion is NOT invalid. He commented on the first act and didn't want to waste his time staying for the second act. I had the misfortune of sitting thru the entire show, and trust me, the second act is worse than the first. Putting a new flying sequence in at the end can't make it any better ... just more of what you've already seen ... ho hum (and the flying is hardly exciting anyway after you've seen it a few times).

[dramamama611]

Posted: 1/21/11 at 12:00pm

And the net has been in use since at LEAST Xmas (when I saw the show.)

And yes, Act II is far worse than Act I.

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 1/21/11 at 12:08pm

Well, I should clarify. The only songs I liked (few though they may have been) were in Act 2. The story is what really goes off the rails in Act 2. Though, Act 1 has a less crazy story, but still inane, unfocused, and boring.

[landryjames2]

Posted: 1/21/11 at 12:17pm

I left after Act 1 as well. I am still trying to decide if it is the worst thing I have ever seen. It certainly was the biggest waste of time. OP's opinions were not invalid at all.

[steven22]

Posted: 1/21/11 at 12:24pm

The show wasn't that bad.

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 1/21/11 at 12:28pm

I stayed for both acts, and I think it had to have been the worst thing I have ever seen. Cats, you've been replaced.

[CenterOrchestra]

Posted: 1/21/11 at 12:31pm

Wow. I was there last night as well. In row D of the Orchestra. I had a great time and really enjoyed the show. The music was great. The actors were great - Peter Parker is adorable and a great singer. I think there are a lot of snobs who are so ready to hate this show. The lady behind me during intermission was on her phone complaining to a friend "There is no character development at all! You have no idea WHY the editor hates Peter Parker!"
Come on. It's Spiderman. NOT Hamlet.
Sitting in my seat waiting for it to start I was EXCITED. When was the last time you felt that? And I have to say I really enjoyed it.

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 1/21/11 at 12:52pm

"Sitting in my seat waiting for it to start I was EXCITED. When was the last time you felt that?"

At Daniel Sullivan's MERCHANT OF VENICE.
Also, at BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON.
Also, AFTER THE REVOLUTION.
Also, LA CAGE AUX FOLLES.

But you do make a salient point --

We all should probably not expect character development -- or, really, harbor expectations of any kind, in terms of the quality of the dramatic writing and development -- when seeing expensively produced musical theater in New York. That's most definitely too much to ask, and a lot of the posters here don't seem to recognize that. I applaud your courage, CenterOrchestra, to speak out against quality and be satisfied with artifice.

[ STANDING OVATION ]

[notabb]

Posted: 1/21/11 at 12:54pm

Glad you enjoyed it. I didn't. Now , I didn't care for BLOODY,BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON but I did have a great time at ROCK OF AGES.I don't mind a show that's just a good time.Provided it's done well and involving. But I loved GREY GARDENS and LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA if you need to call me a snob.I just found this show a boring mess. Thank god I hadn't paid full price.

[actorgaedu]

Posted: 1/21/11 at 12:56pm

I can't believe some people are acting like this would be a great piece of theater. I mean, of course it is entertaining and at some points bad, but this is what I would expect and go into it with. Also, the flying is choreographed by Jaque Paquin, a Cirque du Solei veteran so I would expect that to be cool as those shows are just cool to look at, but often have very little substance as far as book. I think people need to relax or we are never going to move forward with progressive Broadway theater. It's a learning process and I for one am glad for the opportunity to see this.

[WestVillage]

Posted: 1/21/11 at 12:57pm

I was excited for the show to start too. But after it did, I couldn't wait for it to be over. Whenever I go to the theater, I am excited for the show to start. But once it does, it is up to the show/performance to keep me engaged. Spidey didn't.

The actors were great? How could you tell with that lousy material? Peter Parker a great singer? Do I smell shill?

[CenterOrchestra]

Posted: 1/21/11 at 1:03pm

I think Reeve Carney has a great voice. That makes me a shill?
LOL.
It's trendy to hate this show among the ny theatre crowd. You guys are soooo cool! I wish I hated Spiderman and was trendy & cool too!
But sorry. I liked it.
Updated On: 1/21/11 at 01:03 PM

[WestVillage]

Posted: 1/21/11 at 1:07pm

Anyone who knows ANYTHING about theatre knows Spidey is a terrible show. Has nothing to do with being trendy or cool. Has everything to do with being good or bad, and Spidey is just plain bad.

Oh, and it is Reeve Carney, not Carney Reeves.

[newintown]

Posted: 1/21/11 at 1:08pm

It ties with Lestat for the most boring book musical I've seen in 40 years of theatre-going. Call me a snob if you like. I still won't return the favor by calling you indiscriminate. That sort of argument belongs on the elementary school playground.

I've seen worse shows (Lennon, The Times The Are A-Changin', Good Vibrations, Ring of Fire) but those were mindless jukeboxicals.

And I would like to point out that Peter Parker is neither a good nor bad singer (as far as we know) - Reeve Carney is who you're discussing. If you can't bother to learn the actor's name, there's no point in reading further.

[JMPlayer6]

Posted: 1/21/11 at 1:10pm

I think this has all gotten to the point where the problems with the show's technical aspects, the injuries, the obsession over the recoupment (is there an issue with that if you're not an investor?), the delayed start of previews, and the multiple delayed openings have created a situation of non-objectivity. Whether or not that pertains to the original poster specifically or not, I couldn't say, but just saying that in general.

As I wrote after I saw the show on 1/9/11, the play has its issues. I won't repeat all I said in that posting, but it is far from the worst musical I've ever seen! I've seen a lot worse, but this makes it sound like the worst thing ever put onto a stage.

FYI, I was in the fifth row center. It wasn't a big deal to turn around for the aerial sequences. There are pluses and minuses to sitting close.

[tazber]

Posted: 1/21/11 at 1:10pm

You are entitled to your opinion CenterOrchestra, just know that you are wrong.

I jest.

I'm glad you liked it. There seems to be a lot of people who are very entertained by it. I haven't seen it yet but the endless bad press has definitely lowered my expectations. Since I'm anticipating a disaster I may actually end up being surprised.

Updated On: 1/21/11 at 01:10 PM

[bk]

Posted: 1/21/11 at 1:10pm

You were so excited and loved it soooo much that you came to this board and registered just to post in this thread. That is why people say shill.

[fingerlakessinger]

Posted: 1/21/11 at 1:12pm

Congrats..you Liked it. You liked a show that a majority of the people who have seen it said it was terrible..but I guess since you say it was amazing that means that everyone else are "snobs." I'm sorry...but my cousin saw it, she loves fluff musicals such as "Legally Blonde" "Xanadu" and even enjoyed "Young Frankenstein" yet she texted me during intermission telling me to NOT buy the tickets I was planning on and that she was literally bored out of her mind. I am by no means making your opinion invalid, but you certainly cannot try to make other's opinion of this crap show invalid either.