Spiderman 2.0- Page 5

Posted: 5/13/11 at 11:23am

whizzer-

i guess i just wanted to be moved. And it did nothign for me.
yes...there's plenty material out there that doesn;'t move me or you.
We're agreeing on the same things here..I'm just not wording it correctly I guess. I am trying to pinpoint what is so bothersome about SPiderman for me. And it's been tough all along to finetune spectacle, theatre, event stunt show, musical theatre, etc.

call me an old fart..
but when you grow up loving rodgers and hammerstein, lerner and loewe, porter, sondheim, gershwin shows and more current works of musical theatre such as rent , next to normal..etc...

this just becomes trite.

but yeah...let's call it a show of some kind for the sake of it i guess. lol.
Updated On: 5/13/11 at 11:23 AM

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 5/13/11 at 11:29am

Spider-Man is musical theatre, regardless whether the book and music are "stale" or not. Whether it's GOOD musical theatre or BAD is purely subjective. I do think it has some fantastic design elements (in the version I saw) and I wouldn't write it off as a theme park show. I won't say I liked the show, but I found elements of it I liked and I'll give credit where it is due. I hope the show finds the audience it targets and I hope it's enough for the show to be a success. If it doesn't, I just hope someone will finally redesign the theatre into a house (or houses) that doesn't require an insane profit margin. I don't know why anyone would WANT to put a show in there. Nine shows in 13 years and was Grinch the only one to make a profit? If so, it took 129 performances in 37 days to achieve it.

[scrapedknees]

Posted: 5/13/11 at 11:39am

Some other things that were changed: they got rid of that ridiculous spiderman doll that was floating in the air and changed it with a spiderman coming down from the ceiling, they got rid of the U2 song playing in the club and Matt Caplan's role as Flash was expanded as well. I'm sure there was a bunch more but I can't think of them right now.

[darquegk]

Posted: 5/13/11 at 12:01pm

A U2 song originally played in the club? Which one? Was it pre-recorded? That sounds almost like a shout-out to "Chess," which did a similar thing with playing a recorded ABBA song in one of the scenes.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 5/13/11 at 12:03pm

Vertigo was the song

[Testing1232]

Posted: 5/13/11 at 12:07pm

<< and Matt Caplan's role as Flash was expanded as well.
>>
I didnt see "1.0", but is this a GOOD thing?

I felt like Flash was one of the most annoying characters that I have ever seen in a show (JMHO)

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 5/13/11 at 12:13pm

Testing-
Flash played a different role in the earlier version. Then he actually was MJ's boyfriend and he cracked many "jokes" that were cut. For example in the lab he said something about one of the spiders having many legs and he would want to make it with a girl who had as many legs.

Also his car was being stolen and Peter did nothing about it. Instead Uncle ran out to try and assist Flash and that was when Uncle Ben was killed. (He was run over, not shot.)

Updated On: 5/13/11 at 12:13 PM

[Idiot]

Posted: 5/13/11 at 12:43pm

I think the question 'what makes a show a Broadway show' is an interesting one. Maybe it's for a different thread, but in trying to figure it out I'm coming up with some interesting answers.

To me, STOTD is a Vegas show, not a Broadway show. I think there is a difference.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 5/13/11 at 1:30pm

A Broadway show is a show that plays in a Broadway house. I think it is as simple as that. Defending the Caveman was essentially a stand-up comedy routine. It ran for over two years on Broadway. Therefore, it was a Broadway show. If you put Cirque du Soleil in a Broadway house, it's a Broadway show. I don't think any show has to fit some sort of conservative set of artistic expectations to be allowed into a Broadway house. Audiences will determine whether a show is a financial success or not, so why get so hung up on what gets produced?

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 5/13/11 at 3:58pm

I noticed that Arachne ends the show at curtain call in her white dress; does the hanging moment still happen in some form?

EDIT: Yes, sorry, brain fart, curtain call. Updated On: 5/13/11 at 03:58 PM

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 5/13/11 at 4:00pm

Curtian call?

[Moneyspider]

Posted: 5/13/11 at 5:03pm

I really dug the Fritz Lang's Metropolis look she had.

[Idiot]

Posted: 5/13/11 at 5:56pm

Mr. Matt, by your definition if I could get an audience to pay to watch me take a dump down stage right in a Broadway house, that's a Broadway show. Not so simple I'm afraid.

The word Broadway carries with it an enormous amount of national history and tradition. Producers do have a responsibility to uphold those traditions and honor the history of Broadway. Fran Lebowitz recently said, essentially, that elitism in the arts serves the arts. I agree with her.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 5/13/11 at 6:12pm

Idiot, I find myself disagreeing; it IS that simple. I'm sure many would agree with me that defecating onstage is not so different from what Baby It's You does eight times a week. But we don't get to say it's not a Broadway show just because we don't like it. It is a show. It is playing a Broadway house. It is a Broadway show.

It's like what Sondheim says about his own work: when Sweeney Todd plays a Broadway house, it is a Broadway musical. If it is staged in an opera house, it is an opera. Same for Porgy and Bess.
Updated On: 5/13/11 at 06:12 PM

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 5/13/11 at 6:28pm

Idiot,

I can see the reviews now!

"A great big, steaming pile of HIT!"

[BwayTday]

Posted: 5/13/11 at 6:52pm

Is the Act 2 duet outside the theatre between MJ and Peter still in the show? I think it was right before he (spoiler?) threw away his suit. I don't remember the name I just remember liking it (I guess that says something).

[Idiot]

Posted: 5/13/11 at 6:54pm

""A great big, steaming pile of HIT!""

Cannot.

Stop.

Laughing.

Made my day, maybe my week.

[Idiot]

Posted: 5/13/11 at 7:00pm

Scarywarhol: "It is playing a Broadway house. It is a Broadway show."

Yes, we disagree on this. It's too literal I think. When we think of Broadway, most of us probably think of an experience first, then a location.

I do agree that a show being 'good or bad' doesn't define it as being 'Broadway' or not.

Feeling guilty -- not sure we should be discussing this in a thread that's explicitly about STOTD -- but I do love discussing it.

[Lavieboheme3090]

Posted: 5/13/11 at 7:23pm

What's the new run time?

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 5/13/11 at 7:30pm

Bwaytoday- Yes that duet is still in. It is placed much later in the show now. The plot of him throwing the suit in the trash can and the homeless man finding it has been cut.

[Scarywarhol]

Posted: 5/13/11 at 7:31pm

Aw...the homeless dude got the show's only big laugh when I saw it.

Posted: 5/13/11 at 9:01pm

"The thing is I feel something like "next to normal" or the "ragtime" revival is a piece of art, something that makes the audience react in a way that the creators want. Spider(hyphen)man is more of a spectacle."

This is a fair argument, and I haven't seen Spiderman, and again doubt I'd love it by any means. And yet, so much of this argument is subjective. Most writers of the classic musicals if asked (and if they were all alive) would laugh at the idea that they were making "art". While I kinda disagree with that as well, I think when you start to say something's art, and something's not, it reeks of snobbism. What you can say is something moved you in a way that other things didn't--I assume that's what you're getting at by something being art and others being something less than that...

I know so many theatre fans think of spectacle as a dirty word, but I think spectacle *can* (even if this seems to happen rarely) be art. Some spectacle is so viscerally thrilling that it becomes emotional and moving. It doesn't sound like Spiderman reaches that, but I do think spectacle can create an emotional response. (This his how the greatest pop musica, be it rock or disco, works IMHO--it taps into a hard to define emotional feeling that transcends the usual material). *anyway*...

Maybe we should save half of Broadway for art and half for spectacle :P

Posted: 5/13/11 at 9:10pm

Taboo your argument is more than fair--you didn't like it and you give good reasons for why you felt that way. I guess I get riled up when you say things like "this isn't musical theatre"--as Whizzer said, why isn't it? I remain unconvinced and I think there's definitely room for a show like this on Broadway (the merits of the actual show not withstanding).


You mentioned wanting to leave humming the tunes, but that's such a personal and subjective thing... You also said the best music moment was when they played a bit of Beautiful Day, etc--but one reason everyone enjoys that is cuz everyone knows that song--it's been played so much that probably a big chunk of the audience CAN hum it, as opposed to songs they're hearing for the first time. It doesn't sound like the score is on the level of U2s best by any means, but I think that argument doesn't fit--otherwise every show that's not a revival should be a jukebox show. While I get the feeling Bono didn't do a great job, I have nothing but admiration for pop musicians who attempt musicals and don't resort to just raping their hits catalog.

[Wishing Only Wounds]

Posted: 5/13/11 at 10:22pm

Jordan, among others who saw it, if they make the most of the "new" preview period, can it be improved (more)?

[chewy5000]

Posted: 5/13/11 at 10:26pm

Is he still in it? To be honest, I thought that that whole scene was the most ridiculous part of the show.