Spiderman Preview Thread!- Page 17

[PopAria]

Posted: 11/29/10 at 12:13pm

did someone really just say American Idiot had more tasteful flying than Spider-man? lmao

isn't that comparing apples to oranges?

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 11/29/10 at 12:13pm

Burt Bacharach wrote a great score for Promises, Promises. I don't have a problem with "pop/rock" artists writing scores. I just had a problem with the Spiderman score in particular.

[broadwayjim42]

Posted: 11/29/10 at 12:20pm

Thank you Songanddanceman. The book undid "Chess," not the score. There's also some amazing things in "Kristina," but the stilted English translation did it no favors.

Julie Taymor's name to me means visual splendor at the expense of everything else. But visual splendor, as is the case with many other things, is an empty shell if there's little else there to support it.

[Phantom of London]

Posted: 11/29/10 at 12:32pm

Relax everyone, shows can improve in previews, look what happened to 'Woman on a Verge of a Nervous Breakdown', that went from a complete mess to a mess by opening.

Yeah does anyone know if grosses for Spiderman is going to be published?

[julesboogie]

Posted: 11/29/10 at 12:43pm

"We should all be pulling for their success. Explorers of unchartered territory may not always find what they are looking for (remember what Columbus was looking for), and many die in the process, but they always stumble upon something which provides new opportunities for all the rest of us."


"Now the big question is . . . will they be publishing their grosses???"


NO, the question is how many people will have to die for Spiderman to turn a profit. Yes im slinging mud for comedic effect, but i'm still really excited to see this show. And cheering for it. But yeah...get it together.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 11/29/10 at 12:45pm

My point was that the talent to write pop hits doesn't translate into an ability to create a Broadway score.

Of course not, but it doesn't mean the ability to write pop hits prevents anyone from writing a good score. Virtually every successful Broadway composer with more than one Broadway score has a flop under their belt. I don't think being a rock/pop composer limits them from learning how to construct a musical score any more than being a Hollywood actor limits them from learning how to sing with a coach for a Broadway musical. Bono may have a flop score on his hands with his first musical. That could put him in the same league as countless Broadway musical composers.

[After Eight]

Posted: 11/29/10 at 1:06pm

"Some of us are rooting for ya."

I wonder why you assume that those who were disappointed in the show last night were not and are still not equally "rooting for them." I certainly went in hoping the show would be an out-of-the-park smash. That it was anything but doesn't make me in the least bit happy, because I don't like spending my money and time on bad evenings in the theatre.

And several people who didn't like the show offered suggestions on how it could be improved. So they are still hoping it can find a way to achieve success.

[Cosmic Explorer]

Posted: 11/29/10 at 1:19pm

The major issue is that the show (book and score, but mostly book) are schizophrenic, unfocused, and completely lacking in pathos. On top of that there is no momentum (and I don't mean physical momentum being stopped b/c of the tech issues). It's just confusing and messy.

I won't say that it Taymor's vision is ill-conceived, but I do think that her vision (i.e. trying to mythologize the character of Spider Man and turn his struggle into an epic of Greek proportions) is incompatible with her execution.

Big sets and technical wizardry do not automatically make a character's arc epic. A strong book and effective score do. Without that foundation all you have are some boring place holders between aerial effects. So, there is no emotional connection whatsoever.

Matters are made worse by the fact that the lyrics are often unintelligble or random.

The sets are eye popping and I thought it was cool the way Taymor went back to a true comic book sensibility rather than do the dark and gritty thing that is so common in super hero stories now. Great choice, enhances the feeling of being a comic where anything can happen.

The stunts are amazing, the rigging being so visible is a distraction. And no, I don't expect antone to really fly songanddanceman, but for all the hype I thought the mechanisms would be more discreet. Belief is definitely not suspended.

Costumes are very creative, but nothing that Taymor hasn't done before.

This is a show meant for people who want spectacle and want to see a super hero show live. Spidey fans already have an emotional connection to the character coming in. In fact, most people probably do as they are familiar with the story and the movies, tv show, and whatever else. So will they give a rat's ass about a messy book?

Hell no!

They will thrill at the stunts, freak over the U2 music, and walk away competely satisfied.

And I bet it will run for a long time.

Does this belong on Bway? Who's to say? I think it's more suited to Vegas or Orlando personally.

As far as a night of good theater I give it a C-
As far being an amazing technical marvel I give it a A

Know what you're getting and adjust your expectations accordingly is my advice, but by all means see it and decide for yourself.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 11/29/10 at 1:28pm

"The major issue is that the show (book and score, but mostly book) are schizophrenic, unfocused, and completely lacking in pathos. On top of that there is no momentum (and I don't mean physical momentum being stopped b/c of the tech issues). It's just confusing and messy."

Name me one Taymor project where this wasn't the case? Lion King is schizophrenic but at least Disney kept a tight reign on Taymor to stick to the story. Frida too had a strong story line but that was more due the fact that Hayek ruled that project with an iron hand from the outset.

As mentioned earlier, Taymor is a great visual designer. She should stick to that and forget having to pee over every aspect of a production. There seems no boundries to her ego.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 11/29/10 at 1:30pm

Did Spider-Man not fight any of the villains in the "fashion show"?

No, he makes Tim Gunnish snarky comments instead.

"I'm just curious...have there been many shows that have cut entire roles during previews?"

Cruncher's wife in Tale of Two Cities. She wasn't a major character but when they cut the "Resurrection Man" number they cut her since it was her only scene. Rebecca Robbins had other roles though.

[crewdude]

Posted: 11/29/10 at 1:34pm

""It’s a shame when people who know little about theatre end up accidently booking for a preview .."

Actually people bought tickets for a performance. I t was marketed as a performance, check the shows ads and sold as a performance. For a family of three to to have shelled out up to $900 to what they bought tickets to months ago for what would have been NOT THE FIRST PREVIEW and find out they are at a rehearsal is a little more than a shame. It's reprehensible conduct that reflects negatively on the Broadway brand.

"but it’s not those people who we hear moaning about it, the ones who annoy me the MOST are people on boards like this who watch a preview that is bumpy etc and then moan about it. You ALL know on here what previews are, you know the technical complications of this show and what they are attempting etc so if you chose to see a preview (especially a first one) "

When tickets were sold this was NOT THE FIRST PREVIEW. You also might want to check the definition of preview performance vs. first complete costumed tech rehearsal of the full show.

The producers delayed and delayed and delayed the chance to let the public see the show. It was supposedly in the guise of perfecting the show, working out the kinks, etc etc. If you have delayed a show this long there was simply no excuse for the major technical issues that caused delays. Regardless of issues with the story and score, the extra delays and wasted time were certainly not done in a manner that made efficient use of time while acknowledging that there was a deadline. For $65 million dollars - GET IT DONE should have been the mentality of Julie Taymor not , art takes time. This is show BUSINESS. Not show art.

"and then thought twice about it when the show was not perfect then you have nobody to blame but yourselves."

Actually, no, the fault lies with the director, the producer, the writers for being out of town before the first preview.

[Brick]

Posted: 11/29/10 at 1:37pm

First of all, reviewers are not consumer advocates only. Or they shouldn't be. In this day and age where a paper is truly only serving a cliental the ads wish to target, it may be more true than the past. But the critics are part of the theatre community, or should be. They aren't arms of the PR department, but they provide intelligent feedback and conversation to complete the artistic cycle. Such critical analysis is helpful for the ticket buying public, but to use that function as a rational for reviewing a first performance is dangerous. (Everyone knew WOMEN ON THE VERGE was going to have troubles in previews scene it didn't try-out out of town, everyone knew is was having troubles, but it wasn't reported and reviewed in major publications because they knew the technical issues would be worked out. Remember Titanic?)

Now I think we can all agree that Broadway Producers need to be less greedy and offer half price tickets to previews, however I think it is ridiculous and complete naive to say a production can't have major glitches in a preview. That is what previews are for and that is how it has been for decades. Now, true, the new musicals seem to suffer more from technical glitches than the material or an actor being unprepared, but to cover a first preview and consider the first public performance the one the creators intended to see is not only naive, but as a theatre practitioner, a very frightening precedent.

[julesboogie]

Posted: 11/29/10 at 1:41pm

crewdude. you ignoring me?

[wonderwaiter]

Posted: 11/29/10 at 1:43pm

Hehehehehehehehe:



"I could have told them no good would come of this."

http://www.fark.com/cgi/comments.pl?IDLink=5789179

[Broadway Joe]

Posted: 11/29/10 at 1:50pm

"(2) Why do reporters in comic book musicals dress and talk like it's 1943?"

Actually the bigger problem I had with that is everyone at the daily bugle talked like that but Peter, MJ and everyone else at the school talked and dressed like the current generation does.

[strummergirl]

Posted: 11/29/10 at 1:50pm

OK, I still cannot get over the 'Geek Chorus' element of the show. Did Julie go see Legally Blonde? I agree with that the average person going to this show is going to expect something similar to the Sam Raimi films (which had wit, goofiness, and fun that balanced with the serious) that played off a pretty basic concept and premise. Incidental superhero who is driven to use his powers to fight crime in New York City. Spiderman's mythology is not really as derivatively bookish as say Superman and that is sort of what makes him easy to relate to, and even likable. His story could have happened to anybody.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 11/29/10 at 1:51pm

I hear Julie is calling in Corky St. Clare to lend a hand a had fixing the show....

Hey has anyone heard from Baileyboo? Or does Jorden have him in a lip lock?

[tazber]

Posted: 11/29/10 at 1:53pm

Some of those comments in the Fark link are hilarious!

Bailey did report back a few pages back, SNAFU.

[morosco]

Posted: 11/29/10 at 1:54pm

Send in Tommy Tune! lol

[SNAFU]

Posted: 11/29/10 at 1:57pm

Oh, will have to check!

[twinbelters]

Posted: 11/29/10 at 1:59pm

"I'm just curious...have there been many shows that have cut entire roles during previews?"

Legs Diamond, arguably the last musical to have this much fanfare around its preview period, famously cut at least two roles during previews. One was Christine Andreas's role.

I still get ZERO sense there is a story in this musical. That's what I would have started with before charging full steam ahead.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 11/29/10 at 2:06pm

I'm a former TotalFarker. I love Fark.

Also, if you didn't click his profile, T.M.S. = David Gallo.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 11/29/10 at 2:07pm

While it wasn't during Broadway previews, Seussical cut the Lorax during its out of town tryout.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 11/29/10 at 2:08pm

Having worked with Julie numerous times, all I can say is: "SHE DON"T NEED NO STINKIN" STORY!' it is all about the visuals. Sometime dialogue is just gutteral sounds or babbling. It is about the visual tableaux. There are moments of brilliance but for the most part everything is to be seen at arms length and intellectualized not felt.

Updated On: 11/29/10 at 02:08 PM

[wonderwaiter]

Posted: 11/29/10 at 2:11pm

"Also, if you didn't click his profile, T.M.S. = David Gallo."

I didn't know that - thanks for pointing that out!