Saw the show Sunday afternoon (for the first time). It was not the trainwreck I had anticipated, nor was its technology mind-boggling. For the most part, though, I had a good time. Probably the biggest problem with the show is obviously that it ends in the middle of a story. It's a good thing they recalled Bono from Dublin, though it boggles my mind a) that they couldn't have seen this coming and b) that he wasn't there in person, regardless of touring or whatever else. Yet I still can't see Bono saving the show, since almost every song in the show SUX. There are a couple of decent ones, but most are mediocre and some downright painful. The 'generals song' in particular was a nightmare. Such dreck--it should be CUT IMMEDIATELY. I didn't care for a couple of Arachne's numbers, and though I know many people are crazy about her voice, I'm not! I actually found her quite dissonant and screechy at the end of one number. So yeah, I don't know exactly how Bono is gonna mend this tattered quilt with his jagged scissors, but I hold out hope. I think Reeve is very hot and acts quite well. His singing is sultry at times, though maybe his voices tires a bit by the end of the evening? All things considered, I'm very fond of him. And he looks very dashing in his Spider costume. Lean but toned. A+. The tall white acrobat-Spiderman is really hunky, too, just FYI. When he pulled off his mask at the end, wow. Solid! There were some great visual effects: love the aerials-turned-weaving; and the view from the Chrysler building had the sense of really looking down, especially when the Hornet flew around and disoriented us. Nice work. I didn't find the Geek Chorus so offensive, and at times felt that it did help the show cohere. The flying was fun, though with the exception of that one fight scene and one of the really low 'zooms' over the audience, I actually think that Cathy Rigby's flying is just as fun! (No joke.) The fight scene is engaging, though going "between the ropes" kinda calls attention to the ropes, which seems to diminish the fun of the illusion, but that's okay. The flying is still impressive, and the 'Foxwoods' is perfect for this show.
All in all, I had fun. It wasn't brilliant, nor was it bad. But with Julie Taymor behind it, a little bit of me was disappointed that it didn't feel as "epic" or as "inspired" as I had imagined. I would be okay with a $65M failure if it really felt like it was on the edge of something unexpected. Can't say that was the case, but it's still a solid evening's entertainment. And at least you know your money isn't going into some fatcat's pocket -- it's all right there in front of you!
Updated On: 12/20/10 at 05:40 PM