Spiderman Preview Thread! — Page 56

It reminded me of Inception because I kept questioning whether it was all a dream or real, or a different level of a dream?

The story in the first act is definitely rushed. Three key plot points that, if expanded, could make the show infinitely better: Peter's relationship with Uncle Ben (whose death gives way to Spider-Man), Peter's relationship with Mary Jane (lots of potential, but as it is now, there are so many holes that the audience needs to just connect the dots on their own), and Norman becoming the Green Goblin and seeing him actually terrorize NYC (which is completely non-existent in the musical).

God save me, I'm considering buying a ticket to this next month.

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I saw the show last night and I completely agree. The first act is pretty coherent and it should definitely be fleshed out. Still not a fan of the "Geek" chorus. The second act is like a visual assault. The "ugly" pageant was a complete nightmare. In fact, the whole second act is like a bad acid trip. "Deeply Furious" is frightening in person and completely random. The ending is REALLY bad. I really wish they didn't have to stop the show right before the first flying sequence. One of the weavers was left hanging in the beginning as well. I also could have sworn I saw Spider-Man hit his head swinging into the left wing of the stage. I was sitting in Row H on the right side of the orchestra and the aerial battles felt pretty intense. Spider-Man did land right by my seat. The cast really makes the best of the material they're given. Reeve, Jenn, and T.V. Carpio were all great. I really tried to like Patrick Page as The Green Goblin but he just came off as incredibly annoying. Though I must say, I wish I could have seen Mendoza's Arachne after hearing an earlier recording. The visuals are really amazing though and I went in already liking most of the score. Curious to see how much of the show changes before its opening.

Updated On: 1/6/11 at 12:58 PM

I agree. I listened to the score alot before seeing the actual production and I really liked most of the songs especially "No More", "Rise Above", "If The World Should End", and "Boy Falls From The Sky". The visuals were really incredible. When the story entered the picture, the show became a mess. The dialogue was quite bad and in my opinion, every joke fell flat. I don't know how they can fix the second act. If I was to see the show again in its final form, I would definitely sit in the Flying Circle.

Updated On: 1/6/11 at 01:15 PM

I think Deeply Furious has a cool concept (haven't seen the show yet), and an excuse for choreography while working with something.

Are all of the decent seats premium price? And it looks like most of the center orchestra and aisle seats are already sold out of a while.

Thanks for the heads up about that offer code. I might give it a second look because I was unfortunately under the overhang the first go-round.

Random question and I apologize if I'm not allowed to ask this but is there any audio of the alternate singing at all? I'm curious as to his sound, although I did enjoy Reeve Carney.

Reading this endless and occasionally nauseating thread is like a bad acid trip.

Soon he'll have the Stockholm Syndrome and will fund the cast recording himself.

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Does anyone have a delightful quality version of if the world should end? It's so lovely.

So which seats would be better: Orchestra Row K (towards the middle), or Flying Circle Row D (towards the middle?) Thanks for any advice!
- robjohn99

I saw the show Tues 1.9.11 and the show flowed without any pauses or delaysI got a last minute seat in Orch M dead center. No one sat in front of me...I had a great view.

I noticed many more children there on a Tues night than I would expect but as I listened they were talking in different languages. Family next to me came from Belgium. Europe was still on "holiday." The kids fell asleep and I saw some being carried out at the end.

I enjoyed the show. Following the story and watching all the scenery moving around I could not help think of what the technical rehearsals were like and all that goes on to make the show happen each night. I never remember thinking about all of that in any other show....a big distraction for me.

If I could sum up the show in one word it would be...multi-tasking.

I like to keep things simple. Because of all the multitasking with the sets, scenes and aerials I did not feel any intimacy with the actors or the story itself.

Flying harness hitches, techno glitz, humongous screens and flying machines distracted me from that intimacy I usually feel in any live theater event.

Again I enjoyed the show and I look forward to the cd. I might get a ticket to see it again after the official opening if I read that any major changes have occurred.

In a society that is so engaged in multi-tasking Spider-man might very well go over big with the general public and I hope it is a huge success.

I am not a multi-tasker. I try to do one thing at a time...I try to keep it simple.

If I do go back to see it I dont think that I will be as distracted by the techno-glitz and might feel the intimacy of live theater, an intimacy that I hope is enhanced over the month until opening.
DF

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Updated On: 1/7/11 at 10:51 AM

I saw the show on Wednesday night as well. Nowhere near the trainwreck that some people make it out to be, but it definitely needs work.

The Good:

The cast: Reeve Carney, Jennifer Damiano, and Patrick Page especially. Norman Osborne's Southern accent surprised me at first, but it made sense with the musical's version of him. Carney impressed me immensely: the only bad thing I have to say about him is that his singing voice is drastically different from his speaking voice. Any time he started to sing, I had to check to make sure it was still Peter singing and not some new crazy rocker character.

The set: We didn't have any set malfunctions at our performance. The only set that I felt really tanked was Peter's bedroom. When the Chrysler building came down from the rafters and folded out towards the audience, I heard quite a few gasps around me.

The aerials: The first time Spider-Man flew over the audience, the theatre went bonkers. I remember reading somewhere that he flew really slowly, but I didn't think so. The battle between the Goblin and Spider-Man was really incredible to watch. The only sequence that made me nervous was Arachne's entrance from the balcony: I was sitting close to where she entered from, and the costume looked a little heavy to be lowered down as far as it was.

The costumes: It's Julie Taymor, of course the costumes are going to be incredible. I particularly liked the Sinister Six's costumes, apart from the "bee" guy and Swiss Miss (seriously, what was the point of using an original character if she's going to do absolutely nothing?)

The Bad:

The songs: As soon as I walked out of the theatre, I couldn't remember a single tune from the show apart from the guitar section that plays on the show's website. I agree with the general consensus that "Deeply Furious" (the shoe number) is completely ridiculous and needs to go. Pretty much all of Arachne's numbers felt unecessary. The only two numbers I really enjoyed were "If the World Should End" and "The Boy Falls From the Sky."

The story: The first act definitely needs to be extended and used as the plot for the entire show. I honestly enjoyed the second act's plot idea, but it is way too ambitious for a stage show: it would've worked much better for a movie or a comic strip. The character of Arachne is completely unecessary and needs to go.

The word of mouth for this show seems to be changing: a few weeks ago, I heard something along the lines of "I hear the show is awful, but I'm going to see it anyway" from passers by any time I walked by the theatre. With that being said, I didn't notice anyone come out Wednesday night disappointed: in fact, most were chatting about how good the show was on the way out. The show stopped once for a minute or two before the first flying sequence which was slightly unnerving because it was in the middle of a blackout, but it resumed rather quickly. In all honesty, I doubt the show will change much from its current point, but I still plan on seeing it again after opening.