Spiderman looking up.... not.

[kidbroadway2]

Posted: 7/15/10 at 11:34pm

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/141223-PR-Firm-Boneau-Bryan-Brown-Resigns-From-Spider-Man-Turn-Off-the-Dark-Account

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 7/16/10 at 12:26am

is it a good thing to be sorta un officially cast in this show?

They have been paying one of the highest Bway profiled agencies for years for a show that does not yet exist?
Who are these people?

[SNAFU]

Posted: 7/16/10 at 1:11am

You know it's bad when your publicist takes a hike!

[broadwaybabe1234]

Posted: 7/16/10 at 1:54am

Woah! what is that sound i hear? oh i think it is the sound of Spiderman slowly crashing and burning despite the money thats getting thrown at it...

quit while your ahead... how do they even think this could even be a remote hit?

[walkedthroughmany]

Posted: 7/16/10 at 2:04am

I think what the show NEEDS is someone new handling its press.

Let's face it -- no one knows anything about the show except its financial woes. And yet it's the butt of every Broadway joke.

I think a new press rep is hope for some positive change in the show's image.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 7/16/10 at 2:48am

It would be nice if the show would announce any progress being made with set construction and/or even minor casting (assuming that there is any progress being made of course). If there is going to be an announcement for every loss, the show should make it a priority to report on their progress as well. A new press rep will hopefully be able to help with this.

[Kad]

Posted: 7/16/10 at 3:12am

I think Julie T. and all involved in this should be applauded for creating the world's slowest, expensive, and fiery train wreck.

[PReeves2]

Posted: 7/16/10 at 3:32am

Hate to say this but, I think the show might just be great. Work is obviously happening on this show and it certainly doesn't seem to be going away. Press Agents are a dime a dozen.

[PReeves2]

Posted: 7/16/10 at 3:34am

i use the term great very loosely. The one thing I will bet on is this show IS going to happen.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 7/16/10 at 3:40am

"Hate to say this but, I think the show might just be great. Work is obviously happening on this show and it certainly doesn't seem to be going away. Press Agents are a dime a dozen."

Honsetly, I think it will be too. When Taymour did Lion King there was a great amount of doubt and speculation as to how she would make it all happen. Needless to say, she did. Of course Lion King did not have as many problems with financing, casting, etc... but I think when the show opens it will have the same effect as The Lion King had. The visual elements will blow the audience away while the book and plot will be lacking. That's just my opinion though.

[PReeves2]

Posted: 7/16/10 at 3:44am

sounds similar to Lion King then. Visually stunning but, lacking in depth of material. (we all know the material just like in Lion King) No doubt everyone on this website is going to see it though.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 7/16/10 at 4:21am

^ "Lacking in material"- those were the words I was looking for! I am just guessing and predicting based on what Taymour did with The Lion King. This will hopefully prove to be as successful as The Lion King.

[Phantom of London]

Posted: 7/16/10 at 7:54am

Does anyone know when Spiderman is going to open?

Does anyone think it will open this fall? Is there time for it to open this fall?

[newintown]

Posted: 7/16/10 at 9:07am

IF this ridiculous thing ever happens, it's a guarantee that there will be some who will adore it, gush over it, go ga-ga over it.

But I have no faith in a songwriting team with no experience writing for character, situation, or theatre. I have little faith in Taymor, who knows how to make a great picture, but is utterly at sea with text. And everything yet written about it makes it sound like a theme park ride, designed to please the most unthinking of the unthinking herd.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 7/16/10 at 10:26am

I believe that article says it is now slated to open in Feb. If it were to open this fall they would have already begun ticket sales to group booking agents.

[darquegk]

Posted: 7/16/10 at 10:54am

Is it going to be smart, genre-defining theater? Probably not.

What it WILL be is a piece of stunning performance art, ostensibly designed on a level putting Vegas and Cirque to shame. If all the hype about this show is true, it'll be the biggest and best example of "visual theater" ever conceived. If it isn't, THEN it's a failure.

[newintown]

Posted: 7/16/10 at 11:36am

Well, then, I suppose those who seek no more than a few hours of visual stimulation (for $150 or so) can still hold some hope in their hearts. Good for them. I wonder, though, if a good number might enjoy it more if they could step outside the theatre right after the show into a casino...

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/16/10 at 12:02pm

Has any show held an empty theater as long as they've held the Hilton before?

[darquegk]

Posted: 7/16/10 at 12:02pm

If "avant garde visual performance art" wasn't a legitimate art form, albeit a less intellectual one than "straight drama," we wouldn't have Cirque du Soleil, traditional circuses or professional magic shows. Well... already we're seeing less and less traditional circuses or professonal magic shows, but the fact is that the form exists. The fact is, art exists to be appreciated. There will always be an audience for high art, but the audience potential isn't the majority. So people create what they create, and it finds what market it can. Without fun, entertaining and "touristy" shows being created as often as heavier material, it's a safe bet that Broadway's financial woes would have taken it, and much of musical theater, down long ago. We'd have a small theater here and there and see a lot of Brecht, but the cast would outnumber the audience.

I'm not an apologist for dumbing-down- I'm just saying that its existence is not an affront to me, or to Broadway as a whole. The art form of theater is not diminished by lesser works any more than the art of painting was besmirched by Marilyn Manson's nude oil painting of Andy Dick. I love an intellectually stimulating work, but I'm just as capable of enjoying the rush of some exciting and well-performed spectacle. I have to admit though, I wish there was a show that provided both.

[newintown]

Posted: 7/16/10 at 12:09pm

I don't disagree with you at all, darquegk. I just reserve the right to mock, denigrate, and condemn the lowbrow, the dumbed-down, and the lesser works.

[darquegk]

Posted: 7/16/10 at 12:13pm

Permission granted. Just remember the "Wicked theorem-"

A show may have an obvious appeal to the unsophisticated, but one is capable of enjoying the show on its own merits without BEING unsophisticated. However, those who enjoy ONLY that show typically ARE unsophisticated.

Prepare yourself for the onslaught of Spiderfans.

[PReeves2]

Posted: 7/16/10 at 12:23pm

if the ticket prices are right i'm sure the spider fans will be running to see the show.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 7/16/10 at 12:43pm

The ticket prices will be $135 like the currant popular shows on Broadway. With this budget they might even go a bit higher. Don't think for one minute that the Producers will highly discount sales! Not with $50,000,000 at stake.

Wicked, despite being a mediocre show did manage to strike a chord with 15-16 year olds. Much like the high pitched ringtones that only people under 25 can hear, it appeals to that age group. The question is, does Taymor have the ability to get teenage pathos and angst into the show? From what I have seen of her work, my answer would be a resounding, NO!

[ObiHave]

Posted: 7/16/10 at 1:15pm

Is this a Bialystock and Bloom production???

[quizking101]

Posted: 7/16/10 at 2:14pm

Ulla can pull off Mary Jane...