Thursday, December 5, 2024

“Spider Man” on Broadway: Gutting Julie Taymor’s Show

Share

The producers of “Spider Man: Turn off the Dark” are busy gutting the show they had, and trying to erase creator Julie Taymor‘s work. Good luck with that. Last night they announced that they’ve cut the “Geek chorus”–four young people who frame the show as they create their own “Spider Man” comic book story. Honestly, most audiences found them annoying, but the actors themselves did the best with what they had. This news follows the announcement that Chase Brock, an experimental choreographer with no Broadway experience, is replacing Daniel Ezralow. This was unnecessary, but Ezralow is from Taymor’s team, so he’s out. Too bad: his work was very good. There was nothing wrong with it. Next to go, or to be minimized, will be Arachne, the Spider Woman. Her portrayer. T.V. Carpio, was injured and is currently out of the show. When she returns, she will find her character mostly dethroned, I guess. Box office for the last couple of weeks of this “Spider Man” will be huge as people come to see the “Director’s Cut” version. It’s hard to imagine what will remain of the show when it reappears on May 11th after a three week shut down to implement these changes. It’s a hard deal for those four actors in the Geek Chorus–they have to chin up and do their best knowing they’re not coming back.

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.

Read more

In Other News