Julie Taymor‘s “Spider Man: Turn off the Dark”– costing at least $55 million– has been postponed until November 28th for its first preview. The new opening night is January 11, 2011. That 1-11-11. Pretty cool, really.
Over at the New York Post, Michael Riedel is warming his hands hoping for a complete disaster, and a monumental failure. I don’t think he’s going to have it. Riedel is the Green Goblin of Broadway. He’s also, really, quite awful when it comes to these things. Wishing “Spider Man” into collapse won’t make it happen.
I wrote on October 12th that the “flying inspectors” were coming. So they came. The show has two extra weeks to fix itself up. The whole second act has been rehearsed. Now the show will be run through in its entirety. The previews are designed to let the creators of the show make changes. So November 28th, while it will be sold out, is just a preview.
As for the box office, I expect once “Spider Man” starts performances, people will want to see it. There are legions of “Spider Man” fans, Marvel comics fans, and U2 fans who will want to hear Bono and The Edge’s new songs.
Riedel quoted an “source” the other day who said of Julie Taymor: “The chick is nuts.” Taymor is hardly a “wack job,” as Riedel gleefully reports. What an idiotic way to describe the creator of “The Lion King,” of a highly admired Oscar nominated film, “Frida,” and a new much praised film of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”–and many other ambitious and artistic achievements. Enough!
