Julie Taymor Steps Aside as Director of 'Spider-Man' Musical, Amid Other Big Changes

If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.

Unfortunately, the darn thing is actually broke, so it’s ripe for some fixing. The “it” is Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, and today the producers announced that there were going to be some major changes in store for what has been so far been an uncomplimentary foray into musical theater.

Beleaguered with accidents, technical problems, rumored storytelling issues, and finally (and perhaps most damning), terrible reviews by the theatre press, the musical was ripe for rejiggering. And the rejiggering is big.

Director, and project visionary, Julie Taymor is out of the show, to be replaced by Phillips William McKinley (The Boy From Oz). Comic book writer and playwright Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa is reshaping the script as the show is expected to receive a pretty major facelift over the next three months.

Performances are expected to shut down for approximately three weeks during April and May to allow for rehearsals and other changes to take place. Comic fans, more than any other group, have been the most vocal for the production and its apparent lack of respect for the source material with its divergences from the protagonist’s rich history.

Can the new creative team bring Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark back from all of the negative press? Well, Spidey has always been my favorite character—if the show can be half as resilient as Peter Parker, this show may just have some legs.

'Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark' Producers Hire Aguirre-Sacasa for Re-Write

Its story has been called incoherent and a blasphemy to the source material. So the producers of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark have decided to hire a comic book scribe (who is also a playwright) to change things up on Broadway’s behemoth.

Deadline is reporting that Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa has been hired to create a more cohesive piece that is more in line with the webslinger’s own storyline. Does this mean, I wonder, if this will scale down the role of Arachne, the other-dimensional spider-goddess responsible for granting Peter Parker’s powers and giving him his costume?

I’m surprised the producers waited almost three months to consider this serious an overhaul of the book. My guess is that this show will stay in previews well past it’s official (and already pushed back) March opening.

Only time will tell true believers!

'Spider-Man' Vs. Theater Critics!

Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark is back in the news again. Nobody’s fallen. No bones have been broken. Not a concussion seems to have been had. But wait… is that blood we smell?

Ah yes. Theater critics have finally come to review the show and the consensus is that they are not enjoying what they’ve seen. Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, the often delayed play, has been beleaguered with technical problems that have sent a small handful of cast members to the hospital with serious injuries and raised the eyebrows of the authorities who questioned the safety practices of the production.

SNL has Fun with 'Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark'

This weekend Saturday Night Live had some fun with the technical problems Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark had in last week's first preview. Theatergoers were treated to a memorably long and problematic first night as stunts and glitches forced the show to stop several times during the course of the production. In the clip Andy Samberg plays Brian Christopher, the fourth actor to play Spider-Man due to injuries incurred by the first three (the third one apparently exploded).

Enjoy the video. I really think you're going to flip for it!

'Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark': Disaster or Too Early to Dismiss?

So let’s imagine this Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark thing just can’t turn itself around and become a successful big splashy show. It opened last night to many a technical glitch that ballooned the running time to well over three hours.

Spider-Man may join other musical adaptations that were initially thought to be bad ideas, such as It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Superman or Carrie. Those turned out to be abhorred by audiences and critics but remembered nostalgically for their kitschiness. From early reports, this would probably not be the case for a show that appears to have two big problems.

First, and most importantly, as a technical piece it seems to be overambitious. Sets that turn around the stage did not do so completely, actors were stuck over the audience in their harnesses, and wires reportedly fell during the performance. I’m not poopooing ambition, but if it can’t be done it shouldn’t be forced to be done. So much money has been spent on the show that it would be disappointing to see most of it flushed away because the show's creators insisted that the show out-spectacle anything that has come before it.

Second, and something I can’t speak to because I haven’s seen it, there are claims that the story is difficult to follow. That’s unfortunate because it would seem there should be a strong point of reference for the audience. This could be chalked up to the continued stops and starts that plagued Sunday’s first preview performance. I hope that this is not a case of the creators paying more attention to amaze and awe their audiences with “circus” (as director Julie Taymor affectionately referred to the show) than to tell a story.

Should Spider-Man fail, I doubt it will be remembered with the same affinity as it’s turkey predecessors. I think it will be remembered as that show with a gargantuan budget in which investors lost their shirts.

Now let’s imagine the creators and magicians are able get the show’s glitchiness and problematic stunts under control. Perhaps the script and pacing are tweaked to create a more cohesive story.

From everything I’ve heard and seen—and there’s definitely some fantastic stuff—this behemoth deserves a home in Vegas where it could really thrive. There are seven Cirque du Soleil shows on the strip and Spider-Man seems like it would feed the same voracious hunger the gambling crowd has for “circus.” I’d say a long stay in Los Angeles would be the next best bet.

The creative minds are currently at work, during previews, to make sure that the show is running seamlessly come the official opening on January 11, 2011. I’m eager to read what the theatre journalists have to say after viewing a more complete production.

For a taste of the creative minds behind the show, watch the following piece on Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark from this week’s 60 Minutes.

'Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark' Commercial

Oh boy. The more I see from this, the more that I actually like. Hat, get ready to be eaten.

The first official Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark commercial hit the web and it features mostly behind the scenes work mixed with sequences from the show. The rotating and flipping sets look as cool as the rotating and flipping people.

Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark makes it’s Broadway debut tomorrow night with an official opening on January 11, 2011.

First Live Video from 'Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark'

We got our first glimpse at some of the aerial work and sets from Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark today in the form of a new behind-the-scenes video. While I've yet to be sold on Julie Taymor's ideas for this production, I'll admit it looks like it will, at the very least, be a feast for the senses.

There was something confounding and thrilling about Taymor's saying, “We can’t really tell you what this is. But it has rock ‘n roll, it has drama, and it has circus.” So vague but exciting at the same time. Perhaps the woman who brought The Lion King to Broadway might be onto something.

Audiences will be the first to know when Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark opens officially on January 11, 2011 at the Foxwoods Theatre.

'Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark' in 'Vogue'

Vogue has posted new Annie Leibovitz photography of the new Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark musical along with an article on the beleaguered production. The photos feature several of the characters from the show (Above, Carnage and Jennifer Damiano as Mary Jane Watson).

The Green Goblin (played by Patrick Page) is but one of Spidey's villains featured in the story.

Peter Parker is played by Reeve Carney in the show, with stunt double doing the aerial work while Spider-Man is in full costume (Above, Emmanuel Brown).

Swiss Miss (played by Sean Samuels) is the production's sole original villain and was created by Taymor.

Carney and Damiano spend a little down time under the stars in one of Spidey's custom hammocks.

Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark is scheduled for release in January 2011.

'Spider-Man' Musical as Beleaguered as its Title Character

Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark certainly has the essence of its beleaguered hero down.

According to a spokesperson from the New York State Department of Labor, the show’s director, Julie Taymor (The Lion King), and the producers were unable to show the department all of the show’s two dozen aerial stunts. The department is required to view all of the stunts before approving the show and allowing the curtain to finally rise on this troubled production.  News broke last week that one of the show’s stunts was allegedly responsible for the injuries of two of the show’s actors.

Today news has surfaced that the show is again being delayed, and it isn’t only because of the numerous stunts which have still not been fully realized.

From the New York Times:

The executives, as well as people working on or plugged into the production, described a tremendous amount of creative commotion behind the scenes in interviews this week. Flying sequences were still being developed and the music, special effects and scenes of plot and dialogue were still largely in separate pieces even though performances were originally set to begin on Nov. 14.

The $60 million Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark is expected to open in January, instead of its intended December 21^st date.

Injury on the Set of 'Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark'

In two weeks Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark finally hits the Great White Way after an on again/off again schedule which saw the introduction and departure of major cast members (namely Evan Rachel Wood as Mary Jane Watson and Alan Cummings as Norman Osborn) before a the eventual date was firmly set for November 14th.

Last week the New York Post reported that dancer and Spider-Man double Kevin Aubin was injured (left, two broken wrists) on the set after being catapulted through the air and landing roughly on the stage. Injuries happen in theater more than most people might realize, but the word is that there is an unprecedented amount of aerial work in this production. A second actor spoke with the New York Times annonymously, stating that he sustained a foot injury performing the same stunt as Aubin.

Apparently the costumed actors (and probably the puppeted villains) will do some of the acrobatic-style work over the audience. Mary Poppins flies over the audience in her show but she isn’t flung. The actors seem to be taking this in stride, but this probably getting attention due to the notoriety of the show (long gestation, big big budget and schedule bumps).

Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark is directed by Julie Taymor (The Lion King) with music by Bono and the Edge.

Cross your fingers that no more spiders are harmed during the course of the show’s run.