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.
After previews began in December, the show pushed back its official opening a few times while technical and storytelling issues were hammered out. The official opening was finally scheduled for March, but theater critics decided to observe the February 7th opening and publish their opinions today.
Let’s hope this spider has legs, because the critics did their best to squash this arachnid.
Here’s a small taste of the reviews:
The sheer ineptitude of this show, inspired by the Spider-Man comic books, loses its shock value early. After 15 or 20 minutes, the central question you keep asking yourself is likely to change from “How can $65 million look so cheap?” to “How long before I’m out of here?”
To be sure, Taymor has found a way to send her superhero soaring above the audience. And yet, the creature that most often spreads its wings in the Foxwoods is a turkey.
What sinks the show, however, has nothing to do with glitches in the special effects. To revise a handy little political catch phrase, “It’s the storytelling, stupid.”
Even CBR, which usually lands some soft punches, was pretty appalled by the production when they reviewed it in mid-January.
…for both comic book fans and mainstream audiences alike, it's nothing but a waste of time and money. Check it out if you can get free or supremely cheap tickets. Otherwise, avoid, avoid, avoid.
The ticket sales for Spider-Man have been robust, so now it’s time to see how resilient our little spider is. If the play is anything like its protagonist, it may take a hell of a licking but this bug's not going anywhere.
No comments:
Post a Comment