New York Post: "WHEN last we checked in on David Garfinkle, the hapless pro ducer of 'Spider- Man, Turn Off the Dark,' currently shaping up to be the most expensive train wreck in Broadway history, he was looking very much like David Hedison in 'The Fly.'
'Help me! Help me!' he squeaked as he struggled to break free of my web -- and get his $45 million musical back on track."
8 comments:
I fined it somewhat interesting that a show that flopped is going to reopen with more people funding it. And that they seem behind on the load in of the show and they also might have a problem with the buy out of Marval and be able to keep the rights.
I find it very interesting that Bono wrote the music, and wouldn't fund it personally at all. I can't decide if its better for the whole spider-man team to realize their losses (and those would be HUGE financial losses) and go home or to persevere and try to make the show a success. If they try and make a go of it, it will only be a success if they truly hit all design and production choices and make it AMAZING and unique. They really need to get the word out so people want to see it.
This seems like a show riddled with more problems than...anything. The thing that looks like the biggest problem though is that it seems like no one wants to take ownership of the show. No one on the show thinks it's going to do well. They're obviously not doing work they're proud of. And that atmosphere convinces the would-be ticket buyers that it'll stink and they shouldn't buy.
The biggest problem here is that the producer has come too far to go back. The only choice is to keep putting more and more money into the show and hope to make some of it back when the show finally opens. I they quit now the financial losses would be tremendous! Why so many talented people got into this mess in the first place is beyond me! Hopefully they will be able to use these talents to get out of the hole they are in.
Its gonna be pretty entertaining if this flops. While its not out of character for Bono to swoop in and save the day, as is customary for the good Samaritan on steroids, I wonder how this will play out for him in the long run. Everything Bono does seems to have huge sums of cash attached to it, so I'm not really surprised to see this happen. I just wonder if its the best move politically or globally.
I wouldn't necessarily be opposed to seeing Spiderman fall out of its loft web above Broadway. It would be lesson, not only to its current team, but to our industry, that sometimes throwing millions of dollars at a project ISN'T the answer, and that instead if can be a hindrance. Perhaps there IS a limit, or rather, should be, to what we call entertainment.
In the rate shows have been closing on Broadway I am a little shocked people are still trying to push these huge expensive shows. Things are not the same as they were even 3 years ago. It is not the time to be trying to put on a show of this caliber although I agree that it may be hard for the producer to back out now with the all of the money that has already been spent. Even if the run on Broadway ends up being a bust they may eventually be able to earn that money back on a tour later in time. It is hard to see these things happen but people have got to start adapting to our changing economic environment.
This show will never make back it's money. Ever. That doesn't mean I wont see it. I'm terribly surprised by the lack of advance ticket sales. I would have thought the Spider Man fanboys would have jumped on this by now. Maybe geekery and musicals don't mix well outside of Rocky Horror.
However, as an optimist and firm believer in the artistic value of popular culture, I really want this show to open and I want it to be marvelous and I want to be blown away.
I think this is a great example of an industry not looking at their market. There are a very few people I know who are both theater and comic book fans. Even if some people from either category go to the show, I cannot see the interest being too large from either category.
If I am smart enough to look at the sign for spiderman the musical, and say, "that is going to be terrible," why aren't producers who have been in this business longer than me smart enough to say the same thing. Especially in this economy.
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