Friday, February 11, 2011
‘Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark’ Review, Part 2: Five Things We Hated
mtv.com: "Despite a seemingly endless list of difficulties on its way to the stage, 'Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark' has finally arrived on Broadway. The show marks its official debut in February, but it's currently in the midst of preview performances that are available to the public.
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3 comments:
This article hits on four, very accurate problems with the Spiderman Musical. However I have to disagree with the final selection. The technical difficulties, the holds, the issues, these are the best part of the whole thing! One of the comments that rung the truest for me in the New York Times review of Spiderman was that the producers should capitalize on these things. Make t-shirts that say "I survived!". The holds that occur during the shows play to the inside joke that is the musical. If you want your audience to feel close to the production, it seems that that is the best way for Spiderman. Everyone gets a kick, what they came for, and a laugh. In my opinion, it's the best thing it's got going for it.
These criticisms are not surprising, considering that the top fives things that were liked about Spiderman were all on a visual level that has nothing to do with the plot or music of the show. It is very unfortunate that after all the work Spiderman put into bettering the show, it will still fall short because its foundation, the story, action, and music, are weak. The changes and difficulties are what makes the show so popular to talk about, usually through criticisms, so it is interesting that these two subjects are in the top five hated things about the show. It is very disappointing that after all the work that was put in to better this show, it still falls short.
Wow does this review paint a poor picture of the performance. I am really curious to know how this show does long term. I bet with all of the media hype, the coverage alone will fill seats for a fair bit to come. But can a show survive on that alone? Well apparently it's certainly splashy enough, and it's going to draw the kid crowd. Hopefully the creative team can retool this show to solve its basic problems: acting, singing, and story. At least all the media coverage has brought more attention to the industry as whole, hopefully it encourages more people to go to better shows.
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