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Spiderman Musical to Meet a Dark Fate

Spiderman Musical to Meet a Dark Fate
The new Broadway musical, Spiderman: Turn off the Dark looks like it is going to meet a dark fate after its matinee and evening performances were canceled due to technical problems. The show, directed by Julie Taymor and music by Bono and Edge of U2, has been plagued with a lot of problems right from the very beginning.

When the show gave its first preview performance in late November, the harnesses and the rigging gave a lot of trouble. The woman, who played spider, was left dangling in air for around eight minutes. Next, Spiderman himself faced trouble while he was climbing down the harness. When the press looked into the matter, it was found that loose wires were left hanging and a whole part of the set was completely missing. After that performance, several injuries were reported in the consecutive performances.

On the 20th of December, Christopher Tierney, the dancer-cum-stuntman for Spiderman, fell from a platform that was approximately 30 feet above the audience. This happened around a full 7 minutes before the show was scheduled to end. The man was rushed immediately to the hospital and the spectators were ushered out.

As per reports, Spiderman is the most expensive and also the most physically intricate show ever played in Broadway. According to the fancy advertisements, the audience was supposed to watch full-fledged aerial fights between Spiderman and his enemies’ right above their heads.

Now, the Actor's Equity and OSHA have stepped into the situation. They will make sure that all the performers are better protected during the show. More safety precautions have to be enforced before the theater doors can be reopened. Also, the producers have agreed to have a stage manager and a second stage help at hand during all the performances. This will help them monitor all the technical aspects of the show in a better manner.

The official opening of the show has been pushed from the 11th of January to the 7th of February 2011. Interestingly, the ticket sales for the show are quite brisk, even after all these reports. Perhaps, the audiences believe that the show will not last very long or they are expecting an accident. As per audience reviews, the music and acting is not very good, but the technical effects deserve a thumbs up, when they work.

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