At Last! Spider-Man Opens Tonight!

It took:

• 183 previews
• A three week shutdown
• 2 directors
• 2 choreographers
• 3 book writers
• New songs and re-worked older songs
• 5 cast replacements/departures
• A half dozen injuries
• Hours of TV airtime, including a 60 Minutes piece and a Nightline piece
• Thousands of print and online articles
• Countless blogs
• Endless chat room griping, sniping and smearing

and a remarkably dedicated cast of 35 to get Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark to its official opening tonight. I guess we’ll see how the critics like this 2.0 version. Something tells me they probably won’t be able to back track as much as they might like to, if they do, in fact, like it. It is hard to eat that much crow, especially after so many have gone out of their way to be mean and snarky.

Of course, most critics loathe being kind to shows that are simply entertaining. Look at how cruel they were to Mamma Mia and Priscilla Queen of the Desert. Admitting you enjoy fluff is hard enough, but when you’ve already crucified a show, how do you go back?

I hope I’m wrong. The chat rooms and message boards seem divided, with more and more positives cropping up in the commentary. I think it is almost laughable how people who claim to be theatre fans like almost nothing that is presented. It is either too boring, too flashy, too much like another show, blah, blah, blah. And I think it odd that a self-professed theatre fan can’t find ANYTHING positive to say about some shows. I’d think a true, honest theatre fan would be able to find room in their hearts and minds to appreciate the fun, silly shows as well as the critically acclaimed stuff. Then there’s the folks that thrive on backlash… you know the ones I mean. They hate The Book of Mormon because everyone else loves it. Of course, how many of these people have actually SEEN the shows that they chat about…

Be that as it may, I hope nothing but the best for all involved. They have, at the very least, earned our respect for sticking with it. They will all survive this and go on to other shows. And if it becomes a huge hit, even better.

No matter what, I am really looking forward to seeing the final product on June 29th. After sticking with it this long, it will be nice to see. I’ll let you know what I think June 30th.

Here’s a glimpse of the new show from the Tony Awards:

And here is a sweet, funny parody of the whole situation. Don’t you love the detail? The side set pieces look just like what is at the Foxwoods Theatre, and the music is very close to the theme we hear throughout the show. And you gotta love that the orange and blue monster does resemble Bono! Leave it to Sesame Street to put things into perspective!

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Jeff
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