Review of: Spider Man Turn off the Dark by Paul Hansen
Review of: Spider Man Turn off the Dark
 by Paul Hansen
 Monday, July 11th, 2011
 New York, NY
 Views: 10,156
 
Share
submit to reddit

 

After months of turmoil over which a small book could probably be written, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark finally opened on Broadway on June 14.  The premiere took place after a three week hiatus in which the  musical was  substantially reworked.  Technically, Spider-Man had a record breaking 183 preview performances, longer than many shows have played on Broadway.  (The recent production of That Champonship Season with Chris Noth and Kiefer Sutherland closed after 125 combined preview and regular performances.) 

 

 

The extended, well publicized turbulence of the production (including the replacement of director Julie Taymor, a number of injuries, and the alteration of storyline and music) apparently has not hurt the show at the box office, perhaps once again proving the adage that the only bad publicity is no publicity.  Indeed, Spider-Man  has turned into something of a must see "event," and there was a palpable air of expectation in the audience at the performance that I attended last week.  At rock bottom, all the fixation on the musical's long gestation process is silly.  The only thing that counts is the final creative product, and the current incarnation of Spider-Man is a lot of fun.  

 

 

The true stars of the musical  are the scenery and costumes.  From the opening episode of the spider godess Arachne hovering above the stage, to the last scene of Spider-Man and The Green Goblin battling it out on the side of a skyscaper,  the visual aspects of Spider-Man truly dazzle.  The Foxwoods  is one of Broadway's larger theatres, and the set designs take advantage of the expansive space, at times producing effects that almost induce a state of vertigo. George Tsypin and Eiko Ishioka are respectively credited with the set and costume designs. 

 

 

During the revision of the musical, the mythological aspects of the story involving Arachne were apparently downplayed and the producers opted for a more traditional storyline of boy gets girl, and good guy beats bad guy. The role of villain Green Goblin was expanded, and as played by Patrick Page, what  a villain he is.  Initially, Page's performance seemed to me to channel a particularly diabolical Jerry Lee Lewis. This perception was only enhanced when Page sat down to play the piano, strumming a particularly ironic rendition of "I"ll Take Manhattan."  Mr. Page's portrayal has the sinister yet campy quality of the villains played by Caesar Romero, Frank Gorshin, Burgess Meredith and Liberace on the iconic Batman TV series of the 1960's.  (Why hasn't this memorable show been released on dvd?).

 

As Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Reeve Carney effectively conveys a callow youth who comes to grips with his heroic powers. Jennifer Damiano is charming as his high school sweetheart and Michael Mulheren is a particularly gruff newspaper editor.  

One couldn't help but admire the flying acrobatics of the performers and doubles, all the way down to the curtain calls where Carney descends upside down from the top of the proscenium in a spider pose.  (Does an actor look forward to doing that after performing for a couple of hours?)  

 

Except for the appropriately titled A Freak Like Me sung by the Green Goblin and chorus,  I didn't find any of the songs by The Edge or Bono particularly memorable.  However the score does have a pulsating, brash quality which adds a lot to the show's energy.

 

Spider-Man:Turn of the Dark isn't high art, but it does set a very elevated standard for creative theatrical design. The show isn't so much a musical as a circus. And who doesn't enjoy a good circus?


. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Last updated by Paul Hansen - Monday, July 11th, 2011 -  New York, NY

© 2012 The New York Grapevine, All Rights Reserved. powered by infaCORE™