The Book of Peter

While I never saw the musical in it’s original incarnation, as an avid Spider-Man fan I did follow it very closely. And very little of what I read inspired much hope for it’s quality. Sure the action sounded fantastic, but the story was a mess.

If you are interested in reading an exhaustive outline of the original, take a look here: Act 1 – Act 2

Well I am very happy to report that the production that I saw was far from what the New York Times described as a “muddled fever dream” in reference to the first version. While many of the original scenes remain, they have been reorganized and rewritten to create a far more comprehensive and classical comic book inspired plot. Many if not all of the terrible scenes have been removed entirely, including the “shoe shopping scene”, every scene with the “Geek chorus” and the quite frankly awful sounding original ending with Peter battling Arachne after she reveals the whole first act was an illusion!?

What we are left with is a rather by the numbers Spider-Man versus the Green Goblin plot which takes more than a few cues from the original Sam Raimi directed movie. Also the romance between Peter and MJ has been given far more attention, much to my delight. The final product may be “uninspired” in it’s originality, but it is exactly what most audiences and Spider-Man fans would want from a theatre production of Spider-Man.

I’m not going to break the plot down scene by scene, but if you are interested in comparing the plot synopsis with the one of the original linked above. The shows wikipedia page does a pretty good job. Wikipedia

And while there are some rather strange deviations from the comic and the movie, the plot is thoroughly enjoyable in every sense. We see our hero’s origin told in a wonderfully dramatic synopsis, which while it cuts out the rather important element of Peter failing to stop Uncle Ben’s killer it does do a great job of capturing the origin with much of the same respect to the source material seen in the movie.

The only major deviance from the movie version of the origin is the inclusion of Peter’s “spirit guide” (for want of a better name) Arachne. The scenes with this character, while wonderful and spell binding are also rather jarring and out of place. Remnants of the shows original vision and wonderful in there own right, they offer a pleasant diversion from the standard Spider-Man story, but ultimately they seem incomplete and unnecessary.

And for fans of the comic, the show taking more inspiration from the movies than the comic feels very odd. But as someone who loved the movies it is not really a detriment to the show at all.

Other deviances include Norman being a scientist desperate for funding and ultimately becoming the Green Goblin from genetic tampering based on other species. Which is why the costume is so bizarre, as far as the plot is concerned it isn’t a costume but the result of him being transformed by the process. It has to be said that the Green Goblin costume is rather awful, but it does look much better on stage than in photos. And the performance more than makes up for his goofy look. However I know that most Spider-Man fans would be much happier had he more closely resembled his classic comic book visage.

The Sinister Six are later created by Norman using scientists that worked with him and left when funding dried up, and are set upon the city in an attempt to lure out Spider-Man. While this is a pretty huge change in the origin of these characters, I found it worked great within the construct of a Broadway show. The cast of villains in the Sinister Six is also unusual, we have Carnage, Electro, Kraven the Hunter, the Lizard, Swarm and Swiss Miss.
Carnage’s costume is probably the best and most faithful to the comic, although he is described as being made of blood by the press. Electro looks cool but is not quite the Electro we know and love. Kraven is kinda cool looking, identical to the comic but with a large plastic head. The Lizard is seen in video on large electronic screen at times during the show and looks just like his comic counterpart, however when on stage he is a man with a lizards head an arms coming from his stomache and tail from his back, presumably in mid transformation. The last two come across as more of a joke than attempt at real villains, Swarm bares little resemblance to the character seen in the comics and Swiss Miss is ridiculous but entertaining within the show.

All in all though the Sinister Six scenes are extremely fun, especially when Spidey shows up and starts defeating them.
The final battle at the end of the shows second act is now with Spider-Man versus the Green Goblin (rather than Peter versus Arachne), and is without doubt the most breath taking and wonderful piece of action drama I have ever seen outside of a movie. This is what Spider-Man fans want to see, this is the climax that always should have been at the end of the show.

The romance between Peter and MJ that progresses throughout the show is also rather wonderful. I’m a big fan of Peter and MJ’s romance and I thought it was handled superbly here. I’m not embarrassed to say that at the climax where MJ reveals that she has guessed that Spider-Man is Peter, and he takes of his mask to kiss her; I cried a little.

So I can say without any reservations that while the story offers few if any surprises, it is everything I wanted from a Spider-Man production. I was utterly entertained and delighted to see all these elements come to life on stage before me.

Rating: B+