‘Does It Still Suck?’ You Ask? Read On!
The ‘reimagined’ Broadway musical ‘Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark’ has been unleashed to the bloodthirsty harpies of Broadway’s critics and press.
The New York Times has a roundup of critical reaction, which range from ‘Dear God… the horror’ to ‘Hey, if you’re a 10 year old that’s not precocious then this might be for you!’ The reviews tend to portray a musical that’s been dumbed down a bit to make it actually coherent, with splashes of the original still present to remind you that Julie Taymor once lived there.
But most importantly, does it still… suck? Some highlights from the press:
The New York Times: “This singing comic book is no longer the ungodly, indecipherable mess it was in February. It’s just a bore.”
Newsday: “So, is it better? Yes, the story makes sense now and, so far, no one has fallen down. But is it better than junk-food theater in a jumbo package? No.”
Time Out New York: “What can we say about this marvelously morphing musical? It’s a hell of a lot better. ‘Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark’ is now a coherent and mostly enjoyable entertainment for children and adults, albeit one still saddled with Taymor’s vestigial nuttiness and freshly dug plot holes all its own.”
Philadelphia Inquirer: “The new ‘Spider-Man’ is all for fun, a live-on-stage comic book, pure and simple – precisely what the last version wasn’t, and what its team, on hiatus for several weeks of rewrites and rehearsals, reimagined. It will by no means assume a spot in the pantheon of great Broadway musicals, but it’s now far more than a tortured curiosity.”
The Washington Post: “This effects-driven musical is still situated a wide canyon’s distance from good.”
The Globe and Mail: “While the musical has moments of beautiful imagery and genuinely exciting aerial sequences, as well as the basic storytelling competence it lacked for most of its history, only rarely does it soar.”
So there you have it, and there are more reviews at the New York Times website. To the critics ‘reimagined’ Broadway Spidey has at least stepped up from “Please God, Make It Stop!” to “Meh” and even, to some, “Yay!”
Another thing a lot of the reviews seemed to mention was the refreshing lack of life-threatening injuries or mechanical mishaps. That’s a great thing to hear, especially in a show you want to run more than once per day. I’d been afraid that people were going to die during this thing but maybe they’ve finally nailed that down. Let’s hope so.
Oh, and so someone can call me a “hater” today, the Green Goblin costume in this is still asinine and laughable. There. You may pelt me with arrows.
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Well, when you put it that way….
@18
Did she not deserve it? Sometimes throwing someone under a bus is fully justified. Figuratively speaking ‘course. 🙂
Am I wrong for feeling just a wee bit sorry for Taymore being thrown under the bus?
So bummed I missed out on the original version, but hopefully I’ll be able to squeeze it in this winter.
I’ll watch it, if and when they put it out on video. (like they did with Cats) The price of the tickets are a bit much for my tastes… and I live in Southern California, so theres that too.
@George: It was probably sniped because it had multiple links. The system picks that up as spam and puts it aside for moderation.
Hey there Lee. Not sure why the moderation queue zapped your first comment but I got it on there for you. Thanks for sharing the other reviews. 🙂
Why did my second comment apear but my first shows as “awaiting moderation”? There was nothing offensive in it. It was links to positive reviews, including quotes; and my opinion on critics wanting to hate the show.
Anyway since I found that the songs from the musical that I have heard so far didn’t connect with me on first liten and took several times for me to get into; I grabbed the album and have been listening to it. After several plays I am really enjoying it (although “Bouncing off the walls” is pretty weak); there are some really great songs in there. And call me a soppy romantic but the MJ/Pete romance songs really tear me up. Love it.
Doesn’t help the play that the music is better after hearing several times, but I think my experience will be greatly enhanced by taking the time to become more intimate with the shows numbers.
Oh and I 100% agree about the Goblin costume, it’s just awful. Hate what they did to the Spidey costume too, but it does look great from a distance (which is where most of us will see it from).
It’s worth noting that despite “spidey-schadenfreude” circle-jerk of many critics, the audiences seem to love it. The vast majority of those interviewed leaving the show had nothing but good things to say. I think all the hype and problems the play has had as led to a desire by many to see it fail, people enjoy watching things fail and a lot of people wanted to slate it before even seeing it.
However the reviews that were good were often very good from what I have seen. Here are a few that I liked.
“Superlatives. A word that means (to some – to ME) “of the highest order of quality or degree surpassing or superior to all.”
And then there are words to describe the superlatives. Or “Super”-latives, since I’m writing about a super hero masterpiece. There are not enough of them (the superlatives) for me to adequately describe what I just saw.
What did I see, dear reader?
I saw theatrical heaven on earth.
I saw an apparition of God.
I saw Spider-man: Turn Off The Dark!”
http://mankabros.com/blogs/btp/2011/06/14/spider-man-turn-off-the-dark-is-an-absolute-triumph-review/
“What an improvement. The tangled plot threads that made the new musical “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” a sticky mess during its record-breaking preview period have been unraveled and woven into an exciting web of wonder.”
http://www.backstage.com/bso/reviews-movie-tv-reviews/ny-review-spider-man-turn-off-the-dark-1005230342.story
Anyway, I can’t wait to see it. I am especially happy in these Carlie Cooper times that the play centers around the romance of my all time favourite couple, Peter and MJ.
From AAAAAAAGH!!!! To “Meh” huh? Well, you’re right about one thing. At least no one’s died yet.
Norways larges paper didn’t like this show. 1 out of 6 eyes on the dice. “Fascinating Fiasco”
Review in norwegian:(google translate if you care)
http://www.vg.no/rampelys/artikkel.php?artid=10087264
Sounds like the wire effects are entertaining though:-)
The Chicago Tribune gave it a favorable update as well: “Taking a cue from those pesky early reviews, Aguirre-Sacasa and McKinley focus relentlessly on the simple love story that we might actually care about, dialing back most digressions and replacing them with a variety of audience-pleasing amusements.”
And…”Still, I don’t think “Spidey 2″ will win the belated love of Broadway’s chattering classes, but then they don’t love comics as a rule. For those who do — or those for whom flying around to impress a girl and save the world sounds like a Saturday night of all Saturday nights — Broadway now has an efficient, very expensive, very new comic-book musical with cool effects, some amusements, a brooding hero in Carney, a somewhat shellshocked but spunky heroine in Damiano, and, I predict, a line out the door for a good long while.”
Eh, a crappy looking Green Goblin outfit didn’t keep me from watching and enjoying the first movie, even when he wrapped an old blanket around his head and screamed like a girl. Of course, that doesn’t change the fact that Musical Goblin looks like the result of putting Menace, Movie Goblin Costume and Joel Schumacher in a blender. Being on the west coast I obviously can’t see the show and gauge its actual quality for myself, but I did pick up the CD yesterday and liked the songs. If I were in New York I’d check it out.
Saw it both pre and post Taymor
OMD-level bad then (no joke, the worst writing I have ever seen), and entertaining now. Keep in mind that Sacasa had to deal with all the songs already there (which create a huge part of the narrative of any musical) as well as all the set pieces and costumes. It’s the equivalent of a great scripter being handled a crappy plot: he won’t be able to make it gold because thew foundation is SO bad, but he CAN make it work.
Ah, critics. I love the many different ways they can phrase a variation of “meh.”
Echoing everyone else, I don’t like in NY, so there’s really not much to say…
cute
I’d like to see it. 🙂 But don’t live there, can’t get there and have no money. But the arachid goddess still doesn’t make much sense. Is it Stan Lee’s one? Or Totem spider origins?
I won’t call you a hater. That Green Goblin costume is still the most asinine thing I’ve ever seen.
I want to see this. They should bring the show to the west coast. Assuming they can actually make it a success