Broadway's 'Spider-Man' Musical Turns Off The Lights At Last
Regardless of how critics and audiences eventually responded, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark was always going to be one of the most-discussed shows in Broadway history. It had songs by U2's Bono and the Edge; it was directed by The Lion King's Julie Taymor; it was based on a hit Marvel franchise; there were going to be flying stunts right over the audience's heads.
And then somehow it all went very wrong, from injured actors to huge cost overruns.
"Spider-Man will be legendary because of the cost," says Jeremy Gerard, who covered the show for Bloomberg News. "And because of the injuries, and because of the ridiculous press attention that was paid to it.
"But ultimately," Gerard says bluntly, "it's a bad show."
Now Glen Berger, the show's co-author, has written a juicy tell-all memoir called Song of Spider-Man. He says that way back in 2007, when the show had its first reading for producers and investors, everyone was convinced Spider-Man was going to be a monster hit. Berger sat next to the actors, reading fantastical stage directions.
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