The most expensive and ambitious stage musical ever produced on Broadway, the upcoming Julie Taymor directed Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark, will today have its first (actual) preview.
After several well-publicised and lengthy delays due to everything from bankruptcy to actor injury, tonight’s opening preview at New York’s Foxwoods Theatre will be the first public glimpse of what promises to be the monster of all musicals.
The New York Times reported this week the show’s enormous $60 million budget has blown out to $65 million, while New York Magazine suggested the figure is now more like $70 million. As a yardstick, Broadway’s two most expensive shows to date have been The Lion King (also directed by Taymor) and Shrek: The Musical, both reportedly costing $25 million to reach opening night. Its got to be big when your new show is nearing three times the cost of its closest rivals.
The stunts in Spider-Man are supposedly so spectacular, they’ll apparently leave the flying sequence in Mary Poppins dead on the pavement. Fight scenes circulating above the stalls and flying over the mezzanine level in the theatre are so dangerous, the New York State Department of Labor has the final say over what stays in the show and what goes.
The New York Times and New York Magazine both reveal the first set of images from a show shrouded in secrecy for many months now. The New York Times article interviews director Julie Taymor and co-composer and lyricist Bono from U2, discussing how Spider-Man treads new ground in musical theatre using cutting-edge technology, while New York Magazine’s article is the first in-depth interview with Taymor about the show.
Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark will be further revealed on US TV tonight when 60 Minutes showcases a feature on the ground-breaking musical.
Links:
Vogue Article Annie Leibovitz Photos
More Videos – Official Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark Website
Yesterday I went to an interesting professional learning seminar at the head office of Apple Inc, Melbourne. As my workplace has recently changed from being a Windows school to a Mac school in the past couple of years, I was eager to hear advice and case studies on how Macs are being used in the classroom with teachers and students.
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