The problem-laden extravaganza (and Broadway’s most expensive musical ever) is finally calling it quits after three years.
When Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark first debuted in 2010, it quickly gained notoriety for a long slew of injuries to cast members, record-setting delays, a highly-publicized split with the original director, and, of course, a budget of $75 million, more than any other show to date. The production became a running joke among Broadway fans for its reputation as an expensive disaster. However, once it had finally fixed most of its script and logistical problems and exchanged Julie Taymor for Philip William McKinley as director, the show actually did well: at once point in 2012, Spider-Man earned $2.9 million in one week.
This success was not sustainable because fancy effects and publicity storms do not a hit production make. Ticket sales tapered off once theater goers realized that under all the novelty, there really wasn’t much substance to the show. With such an expensive show, filling seats consistently is incredibly necessary, and Spider-Man just couldn’t sustain that sort of interest over the amount of time needed to make it financially viable. Spider-Man: Turn of the Dark will close early in 2014 and move to Las Vegas.
Meanwhile, the Foxwoods theater where it played will possibly have to remain closed in order to remove all the structural changes made to the space to accommodate the ambitious production. Sheesh.
Did any of our readers see either Taymor or McKinley’s production? What did you think? Could it have been saved?
I think the real question here is: was it better or worse than Sam Raimi‘s Spider-man 3?
(via: Hollywood Reporter)
- Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark Producers Sue Julie Taymor
- Reimagined Spider-Man Musical Returns
- Taymor’s Spider-Man Ends
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