IT'S CUSTOMARY in the theatre to suggest to actors that they "break a leg". But perhaps not advisable to do so to the cast of Broadway's latest musical blockbuster,
Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, seven of whom, before the official curtain, have been injured in its spectacular aerial acrobatics, one stuntman falling 10 metres to crack his skull and vertebrae.
The lead actress walked out after suffering a concussion and the US department of labour has warned producers of serious violations of workplace safety rules.
And that's before the critical battering that followed Tuesday's opening – all after a record six months of previews and at a record-breaking cost of $70 million that brings to mind Lew Grade's observation on his financially disastrous Raise the Titanic– "It would have been cheaper to lower the Atlantic".
The drama offstage has by most accounts been at least as worthy of Broadway as that onstage. But, despite the sacking in March of both choreographer Daniel Ezralow and director Julie Taymor, nurse to the show for nine years from conception, a rewrite of an incomprehensible book into a more straightforward albeit dull story, the re-engagement of Bono and The Edge with their music, it was not to be. Reviewers who had poured scorn on previews found little to redeem it: "This singing comic book is no longer the ungodly, indecipherable mess it was in February," the New York Timesopined. "It's just a bore." "The best looking mediocre musical ever to open on Broadway," the Wall Street Journallamented. Ouch!
And there was much more in the same vein, although producers hope that the three stars from USA Today, which circulates nationwide and in the city's hotels, and the somewhat upbeat assessment from the widely syndicated Associated Press critic, will reach those places and tourists the metropolitan press doesn't get to.
The golden touch of U2, it seems, has failed this time, though the show may hopefully yet defy the legendary killer touch of New York's critics. Word of mouth about the breathtaking sets, costumes and death-defying stunts, notably the aerial battle between the eponymous hero and the Green Goblin (by most accounts a splendid performance) may yet keep the houses as full as the previews. And then there is also The Producers'truth – that awfulness can sell. As a bewildered Max Bialystock complained of the runaway success of Springtime for Hitler: "How could this happen? I was so careful. I picked the wrong play, the wrong director, the wrong cast. Where did I go right?" Break a leg, Spider-Man.