Despite receiving some of the most terrible (and entertaining) reviews in Broadway history, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark is currently playing to 93.6% capacity and making enough to at least cover its operating costs. So why mess with a good thing? Cast and crew members tell Arts Beat that they now expect the show to postpone its opening night—currently scheduled for March 15th—for a sixth time and "perhaps for a significant period of time." Sources say the delay has to do with the recent hire of veteran musical supervisor Paul Bogaev. You may remember Bogaev from such Broadway sensations as Starlight Express (a.k.a. the Rollerskating Musical). With any luck, the collaboration between Bogaev and Taymor will top Zoo Animals on Wheels!
Over the weekend, rumors swirled that producers were poised to hire a co-director, Philip William McKinley, who directed the Broadway musical Boy from Oz and has experience with circus aerial numbers. A spokesman for the musical insists "there is no truth to the rumor of a co-director" but he would not comment on the possibility of another opening night delay. Yet with the new opening night just weeks away, and Bono and Edge still writing new music, it seems inevitable that the now irrelevant "opening" will be delayed yet again, which—from the producers' point of view—can't hurt, because it lets them continue excusing the debacle as a "work in progress."
Well, good for them. We can't wait to see how this thing looks after getting imbued with some of that Starlight Express razzle dazzle!
