Spider Man Turn Off The Dark

I saw it and it wasn't too horrible, as far as musicals go. It was, stylistically, pretty awesome and they did some cool stuff with the effects. The only problem I ran across was a technical issue; the green goblin got caught on the Chrysler building, though they handled that quite quickly.

All in all, it was worth seeing!

How was the plot, closeness to canon and music?

In regards to music, it was iffy. Some songs were much better than others (Pull The Trigger and Behold And Wonder both come immediately to mind), but overall they were much too forgettable. The album's been on iTunes for a month or two now; listen to it, and determine whether or not it's for you. On a side note, the quality of the songs can be measured by their names. When a song is titled Bullying By Numbers, you know you need to cover your ears.

Now, canonically, it's a f*ckfest. If you care deeply about the exact origins of characters, it'd be best if you avoided the play. Essentially, Norman Osborne is now researching gene splicing to create more perfect human beings, is responsible for the radioactive spider that bit Peter Parker, pumped himself with animal genetics to become the Green Goblin, and forcibly modified his coworkers to turn them into Carnage, Kraven the Hunter, Electro, the Lizard, Swarm, and Julie Taymor's ORIGINAL CHARACTER DO NOT STEAL the Swiss Miss. Honestly, saying that much isn't really a spoiler.

As far as products of Broadway go, the show is less than average and isn't necessarily worth paying to see. But as far as products of Spider-Man go, it's fantastic. Paradoxical, I know.

• Sigh* Goodness. Out of bile curiosity I wanted to see this when I was at New York. Maybe I was fortunate sold-out tickets spared me.

Well, the songs I was able to hear were... ranging from bad to passable. I actually do feel "Boy Falls From the Sky" fits well for the theme. But then I heard the Goblin Song. Oh god, this song alone would suck out any complex compelling struggle this character has. And did I really hear the Goblin sing "I'm a 65 million dollar tragedy"? Yes I did. Hilarious/Harsher in Hindsight (forgive me if I misunderstood these terms? Or just a bit Bono tossed in for fun to reference to when the ridiculous budget once was before it spiraled up.

When the Tony Awards presented this musical, I thought, they obviously presented that duet because 1)visual numbers would be too risky 2)the commercialization is now attempting to reimagine it as more plot-driven. It was the most underwhelming of Tony performances with two great singers wasting their talent.

You want Theatre Arts innovation that can be visually lovely AND emotionally involving at the same time, I would go choose War Horse. The puppertry is stylistic and still retains that challenge for the audience of the traditional Suspension of Disbelief. The effects of Spiderman is stylistic and obviously has loads of devotion and effort invested but struggles to... just be there and be pretty for lacking storytelling.

I cannot judge entirely as I have not seen the show. I know I would like to see this (and to compensate for expected disappointment, I would also purchase tickets for the Book of Mormon or War Horse) and maybe enjoy the visuals.

edited 22nd Jul '11 11:11:01 PM by CarolC

All i know is that the Green gobiln is...odd

The Nostalgia Chick, Obscurus Lupa, and Todd In The Shadows's review.

Here's the Goblin song.

Dear god this musical must rock in the worst way.

I lost some respect for Glenn Beck when he endorsed this.

They probably paid him.

i will love to see the musical
it looks like it's an awesome fusion of So Bad, It's Good and Camp in a radical way

My exact thoughts. Norman's song and "MY BABY" sold me.

@P Down: Why on Earth did you have any respect for Glenn Beck in the first place?

What does The Lizard remind me of... oh yeah!

The dragon from A Very Potter Musical.

Except the dragon is a better effect and costume

WHERE IS THE 65 MILLION GOING!?

here◊...

special effects, stunt work, whatnot... I don't know.

Maybe it's a The Producers esque scam

But Bono's rich. He doesn't need that scam. And if he's not in it then why get Bono?

So...uh...did the creators of the musical just not know there are actually female Spider Man villains? Were they really that attached to the "Swiss Miss" pun? Was it really worth the trouble!? REALLY!?

...that said, uh, that song is stuck in my head now. I think I get what the Chick was talking about.

ALL THE WEIRDOS IN THE WORLD ARE HERE! IN NEW! YORK! CITY!

How many years does this need to run to meet the ridiculous budget?

Oh, about 5 million dollars probably got squandered on that Green Goblin scene thus raising the budget from 60 million dollars to 65.

"I'm a 65 million dollar circus tragedy." I'm sorry, but it just sticks in my head.

10. Years. Straight.

And must sell out every night of those years.

edited 5th Aug '11 8:27:34 PM by Fusionman

• Sigh* 10 years. And I had the answer given to me already before. I just didn't believe it.

So tropers, what are your guesses on Turn Off the Dark's running years? When do you think it will close down?

I'm guessing it'll run for a few years, but I doubt it'll run for ten. It takes a big hit show like Rent or The Lion King or Wicked to run that long (granted, the last one hasn't hit ten years yet).

Wicked will reach 10 years and then some. I'm not concerned.

I give Turn Off the Dark three years tops.

Parade only ran for around three months.

I has a sad.

edited 9th Aug '11 11:11:49 AM by Pannic

Wicked's lasting 10.

Les Mis is around 27 now...

But not all of those are even sold out EVERY DAY.