History Trivia / SpiderManturnoffthedark

** However, Garfinkle was ultimately only able to secure half the capitalization, then around $37.5 million. Exacerbating matters was the 2008 economic recession, which saw many potential investors shrink away. Despite the brand-name title, Marvel, nor its eventual buyer Disney, put money into the show. In light of this, Garfinkle ceded control to rock impresario Michael Cohl and Jeremiah Harris, the head of Production Resource Group, the company fabricating ''Spider-Man'''s massive scenery.

** In response, the producers brought in Creator/RobertoAguirreSacasa to overhaul the script, and they were able to get Bono and The Edge to write new songs in the middle of their touring commitments. Taymor resisted making changes, particularly those concerning Arachne, and was either fired or quit. She was replaced by [=Philip William McKinley=], who had directed several Barnum & Bailey circus shows. Aguirre-Sacasa and [=McKinley=] made a show that was far more conventional and family-friendly than what it had been. This pleased the Marvel suits but none of the original creative team. ''Spider-Man'' finally opened in June 2011 to mixed reviews
** In January 2012, the producers suggested that the show might periodically add new scenes and songs to encourage repeat customers (which ultimately never happened). The cautionary tale continued to unfold: Taymor filed suit against the producers, Bono and The Edge, and Berger, claiming that not only that she was unjustly fired but also that they were using her work uncredited.

** Originally, Creator/EvanRachelWood and Creator/AlanCumming (both of whom have worked with Taymor before) were cast as Mary Jane and the Green Goblin, but the endless delays the show faced getting to the preview period led to both dropping out.

** In response, the producers brought in Creator/RobertoAguirreSacasa to overhaul the script, and they were able to get Bono and The Edge to write new songs in the middle of their touring commitments. Taymor resisted making changes, particularly those concerning Arachne, and was either fired or quit. She was replaced by [=Philip William McKinley=], who had directed several Barnum & Bailey circus shows. In time, Aguirre-Sacasa and [[=McKinley=]] turned the show that was far more conventional and family-friendly than what it had been. This pleased the Marvel suits but none of the original creative team. ''Spider-Man'' finally opened in June 2011 to mixed reviews

** Cohl and Harris's financial resuscitation, on top of the lease payments to retain the theatre and the astronomical cost of all the flying equipment, ballooned the budget to $65 million. (Or, as Berger put it, ''Spider-Man'' was now a "thirty-million -dollar show dragging a thirty-million-dollar bag of waste behind it.") At those numbers, it would've had to have sold out every performance for three years to break even.

** At first, back in 2002, ''Spider-Man'' seemed like it was gelling uncommonly well. Despite minimal experience in theatrical production, Tony Adams secured provisional rights from Marvel to make a stage musical out of the comics. From there, he got in contact with [=Paul McGuinness=], whom he knew from the days when both of them worked for director John Boorman. [=McGuinness=] had since turned to music management, and U2 was one of his acts, which is how Adams was able to court Bono and The Edge to write songs. Screenwriter Creator/NeilJordan just happened to be a neighbor of the bandmates, which is how he got involved writing the script. And two of Jordan's films were scored by Elliot Goldenthal, artistic and domestic partner of Julie Taymor, which is how they were able to court her to direct.

** At first, back in 2002, ''Spider-Man'' seemed like it was gelling uncommonly well. Despite minimal experience in theatrical production, Tony Adams secured provisional rights from Marvel to make a stage musical out of the comics. From there, he got in contact with [=Paul McGuinness=], whom he knew from the days when both of them worked for director John Boorman. [=McGuinness=] had since turned to music management, and U2 was one of his acts, which is how Adams was able to court Bono and The Edge to write songs. Screenwriter Neil Jordan just happened to be a neighbor of the bandmates, which is how he got involved writing the script. And two of Jordan's films were scored by Elliot Goldenthal, artistic and domestic partner of Julie Taymor, which is how they were able to court her to direct.

* TroubledProduction: Quite possibly the most infamous, noteworthy, and widely mocked example in Broadway history. [[ [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider-Man:_Turn_Off_the_Dark#History Wikipedia]], [[https://ohdannyboy.blogspot.com/2012/03/saga-of-spider-man-turn-off-dark.html this blog post]], and co-writer Glen Berger's memoir ''Song of Spider-Man'' weave a heckuva tale.

** In response, the producers brought in Creator/RobertoAguirreSacasa to overhaul the script, and they were able to get Bono and The Edge to write new songs in the middle of their touring commitments. Taymor resisted making changes, particularly those concerning Arachne, and was either fired or quit. She was replaced by [=Philip William McKinley=], who had directed several Barnum & Bailey circus shows. In all, Aguirre-Sacasa and McKinley created a show that was far more family-friendly, which pleased the Marvel suits but none of the original creative team. ''Spider-Man'' finally opened in June 2011 to mixed reviews

** In response, the producers brought in Creator/RobertoAguirreSacasa to overhaul the script, and they were able to get Bono and The Edge to write new songs in the middle of their touring commitments. Taymor resisted making changes, particularly those concerning Arachne, and was either fired or quit. She was replaced by [=Philip William McKinley=], who had directed several Barnum & Bailey circus shows. It finally opened in June 2011.

** In response, the producers brought in Creator/RobertoAguirreSacasa to overhaul the script, and they were able to get Bono and The Edge to write new songs in the middle of their touring commitments. Taymor resisted making changes, particularly those concerning Arachne, and was either fired or quit. She was replaced by Philip William McKinley, who had directed several Barnum & Bailey circus shows. It finally opened in June 2011.

* TroubledProduction: Quite possibly the most infamous, noteworthy, and widely mocked example in Broadway history. [[https://ohdannyboy.blogspot.com/2012/03/saga-of-spider-man-turn-off-dark.html This article]] goes into further detail, as does co-writer Glen Berger's memoir ''Song of Spider-Man''.

** However, Garfinkle was ultimately only able to secure half the capitalization, then around $37.5 million. Exacerbating matters was the 2008 economic recession, which saw many potential investors shrink away. Despite the brand-name title, Marvel, nor its eventual buyer Disney, put money into the show.
** It had a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider-Man:_Turn_Off_the_Dark#History hard time just getting to its preview period]] on Broadway... whereupon things went FromBadToWorse due to seemingly endless injuries to its performers [[note]]To the point that Creator/StephenColbert referred to it on ''Series/TheColbertReport'' as "Spider-Man: Notify Next of Kin"[[/note]], inspiring parodies on ''Series/{{Conan}}'', constant mockery from ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'', snarky coverage by Website/TheOnion Website/AVClub, endless snark in general from ''Magazine/{{MAD}}'', and a RippedFromTheHeadlines episode of ''Series/LawAndOrderCriminalIntent'' -- even ''Series/SesameStreet'' got in on making fun of it. It even got mocked during the [=65th=] Tony Awards to enthusiastic applause from the audience.

** With a $65 million budget, it would have to sell out for three years to break even. The preview period kept getting extended, and finally theater critics had enough and wrote/ran reviews of the February 7, 2011 performance (which, had it not been pushed back ''again'', was supposed to be the official opening date)... most of which were [[http://www.avclub.com/articles/spiderman-turn-off-the-dark-terrible-or-make-it-st,51518/ scathing]].
** In response, the producers (finally!) panicked and brought in script doctors, along with having Bono and The Edge write new music. Director (and famous prima donna) Julie Taymor refused to go along with the changes and was either fired or quit. It finally opened in June 2011.
** In January 2012, the producers suggested that the show might periodically add new scenes and songs to encourage repeat customers (which ultimately never happened). The cautionary tale continued to unfold: Taymor filed suit against the producers and Bono and The Edge, claiming that not only that she was unjustly fired but also that they used her rewrites afterward, without giving her credit.

** Then it was the ticket sales that fell to their doom; in November the show was confirmed to be closing in January 2014, with $60 million of the producers' investment due to be lost according to ''New York'' magazine.
** The producers initially intended to reopen the show in Las Vegas in 2015, but decided to launch an arena tour in 2015-16 instead. However, nothing came of it.

** After its closure on Broadway, there were talks that it would be revived either as a tour or a permanent show in Las Vegas, but nothing has come from this.

* TroubledProduction: Quite possibly the most infamous, noteworthy and widely mocked example of one in Broadway history. [[https://ohdannyboy.blogspot.com/2012/03/saga-of-spider-man-turn-off-dark.html This article]] goes into further detail.
** Trouble started very early. When Bono and the Edge were preparing to sign their contracts, they realized no one had brought a pen. So, the Edge stepped out to grab one and came back to find that producer Tony Adams had suffered a massive stroke. Adams was dead by the time he reached the hospital. This put producing responsibilities on the shoulders of David Garfinkle, a lawyer and novice producer.
** Garfinkle, acknowledging his lack of experience, gave director Julie Taymor a great deal of creative freedom. This was a good idea on the face of things, as she previously delivered hits like ''The Lion King''. However, she'd become enamored with Arachne and the idea of making ''Turn Off the Dark'' somewhat akin to a Greek play, complete with chorus, which didn't really work. She also made changes to Spider-Man's back story that didn't sit well with comic fans.