Can 'Spider-Man' the musical survive a nasty drubbing by critics?
Reviews describe the new 鈥楽pider-Man鈥 show on Broadway as 鈥榓 teetering colossus鈥 and as dull and silly. But ticket sales are brisk.
The Spider-Man character is suspended in the air in a scene from the musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, in New York. Critics are lambasting the show after a series of delays and a dull and silly execution.
Jacob Cohl/The O and M Co./AP/File
Reviews by mainstream news outlets for the 鈥Spider-Man鈥 mega-musical are in, and they are just as brutal as the unofficial commentary that has dogged this $65 million production since it opened for previews in November.
The Hollywood Reporter describes 鈥Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark鈥 as chaotic, dull, and silly, and it calls the music 鈥渟trictly album filler.鈥 The Los Angeles Times says the show is 鈥渁 teetering colossus that can't find its bearings as a circus spectacle or as a rock musical.鈥 The New York Times asks, 鈥淗ow can $65 million look so cheap?鈥
All this critical venom comes on the heels of nearly three months of negative news about injuries and financial woes 鈥 all in advance of the show鈥檚 official opening, currently scheduled for March 15. At the same time, however, ticket sales are brisk, outselling top-rated Broadway offerings such as the award-winning 鈥Wicked.鈥
So this raises the question: Can a show that seems to attract bad news like flies in a spider web survive such a nasty drubbing?
鈥淎bsolutely,鈥 says Richard Laermer, author of 鈥2011: Trendspotting.鈥 He points to such megahits as 鈥淐ats,鈥 鈥Jesus Christ Superstar,鈥 and 鈥Hair,鈥 all of which were savaged by critics yet went on not only to make boatloads of money, but also to influence the Broadway genre.
Even the successful ABBA jukebox musical, 鈥Mamma Mia!,鈥 took its knocks along the way. Its precursor, 鈥淎bbacadabra,鈥 was a dismally reviewed compilation of ABBA tunes that opened in London in 1983 and closed after eight weeks. It became 鈥淢amma Mia!鈥 in 1999 and went on to productions in seven languages and 19 countries.
The film version has grossed more than $500 million.
鈥淢ovies do this all the time,鈥 points out New York ad professional Adam Kluger. Look no further than another superhero incarnation currently on the silver screen 鈥 鈥The Green Hornet,鈥 starring Seth Rogen. The critics hated it but audiences love it, he says, 鈥渁nd it鈥檚 a huge hit.鈥
The 鈥淪pider-Man鈥 producers had clearly hoped to capitalize on the visionary work of Tony Award-winning director Julie Taymor. But for good or ill, people are now flocking to the show not for its critical merits, but because they want to be part of the spectacle that the show has become. 鈥淪pider-Man鈥 has become an event 鈥渓ike the Ringling Bros. circus,鈥 Mr. Laermer says, and people are going to the show much as they did for the chandelier drop in 鈥Phantom of the Opera.鈥
Of course, time could redeem a tarnished reputation. Ms. Taymor might take a bit of cold comfort from the rocky road trod by one of musical theater鈥檚 most revered practitioners, Stephen Sondheim. Author Larry Stempel writes about Mr. Sondheim in 鈥淪howtime: A History of the Broadway Musical Theater鈥: 鈥淸E]xcept for 鈥榌A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the] Forum,鈥 鈥楥ompany,鈥 and 鈥楢 Little Night Music鈥 鈥 none of them blockbusters 鈥 Sondheim musicals have failed to find an audience sufficient to pass the Broadway acid test: can a show run long enough to recoup its investment? This makes Sondheim perhaps the first major figure in the history of Broadway musicals to have made a career predominantly on flops.鈥
Mr. Stempel's excerpt continues:
鈥淭he term 'flops' is misleading, however.... Because of the compelling originality and high artistic quality of Sondheim's output, most of his shows have had vigorous Broadway afterlives, especially in England and the regional theatres of the United States.鈥