I'm sure we've all seen the coverage of this attempt at... who knows what. I am now moving squarely toward disgust here. I will admit curiosity at what can be accomplished onstage for $65 million, and to see Spider-Man web-slinging and flying around onstage. I'd like to say it really interests me, but I can't be interested when reading how Julie Taymor justifies the expense.
"If it were a movie, people would think it was cheap."
...and if it were a battleship, it would be a real bargain. It's not a movie, it's a musical whose budget has ballooned to $40 million more than any other musical in history. We are in a dying industry which is scrambling to reinvent itself to find relevancy in a dumbed-down culture of populist mediocrity, and frankly there are aspects of this that sicken me.
I also bristle at her pride at the originality of the piece. IT'S SPIDER-MAN! I don't know how original it really was when Stan Lee cooked it up almost fifty years ago, but it's certainly not breaking extraordinary new ground now. Sure, there are some new ditties and Ms. Taymor has found people to develop new ways to throw people around the stage. I'm sure it's quite a spectacle, but for $65 million it had better be.
Don't say it's original, just because it isn't specifically based on an existing movie. It's Spider-Man. Don't say it's justifiably expensive. That's an insult to a lot of people who produce great theatre everywhere and manage their budgets responsibly.
I hope it runs, but only for the sake of all the actors and crew who have work thanks to the show. I don't think it bodes well for the future of an industry already struggling to find a foothold as something more than an novelty in a digital world.
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