Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark Review

Bono.

Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark, the Broadway musical about, as it would happen, Spider-Man, has had a troubling history. Given sixty-five-million dollars, the most expensive budget for a Broadway musical ever, horrendous reviews were received, there were numerous technical problems and injuries, writer and director Julie Taymor was fired, and the show was completely rewritten before opening on Broadway. This second version is what runs in the Foxwoods theater now, and what I saw last night. I had heard all of the stories of the show being horribly bad, and was going into it looking forward to enjoying myself by laughing at how bad it was. The show did not live up to expectations. I daresay it was good. Not great, but good. In any case, it was a lot of fun to see.

Bono.

The play's first act consists of the familiar Spider-Man origin story and that of his nemesis, the Green Goblin, and the second shows the battle between the two. Intertwined into this are occasional appearances by ancient Greek goddess of spiders Arachne. Left over from the original production of the show, Arachne's songs and scenes have no bearing on the plot and are kind of creepy. Another plot thread is, of course, Peter/Spider-Man's courtship of Mary Jane Watson.

Bono.

Aside from injuring its stars, this play is most famous for its special effects, and these did not disappoint. Spider-man leaps around the theater with bravado. It's really a sight to see, and about halfway through you forget about the incredibly conspicuous wires. On stage, the New York sets look great.

Bono.

Some of the sets are painted cartoonishly, as if to evoke a comic book feel,  but they feel more like children's book illustrations. This even carries over to some characters. Generic bank robbers Spider-Man stops in the first act are men wearing masks, making them look like cartoon bank robbers, and in the wrestling match early in the play, the fearsome champion is a giant inflatable doll. I think this idea is interesting, but in my opinion, a musical adaptation should try to be a musical, not a comic book. Also, it just looked plain stupid.

Bono.

I loved the score by Bono (Bono) and The Edge. It had a nice anthemic feel (sort of like the music of U2) that fit the superhero story. I loved the score though, and that is the extent to which I loved the music. What song lyrics I heard were elementary. Being 13 years old, I'm confident I could've written them. Most of the singing (Bono) was covered up by music. Another problem was that in the action packed second act, characters incessantly burst in to song (especially Mary Jane) at the most inopportune moments. Seriously, she burst into song every single time she and Peter have a conversation. It got quite annoying. The last component to the musical aspect of the show, the choreography, was not inspiring. In the few group numbers, the ensemble did bland, rather silly looking dances. Plus, they did it in that yellow. Why were they all wearing yellow?

Bono.

The writing of the show was quite good. There were lots of funny jokes, and it was engaging, but there were also cheesy moments that made me cringe. Still, the story moved along at a good brisk pace. The actors' performances were great. They definitely made the play better than it might have been otherwise. There was no weak spot, every actor played their role perfectly, even if that meant saying stupid lines. Apart from Bono (Bono), my favorite part of the play was the performance of the Green Goblin, who at times had the audience howling with laughter. The scenario of his being completely insane allowed for him to do things like using a ShakeWeight or playing a piano solo in the middle of a battle with Spider-Man. It may have been a strange break from the story, but it was good comedy.

Bono.

Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark is not great theater. It is not well-written, and it will not give you a deep emotional experience. It's a spectacle. It's something you can go see and be amazed by. It's a good time. It's nothing you should make a pilgrimage for, but if you live nearby, I recommend seeing it.