{"id":276880,"date":"2021-06-17T00:14:38","date_gmt":"2021-06-16T21:14:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/turn-off-the-dark-turns-10\/"},"modified":"2021-06-17T00:14:38","modified_gmt":"2021-06-16T21:14:38","slug":"turn-off-the-dark-turns-10","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/turn-off-the-dark-turns-10\/","title":{"rendered":"#Turn Off the Dark’ turns 10"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Turn Off the Dark’ turns 10<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

\n

At a cocktail party in 2005, I ran into an old friend, producer Tony Adams. Tony had been through the wars. He produced the Broadway musical \u201cVictor\/Victoria,\u201d directed by Blake Edwards and starring Edwards\u2019 wife, Julie Andrews. The show was a disaster. The tabloids gleefully chronicled every bit of backstage drama. But through it all, Tony remained unflapp<\/a>able. His sense of humor was such that he framed seven vicious New York Post cover stories about \u201cVictor\/Victoria\u201d and hung them on the wall behind his desk.<\/p>\n

Tony took me aside at the party and said, \u201cI have something I want to tell you, but don\u2019t print it yet. I\u2019ve got the rights to \u2018Spider-Man,\u2019 and Julie Taymor is going to direct it.\u201d Big news<\/a> there, I thought. \u201cSpider-Man\u201d was a billion-dollar franchise, and Taymor had directed \u201cThe Lion King,\u201d the most successful Broadway show ever. But Tony wasn\u2019t finished. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd,\u201d he added with a smile, \u201cI\u2019m about to sign Bono and the Edge to write the score.\u201d<\/p>\n

I couldn\u2019t wait to run with the news, but I promised Tony I wouldn\u2019t do anything until he called me. He never did. A few weeks later, as he was signing contracts in the Edge\u2019s apartment in Tribeca, Tony had a stroke. He died two days later.<\/p>\n

\"The
The musical \u201cSpider-Man: Turn Off the Dark\u201d was released 10 years ago.<\/figcaption>
EPA;Reuters<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And so began, in a terrible way, the biggest story I covered in my 30 years as a theater columnist. \u201cSpider-Man: Turn Off the Dark\u201d got to Broadway without Tony. It opened, after the longest preview period in Broadway history, on June 14, 2011, and went on to lose nearly $100 million. I wrote plenty of columns about it, and it brought me international attention. I owe much of my career, such as it is, to \u201cSpider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.\u201d<\/p>\n

And so, in celebration \u2014 if that\u2019s the word \u2014 of its 10th anniversary, here are some of my memories of the Greatest Flop on Earth.<\/p>\n

After Tony died, his lawyer, David Garfinkle, took over \u201cSpider-Man.\u201d No one on Broadway had ever heard of David Garfinkle, but suddenly he had clout \u2014 he had \u201cSpider-Man,\u201d he had Julie Taymor, he had U2! He also had a show that was budgeted, at the time, at $25 million.<\/p>\n
\n
\"Michael
Michael Riedel commented that the opening of the Broadway production was a \u201cdisaster.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

I got a call from a friend who told me that Garfinkle was doing a presentation for group-sales ticket agents. It was closed to the press, but my friend said he could slip me in. I slipped in. Taymor hosted the event. The first thing she said was, \u201cDo not call this a musical. Spider-Man is not going to sing and dance in tights.\u201d Her vision for the show was a \u201crock \u2019n\u2019 roll drama\u201d with a \u201cmythic story\u201d and a \u201ccomic-book, pop-up sensibility.\u201d Bono and the Edge came out. Bono had his sunglasses on. <\/p>\n

Bono said he was at a dinner with Andrew Lloyd Webber, and Andrew thanked him because rock musicians \u201chave left me alone for 25 years, and I\u2019ve had theater all to myself.\u201d Bono lowered his sunglasses and said, \u201cWe\u2019ve decided to give Andrew a little competition.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then the band and some singers performed a few songs from the show. They were moody, gritty and, frankly, pretentious. I thought, \u201cWell, I don\u2019t think Andrew Lloyd Webber has anything to worry about.\u201d But one singer stood out. He was, as I wrote at the time, a \u201ccute, skinny, soulful little slip of a thing.\u201d A woman next to me said, \u201cI could eat him up with a spoon!\u201d He was Reeve Carney, and he would go on to play Peter Parker in the musical.<\/p>\n

\""Spider-Man:
\u201cSpider-Man: Turn Off The Dark\u201d made a triumphant return to Broadway with a first preview performance following its 2011 revamp.<\/figcaption>
Amanda Schwab\/Starpix<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At the end of the presentation, Taymor introduced her new producer, David Garfinkle. A chubby little guy walked out and \u2014 I swear to God \u2014 I thought, \u201cJulie is going to eat him for breakfast and spit him out for lunch.\u201d<\/p>\n

I bow to no one in my admiration for Julie Taymor as a theater artist. But when it comes to a budget, she\u2019s never met one she didn\u2019t blow past. Sure enough, I began hearing that \u201cSpider-Man\u201d was no longer a $25 million show. It was hitting $35 million. And then one day I got a call from a stagehand. \u201cJust to let you know, we put down our tools today because the checks bounced,\u201d he said. Garfinkle hadn\u2019t raised a fraction of the budget. Taymor was furious. Bono and the Edge were embarrassed. I was delighted. It was a juicy story.<\/p>\n
\n
\"\"
Julie Taymor directed \u201cSpiderman: Turn Off the Dark\u201d but was fired for artistic differences following harsh reviews.<\/figcaption>
Stephen Smith\/Sipa USA<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

To save the show, Bono reached out to his friend Michael Cohl, a music producer who presented U2 concerts around the world. I\u2019d never heard of Cohl, but a friend told me, \u201cHe\u2019s a billionaire who dresses like a homeless person.\u201d I put that in my column. A few days later, Rick Miramontez, the press agent for the show, set up a meeting. When I arrived at Bar Centrale, Cohl was in the back booth holding a tin cup and wearing a cardboard sign reading \u201cWill produce for a quarter.\u201d You couldn\u2019t help but love the guy, and it seemed that \u201cSpider-Man\u201d was in good hands.<\/p>\n

And then I got another call. \u201cI hesitate to tell you this,\u201d my source said, \u201cbecause I know what you\u2019re going to do with it. They flew one of the actors around today and when he landed I heard a crunch. I think he got hurt.\u201d I made a few calls. The actor was Kevin Aubin, and he had broken both his wrists.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark\u2019 is the most expensive and technically complex show ever produced on a Broadway stage,\u201d I wrote the next day. \u201cIt may also turn out to be the most dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n

I guess I was onto something, as \u201cSpider-Man: Turn Off the Dark\u201d piled up so many injuries, I started calling it \u201cSpider-Man: Call 911.\u201d<\/p>\n

As \u201cSpider-Man\u201d began previews \u2014 and kept delaying its opening night \u2014 I hammered away at it. I knew Taymor was a wreck, and I felt sorry for her because she had so little support. Her show was in trouble, but her co-creators \u2014 Bono and the Edge \u2014 were too busy scooping up millions on tour in New Zealand to help her fix it.<\/p>\n

But I didn\u2019t let up.<\/p>\n

Miramontez, a master spinner if ever there was one, positioned me as the show\u2019s gadfly. New York magazine bought the spin and wrote a flattering profile of Taymor<\/a>, pointing out that I had \u201csensationalized\u201d Kevin Aubin\u2019s \u201cminor injury.\u201d<\/p>\n
\"Several
Several actors were injured performing stunts while working on \u201cSpider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.\u201d<\/figcaption>
WCBS; Amanda Schwab\/Starpix<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Kevin, with two broken wrists, could not feed himself, bathe himself or go to the bathroom by himself for nearly a year without the help of an aide.<\/p>\n

\u201cMinor,\u201d indeed. Well done, New York.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Michael
Michael Riedel stands with Bono, who wrote the lyrics and music for the musical.<\/figcaption>
Nikki Haskel<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cSpider-Man\u201d played its first preview in November 2010. I was in the audience that night, and from the opening number, I knew it was doomed. The show was muddled and pretentious. The special effects weren\u2019t nearly as magical as Mary Martin flying in \u201cPeter Pan\u201d back in 1960.<\/p>\n

The saga of \u201cSpider-Man\u201d rolled on. More actors got injured. Cohl fired Taymor, she sued, and they settled out of court. A new director was brought in; the show closed down for a few months, and reopened to even more bad reviews. It played its final performance Jan. 4, 2014, by which time I had lost all interest in it.<\/p>\n

But it popped up again in my life two years later. I was in St-Tropez as a guest of Clive Davis. We were having lunch at Nikki Beach when Bono and his entourage walked in. Clive brought Bono to our table and began introducing him to everyone. Clive came to me and I saw a flash of terror in his eyes. \u201cAnd this is my friend \u2026 Michael Riedel,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Bono looked at me, put his hands on his cheeks and said, \u201cYou\u2019re the motherf\u2013ker!\u201d\n <\/p><\/div>\n

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Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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