Spider-man takes Broadway by storm
Hello Internet!
I'm Abby, nice to meet you! For those of you who don't know me (which is probably a lot of you) worked at Fantom last summer. Now I have the pleasure of keeping up with the store, while I'm in England for the year studying acting, to post on the site!
While rooting around on the internet I found perfect topic for my first post: SPIDER-MAN THE MUSICAL!
In case you don't know I am a musical theatre fanatic, so I have a lot to say on the subject, but I will try to keep the technical talk to minimum.
First of all let's just appreciate the incredibly weird and wacky world we live in where someone decides "Hey, let's make a Spider-man musical!" and a whole bunch of Broadway producers say "GREAT IDEA!"
Great, now that we are done appreciating, lets take a look at the facts.
It has previously been announced that a full scale, 2 act musical of Spider-Man was in the planning stages of production, with U2 signed on to produce the score, Julie Taymor (the first woman to win a Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for The Lion King in 1998) signed on to direct.
When I first read this at Playbill.com (http://www.playbill.com/news/article/87231.html) my first thoughts of course, as a comic book and musical theatre fan, were "OH NO!"
Having further thought about it, I decided unless put into the hands of someone incredibly daring and clever and willing to make a purposfully funny piece out of the show, this project is pretty much a doomed. I questioned whether they would even go as far to continue pre-production, or just drop it as another unused idea. I was hoping that what would happen.
Alas, I have recently read, again on Playbill.com (http://www.playbill.com/news/article/107378.html) that a prepared reading of the musical is set for this July. Casting has yet to be determined, but the article provided the following details about the show:
" Among the roles being sought to fill are the young-man-turned-hero Peter Parker/Spider-Man ("male, late teens to early 20's...[with a] great pop/rock voice") and love-interest Mary Jane ("female, late teens to early 20's...[with a] great pop/rock voice") as well as villain Norman Osborn/Green Goblin and Daily Bugle publisher J. Jonah Jameson (both call for "male, 50s.")
The character breakdowns provide some insight to plot points as the character Arachne ("female, 20-35 years old, any ethnicity") is described as "a beautiful, boastful young woman turned into a spider for her hubris and lack of respect for the gods. She subsequently appears to Peter Parker and the audience as in turn a powerful spider-woman who comes from another time to inspire Peter; an otherworldly lover; a bride; a terrifying (and sexy) dark goddess of vengeance; a dance partner in a charged and violent spiders dance of death; and, finally, a lonely, fragile young woman." Casting is seeking a "strong Celtic, Balkan style, e.g., Sinead O'Connor," noting, "outside the box ideas are welcomed. Could be someone from the music industry."
Also, a "Geek Chorus" consisting of "three teenage boys and one girl" are described to "meet to ritualistically retell the greatest Spider-Man stories." "
I only wish i could attend the rehearsed reading in July (or even audition!) but I foresee it being an embarrassing waste of time for all involved, audience, cast and production members included. Much like the failing fast musical version of The Lord of the Rings , now gracing the West End stage. Which, by the way, has already set the record for biggest money losing musical in the history of musical theatre.
All that being said, I could be wrong. This show could be poignant and deep and entertaining, or maybe a funny satirical farce, or maybe it WILL be shit but end up being successful anyway, like endless Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals (Cats, Starlight Express) and the plotless ABBA musical Mamma Mia!
And, who knows this may only be the first production birthed from this new and unholy union that is musical theatre and comic books. Next up we could be seeing X-Men: The Musical, opening song being "It Sucks to Be A Mutant"
Who knows, these days anything could happen.
Until next post,
Abby