It’s hardly breaking news anymore that the Spider-Man musical Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark has had it’s streak of setbacks and upsets ranging from constant delays (again pushed back to debut March 15th) to injuries and drop outs (remember when Alan Cumming was supposed to be Green Goblin?). Now, it’s hit another setback, but something…positive?
According to Deadline, former Sensational Spider-Man scribe Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa has been signed to do some re-writes. I’d say since one of the major negatives of the show has been it’s lack of having that authentic Spider-Man voice, I can see why they opted for a re-write.
With Turn Off The Dark being bombarded with mostly disappointed reviews, Bono and The Edge brought in their producer as well to up the oompf factor in the music. But with the production tittering the $65 million dollar mark, and already the punchline for many late night shows and SNL itself, has it already tarnished its image?
What do you think, readers?
February 17th, 2011 at 8:59 am
If I was project managing this I would say that this project has fallen for the fallacy of sunken costs. They have so much money invested into it already that they continue to pour money into so that they don’t lose the money already spent and end up wasting even more money. Also known as spending good money after bad.
So, what do I think? Close it and cut their losses.
February 17th, 2011 at 9:45 am
Your report omits the most pertinent fact: Aguirre-Sacasa provided the new book for the revival of 1966′s “It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s Superman” at the Dallas Theatre Center last summer. The new production of that show was fantastic; Aguirre-Sacasa’s book succeeded as both a geek- and mass audience-friendly comic book adventure with lots of humor and heart, and as a good old-fashioned American musical. The new production got rave reviews from around the country, and may yet give “…It’s Superman” a new lease on life via reigioal theaters. I’d say if any playwright can save Spidey, this one can. This looks like a job for Aguirre-Sacasa!