Spider-Man: The Musical, music by U2

Neck brace and stretcher does not mean he sustained injuries to his neck or spine. It's standard procedure, in case he did sustain injuries, which will be determined once he reaches the hospital. Small solace, sure, but don't assume the worst (though video of that tumble looked, er, bad).

It seems like so little thought was given to safety precautions for this production, which seems insane given the amount of wirework involved.

So apparently this will need to run for at least four years just to recoup costs? What will the death toll be by then?

As with any misfortune in the 2010s, I read the instant zings and think oh no not funny not funny, but then:

@Reddingwb: I hear now that during the next U2 tour they will do a tribute scrolling the names of people injured during The Spiderman broadway show.

How to fix the Spider-Man musical: cast Jerry Lewis in the lead role. Change title to The Nutty Spider. You're welcome.

To tell the truth, I've yet to hear anything about this and not immediately think of "Stop The Planet Of The Apes. I Want To Get Off!" Though I'd much rather see "Stop The Planet Of The Apes. I Want To Get Off!"

"Equity to Halt Performances; Investigation Underway"

Several broken ribs.

Very lucky man, I should add.

Curious if Julie Taymor's going to follow her "when did we start caring about money?" quotes with "when did we start caring about cast injuries?"

Internal bleeding, too. And he fell 30 feet, not the initially reported 8-10.

well given the pic/video, there's no way that was 8-10 feet

this is basically done, right

after the cash they've dropped, it feels like it would take an actual fatality for them to just give up

when is the emperor's no clothes moment gonna happen? apart from the injuries this was just a stupid idea to begin with.

I believe that moment happened around the time this project was announced.

Hard to believe they've been working on this shit for nearly a decade.

Spider Man: Polish The Turd

nearly a decade to come up with this:

http://leagueofcomicgeeks.com/media/library/images/spider-man-turn-off-the-dark-costumes-5.jpg

oh my God, I didn't realize he was supposed to be catching Mary Jane

this is horrible but I am super glad dude is okay because it makes me feel like less of an ass for laughing at the absurdity of this

holy shit I just watched the video, that makes this decidedly less funny

You know, the Cirque de Soleil comment above made me realize that if the rightsholders had just approached *them* to do a production based on all this and they just had it run in Vegas, there might have been some eyerolling but the damn thing would have made a mint and be chugging along without a worry.

Instead there's Bono blathering, Julie Taymor biting off more than she can chew and near-death.

The Gawker piece calling for them to close down for good and cut their losses basically says that even if all the technical elements we were pulled off perfectly, the terrible book and songs and basics would make it one of the most boring, bad Broadway productions in history.

This would have made a great Vegas Cirque de Soleil stunt thing, no doubt, U2 songs and all.

the terrible book and songs and basics would make it one of the most boring, bad Broadway productions in history.

If the 60 minutes piece on the play was anything to go by, the songs were really weak even by current U2 standards.

oh my God, I didn't realize he was supposed to be catching Mary Jane

he wasn't supposed to catch her - he was supposed to rush to the edge and appear to jump as the lights went back, with the cord keeping him from actually going over. And it didn't.

lights went off, sorry

insane that they've got these massive, movement and sight-blocking harnesses everywhere and they don't actually WORK

Maybe they're trolling everybody and this is actually Phantom of the Opera 2.0

http://broadwayworld.com/article/Morning_Update_Video_of_SPIDERMAN_Injury_Actor_Identified_20101221

We're told via a stagehand that this was NOT a flying sequence and that Spider-Man was NOT supposed to drop at all. He was supposed to run to top of the ramp as if to jump with the lights then set to go to black. The cable that snapped is what stops him from going over the edge, and that is what failed. He then fell approximately 30 feet.

Can't believe the rep actually said "several" feet

this is giving me emotional whiplash

like I keep going back and forth between "this is horrible" and "AHAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHA"

A hyper-realist post-modern reenacting of the phantom of the opera would be genius come to think of it.

They're inviting everyone into the play, even those who haven't seen it. The play is half Broadway, half street performance with the media not knowing of their participation. In a few weeks hired audience members will suffer from an accident and eventually they'll reveal the green goblin has been living inside the theater all this time and he has been tampering with the production.

one thing that wasn't pointed out is that the only reason we have video of this is because some dickhead was taping a Broadway musical on his iPhone

Was he gonna post it to Midtown Vegan?

one thing that wasn't pointed out is that the only reason we have video of this is because some dickhead was taping a Broadway musical on his iPhone

possibly because whogivesashit.jpg

one thing that wasn't pointed out is that the only reason we have video of this is because some dickhead was taping a Broadway musical on his iPhone

― mmmm... yung hummus (Whiney G. Weingarten)

but, the point here is: was it really an accident? How do we know that's not Taymor's iphone.

O_O

i mean, that actor was so happy to be working with U2, but wasn't happy to finally meet... THE EDGE

lol

If your theatrical production is better known for cast injuries and technical delays than good songs or good performances, expect gawkers

Poor spiderman. 30 feet is ow

On a side-note - excellent review by the 6 year old. I loved the part about repetitive song lyrics: "I said it six times so you would be prepared to be annoyed."

Anyways, wow, that kid is tooo smart. I blame the parents

ummm 26 feet.

hey, its closer to 30 than "several"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBFvu4FiYds

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l7me8uVqDa1qbche3o1_500.jpg

lol

Can't believe the rep actually said "several" feet

Exactly. Is this an 80-year-old veteran Broadway press guy who doesn't know you can't say these things in 2010?

ned otm re cirque

have we considered that the rep said "several" because he didn't know how many feet exactly?

If a rep knows so little about the situation that he bought that THAT was "several", then imho he shouldn't be repping anything to the general public.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdRS_LDu7AY

they need to shut this shit down. There's a score of people on BroadwayWorld.com who are pointing out that 'lots of shows experience many injuries', but what they fail to realize is that most of those are minor injuries due to physical accidents, whereas the four major injuries regarding Spiderman have mostly been due to equipment failure or failure to maintain safety regulations. The Department of Labor is making its SECOND visit after all.

fuck this show!

I do feel for the actors though. they all deserve Purple Hearts.