‘Spider-Man’: Threat Or Menace?

I have never felt more like I was living in a comic book than I did yesterday, seeing newspaper hawkers in New York pushing papers with these banners. Sadly, none of the newspapers ran with the classic headline, nor did any of them change their name to The Daily Bugle for the occasion.

To recap:

On Monday night, actor/stuntman Christopher Tierney was seriously injured during the performance of Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark
on Broadway when he went off a platform and was not properly tethered, falling 20-30 feet. The New York State Department of Labor, OSHA and Actors’ Equity have gotten involved, as this is the fourth actor injury connected with the show so far.

Tierney is still in serious condition at New York’s Bellevue Hospital. He is
being watched regularly and is reportedly in good spirits. Media reports have reported numerous broken ribs and internal bleeding from the accident, which have required back surgery.

Yesterday’s scheduled matinee and evening performances were both canceled while a variety of safety retests were conducted.

The show, far and away the most expensive in Broadway history at a cost of $65 million, has gotten scrutiny over everything from the cost to the difficult-to-follow storyline. The show is still in previews, and the official opening day has already been pushed back an additional month to work on story problems and to possibly add more songs from Bono and The Edge.

Previews, however, have been selling out, and performances are expected to resume this evening following the implementation of new safety procedures.

As you might expect, Rupert Murdoch, the real life imitation of J. Jonah Jameson, has been all over this story in the New York Post and on the local Fox tv stations.