Natalie Mendoza News

BroadwayWorld.com was the first to report back on December 2 when Natalie Mendoza, who plays the lead role of Arachne in SPIDER-MAN: Turn Off the Dark had received a concussion and the role was to be played in her absence by understudy America Olivo. Now the New York Times is reporting that the actress is leaving the production, 'as an artistic loss and embarrassing blow to the production' and that lawyers are fine-tuning the language to explain her departure. The paper reports that she last performed in the show on Monday, December 20th, the same performance which had the injury to her fellow performer and friend Christopher Tierney. Check out this clip from 'Good Morining America' on Mendoza's departure from the show.

BroadwayWorld.com has heard from those in the audience on Tuesday night that the show was stopped once and that stuffed into the Playbill was word of a new cast member, and multiple understudies.

BroadwayWorld.com was the first to report back on December 2 when Natalie Mendoza, who plays the lead role of Arachne in SPIDER-MAN: Turn Off the Dark had received a concussion and the role was to be played in her absence by understudy America Olivo. The star then returned to the show on December 15, but then was out of the show again with Olivo, and then Carpio playing the role.

We've just received the following statement from James J. Claffey, Jr., President of Local One IATSE. 'The leadership of Local One IATSE met today with OSHA, the New York State Department of Labor, Actors Equity Association, and Spider-Man management,' said James J. Claffey, Jr. President of Local One IATSE. 'The union will continue to pursue the highest level of safety on this production. For Local One IATSE, safety is and has always been paramount for everyone on stage and backstage and for the audience in front of the curtain. The union will insist that safety checks and redundancies are added to ensure the safety of everyone involved in Spider-Man. The union also sends its best wishes to stuntman Christopher Tierney and its hopes for his rapid recovery.'

Actors' Equity Association worked today with the Department of Labor, OSHA and the production to determine that the cause of the accident at last night's performance of Spiderman was, in fact, human error. Further protocols are now being implemented, including redundancies recommended by Equity, the DOL and OSHA, to address this situation as well as other elements of the production. Equity continues to vigilantly monitor the production for the safety of its members.

An official statement has just been issued from the production which says that 'OSHA, Actors Equity and the New York State Department of Labor have met with the Spider-Man company today to discuss additional safety protocols. It was agreed that these measures would be enacted immediately. Tomorrow's matinee has been postponed and will be rescheduled. Tomorrow evening's, and all subsequent performances will proceed as scheduled.'

We've now confirmed with a production source that representatives from the Department of Labor and from Equity are now onsite at the Foxwoods Theatre meeting with members of the show's production team, stage hands and crew. They will also be examining all of the equipment used during the show as they attempt to determine if last night's problems were caused by human error, technical problems or a combination thereof. It's expected that once their decision is reached, Equity and the production will make their determination as to what will be needed to deem the production safe, and then they can estimate how long that might take before they determine when performances will be resumed. All of the equipment and stunts were examined before the show began performances.

BroadwayWorld has learned from several sources that SPIDER-MAN stuntman Christopher Tierney has suffered several broken ribs and bleeding after his nearly 30-foot free fall on the SPIDEY set last night. Fortunately, Tierney landed such that he avoided any crippling neck or spinal injury. He is still being held at the hospital in serious, but stable condition.

Actors Equity has released an updated statement which reads 'Actors' Equity Association is working with management and the Department of Labor to ensure that performances will not resume until back-up safety measures are in place.'

BroadwayWorld.com has also confirmed that the New York State Department of Labor will visit the Foxwoods Theater this morning for its own investigation into what occurred last night that will involve interviews with the production team, as well as a check of all equipment to determine if it was a human or technical error.

Actors Equity, has just released a short statement about last night's incident, stating that 'We were informed shortly after the accident during the performance of Spiderman. We are working in cooperation with the state and city Department of Labor on this situation. We dont have a further statement at this time.' Many performers have contacted BroadwayWorld.com both last night and this morning, urging actors to contact the union individually to suggest that they 'step in' and get more involved with protecting the safety of the actors in this production.

Twitter was flooded last night shortly after 10:40 PM with messages from audience members at SPIDER-MAN, with word that an actor fell during the middle of Act 2 when a cable snapped. The show was first put on hold, and then cancelled as ambulances arrived on the scene. This morning, the actor has been identified as aerialist Christopher Tierney, who is reported to be in stable condition. At 11:29 AM, Equity has released a statement that 'Actors' Equity Association is working with management and the Department of Labor to ensure that performances will not resume until back-up safety measures are in place.'

As BroadwayWorld reported yesterday, SPIDER-MAN: Turn Off The Dark has once again delayed it's opening to 'sometime in February,' the New York Times reported, pushed back from January 11, 2011. SPIDEY creator Julie Taymor spoke with Showbiz411.com yesterday and revealed that she is 'happy' about the delay so that she has time to incorporate changes and fine tune some loose edges. Losing star Natalie Mendoza to a concussion for 17 days hurt the show's progress, as did the implementation of a new closing number. The 'work in progress' that is currently playing the Foxwoods Theatre continues to perform at the box office in the meantime.

As BroadwayWorld had speculated earlier this week, SPIDER-MAN's Natalie Mendoza has recovered from her concussion and returned to the show last night, December 15.

BroadwayWorld has been hearing that SPIDER MAN's Natalie Mendoza, who has been out of the show since December 2 due to a concussion she received during the first preview, could be out of the show for as long as another week. A spokesperson for the production stated that Mendoza 'would be going back into the production very soon,' in response. Reportedly, Mendoza underwent medical testing this week.

BroadwayWorld has been hearing that SPIDER MAN's Natalie Mendoza, who has been out of the show since December 2 due to a concussion she received during the first preview, could be out of the show for as long as another week. A spokesperson for the production stated that Mendoza 'would be going back into the production very soon,' in response. Reportedly, Mendoza underwent medical testing this week.

BroadwayWorld has been hearing that SPIDER MAN's Natalie Mendoza, who has been out of the show since December 2 due to a concussion she received during the first preview, could be out of the show for as long as another week. A spokesperson for the production stated that Mendoza 'would be going back into the production very soon,' in response. Reportedly, Mendoza underwent medical testing this week.

BroadwayWorld has confirmed that SPIDER MAN's Natalie Mendoza, who has been out of the show due to an injury she received during the first preview, has missed yet another perfomance tonight, December 8. We have been notified that the Spidey team is hopeful that she will return 'very soon'.

Last night, BroadwayWorld.com reported that Natalie Mendoza, who plays the lead role of Arachne in SPIDER-MAN: Turn Off the Dark had received a concussion and the role will be played through Tuesday (at minimum) by understudy America Olivo. We've confirmed that Mendoza was indeed injured during the show's first preview when she was hit in the head by a rope (or by a piece of equipment). The actress knew on Tuesday that she had a concussion, but still performed in the show against doctors orders on Tuesday night. It's been speculated that this might have to do with the limited time that an understudy would have had to rehearse, but nothing has been confirmed as to the specifics of why she went on Tuesday and is now sidelined.

Last night, BroadwayWorld.com reported that Natalie Mendoza, who plays the lead role of Arachne in SPIDER-MAN: Turn Off the Dark had received a concussion and the role will be played through Tuesday (at minimum) by understudy America Olivo. We've just confirmed that Mendoza was indeed injured during the show's first preview when she was hit in the head by a rope and the extent of the injury was not realized until later in the week. We're told that an official statement with more information will be revealed shortly. We checked with Actors Equity who has confirmed that they are looking into the matter and also has no comment at the current time.