THE NEW YORKER Reviews SPIDER-MAN 'needs new book and new songs'

THE NEW YORKER'S John Lahr is the latest critic to have his take on SPIDER-MAN on Broadway.

Lahr writes "Taymor has a dynamic, painterly sense of space; she can marshal all the sensual elements of movement, light, and perspective into amazing stage pictures. (Two minutes after the show had ended, I couldn't recall a line of dialogue, a song lyric, or a melody, but I do remember any number of the show's images.) Before our eyes, for instance, the New York sky line is tipped ninety degrees, so that what begins at street level ends up a bird's-eye view, with buglike yellow cabs skittering below; in another scene, the spider chorines dance before us, with their eight syncopated limbs. In these moments-and there are plenty of them-the audience finds itself exactly where Taymor wants it to be: in a waking dream. The technicians of wonder are the real stars of "Spider-Man": George Tsypin and his ravishing angular cityscape, with its monumental Cubist and Constructivist touches; Kyle Cooper and his ingenious projection design; Eiko Ishioka and her witty, beautifully made costumes (I loved Swarm, a one-man killer-bee hive, and The Green Goblin's scaly carapace). The stagecraft is about as good as it gets: all "Spider-Man" needs now is a new book and new songs. Call me, Mister Mercury, this show will never be frozen."

Click Here for His Full Review

Michael Riedel reported yesterday in the New York Post that SPIDER-MAN producers had reached out to Philip Wm. McKinley to potentially join the production as co-director along with Julie Taymor.

In response, a production spokesperson for SPIDER-MAN has issued a statement that "There is no truth to the rumor of a co-director. The production has not brought anyone on and the original creative team remains firmly in place, with Julie Taymor at the helm."

This new rumor of a co-director, comes on the heals of a report last week that the production had also reached out for help on the book to Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. Both the book and the direction were amongst the show's heaviest criticism in reviews earlier this month. There is no official word on what changes might be coming to the show, though reports from audience members have only talked about minor visible changes to date.

The production is rapidly approaching its next scheduled opening date of March 15th, which is now just 3 weeks away, leaving approximately only 36 hours of rehearsal time along with the schedule previews.

Some have compared the situation of SPIDER-MAN: TURN OFF THE DARK to that of a circus, so it was fitting today when Michael Riedel reported in the New York Post that the production has reached out to Philip Wm. McKinley, who has a background directing the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. He is also known however, for directing THE BOY FROM OZ on Broadway along with THE DESERT SONG at the New York City Opera, THE MOST HAPPY FELLA and more. 

Word leaked out last week that producers of SPIDER-MAN: TURN OFF THE DARK have asked Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa to rewrite the book to the show. The original book was a collaboration between Julie Taymor and Glen Berger. This time around, the show will be reworked by a Spidey expert, as Aguirra-Sacasa has written Spider-Man comics for Marvel in the past. Additionally, he penned the book for Dallas Theatre Center's IT'S A PLANE, IT'S SUPERMAN! 

Featuring direction by Tony® Award-winner Julie Taymor(The Tempest, Across The Universe, The Lion King), music and lyrics by 22-time Grammy® Award-winners Bono and The Edge, a book co-written by Taymor and Glen Berger (Underneath The Lintel) and one of the most iconic title characters of all time, SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark is the most ambitious production ever undertaken on Broadway and certainly the most expensive and most heavily watched productions in Broadway history. 

Photo by Walter McBride / Retna Ltd / WM Photos