SPIDERMAN - TURN OFF THE DARK 1.0 vs. 2.0

[defyinggravity2]

Posted: 5/21/12 at 8:55pm

What are some of the major differences between SPIDERMAN - TURN OFF THE DARK 1.0 and 2.0? I need to know! Thanks!

[kyl3fong2]

Posted: 5/21/12 at 10:57pm

Arachne played a much bigger role in 1.0, she had some horrific song in the second Act about buying shoes, Green Goblin dies at the end of Act I, there was a group of narrators that were comic book nerds, and I believe the ending was different as well.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 5/21/12 at 11:00pm

I LOVED Deeply Furious!!! So catchy and campy. Too bad it had nothing to do with the story...

[jetts7]

Posted: 5/21/12 at 11:10pm

@bwayphreak234 I love Deeply Furious also!

In 1.0 Arachne was considered leading actress, now Mary Jane is. I know Arachne used to fly around the stage a lot and over the audience. I also heard she also jumped off the balcony and landed on the stage. The plot was a little different. There was a group of kids who were writing the comic book for Spider-Man and once in a while they would come on stage and make up what would happen next. I would love to see a video of 1.0!

[broadwaydevil]

Posted: 5/21/12 at 11:29pm

Just as unbearable as it is now but it had some great train wreck moments/directing choices - the "Geek Chorus" and psycho Arachne that actually made the show tons more fun. All they've done is taken out the parts that were train wrecks and left the rest of the inane nonsense. It used to be laughably bad. Now it's impossible to sit through.

[trentsketch]

Posted: 5/22/12 at 8:43am

There was a huge fight scene between Spider-Man and Arachne at the end of the show. The set rarely (if ever) worked for the scene. A giant spiderweb was supposed to open up and fill the stage. The actual conclusion of the battle was incredibly dark for a show targeted at families.

There was also a spinning spider costume for Arachne that cost a ton of money. It was cut completely because they had no need for it in 2.0.

[willep]

Posted: 5/22/12 at 9:34am

Wait, Arachne doesn't fly anymore in 2.0?

[trentsketch]

Posted: 5/22/12 at 9:46am

She flies, but she doesn't have the flying rotating spider leg costume from Think Again anymore.

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 5/22/12 at 9:49am

There are so many differences, some of which have already been mentioned. Arachne "jumping off the balcony" was at the beginning of the now cut song "Think Again" (a song I actually liked, despite disliking the character singing it). She would go up to the balcony during the previous song, get hooked into a massive system, and then fly around the entire theatre over the audience while singing. Sitting in the balcony, it was SO distracting watching her get attached to her harness, and it totally took me out of the scene happening onstage. Which was a quiet duet between Peter and Mary Jane.

[perfectliar]

Posted: 5/22/12 at 3:08pm

This is a detailed synopsis I wrote of the show I saw on December 15, 2010 (which falls into "version 1.0"). It was likely different from many other performances before and after that evening; for example, I know it was the first night with the giant web at the end because the producer told the audience to expect kinks in its operation since it was never used in performance. Compare it to the synopsis on Wikipedia, and you'll see the many differences.

Act One

The curtain rises and New York City is burning ("Splash Page"). Mary Jane is suspended from the Brooklyn Bridge, and Spider Man runs in slow motion to save her. He is too late and the Green Goblin cuts the rope. Mary Jane falls and... the Geek Chorus (Miss Arrow, Jimmy-6, Professor Cobwell, and Grim Hunter) enters. They are in the process of "writing" a new Spider Man story. Miss Arrow contends that Peter Parker isn't actually the first person to become a spider. She begins to tell the story of Arachne ("Behold and Wonder"), an Ancient Greek weaver who challenged Athena, the Goddess of Weaving, to a duel; Arachne won and was punished for her hubris by Athena, who destroyed her work. Arachne is so distraught, she hangs herself. Athena feels guilty, so she gives her eternal life in the form of the world's first spider: constantly weaving but for no one to see, alone and nevermore in the light. The scene dissolves into Queens High School where Peter Parker is presenting an oral report on Arachne. His questions prompt the teacher to assign the entire class a ten page report, which they must work on over the weekend. As revenge, Flash and the other bullies at the school begin to physically and verbally abuse Peter ("Bullying by Numbers"). He walks home beaten and alone, until he runs into his next door neighbor, crush, and Flash's girlfriend, Mary Jane. They each go into their separate homes and have arguments with their guardians: Mary Janes father tries to beat her, while Peter feels Uncle Ben is trying to replace his dead father. Both teenagers long for escape ("No More"). The next day, the class goes on a field trip to the laboratory of Dr. Norman Osborn, who is performing genetic experiments which involve splicing different gene traits from different animals together. He explains the need to speed up evolution ("D.I.Y. World") to make the world a more perfect place and shows off his prime specimen: a large female spider. Unfortunately, the spider is missing; it turns up moments later and bites Peter. The action is interrupted again by the Geek Chorus, who argue why Peter was bitten; some believe it was fate, some believe he was chosen by the spider, and some believe it was a case of him simply being in the spider's path. Back in the story, Peter is discovering his new spider powers: climbing on the ceiling, shooting webs, and using his new found agility and strength to give a beating back to the bullies ("Bouncing Off the Walls"). Unfortunately his new powers don't impress Mary Jane, who drives off with Flash in his new car. Peter believes that if he can afford a car, he'll be able to earn MJ's love; he enters an amateur wrestling contest and defeats Bonesaw McGraw for the $1,000 prize. On his way home he sees Flash going into MJ's house; soon after someone steals his new car, but Peter refuses to stop him. Uncle Ben sees the thief and runs after him, only to be killed by the speeding motorist. Peter feels guilty for his uncle thinking he hated him. He goes to his room to grieve; Arachne sees him and shares in his pain ("Rise Above"). Peter copes with his uncle's death by swinging through the city breaking up crimes. The editor at the Daily News thinks hes a menace and offers cash for whoever can manage to get pictures of him; Peter takes on the job as Spider Man's personal photographer. Back at the laboratory, the U.S. military tries to convince Osborn to speed up his experiments and create new genes to be spliced into people, so that they can be used as fighting machines in wartimes ("Pull the Trigger"); Osborn decides he will try the new experiment on himself first, with the help of his wife. Meanwhile MJ is impressed by Peter's new status at the Daily News, and the two discuss their plans after high school: MJ wants to be an actress and Peter wants to be a photographer. They flirt, while Osborn and his wife prepare the gene splicer for the new experiment ("Picture This"). The machine goes haywire and Osborns wife is killed, while he is transformed into the Green Goblin. To avenge his wife's death, Osborn begins murdering the lab techs and takes the military men hostage; Spider Man intervenes and saves them, but Osborn knows it is Peter; after all, it was his spider who bit him. So the Green Goblin kidnaps MJ and tells Spider Man to meet him atop the Chrysler Building, via a piano solo ("I'll Take Manhattan"). Spider Man accepts, and the two have an epic battle on the side of and around the Chrysler Building. The Geek Chorus interrupts, wondering how they can get Spider Man to defeat his foe; they decide that MJ has been attached to the piano and the Green Goblin pushes it over the side. He gets caught in it and falls to his death, while Spider Man saves MJ. As he brings her down, they kiss and she wonders aloud who he is. He says, "I'm your friendly neighborhood Spider Man," and swings off into the night. An image of Arachne is barely visible above them.

Act Two

The Geek Chorus enters and informs us that Spider Man has defeated his ultimate enemy, so they're done. Miss Arrow is convinced that they are not done, because Spider Man's real ultimate enemy should be unbeatable. So they introduce several villains which Spider Man disposes of: Carnage, Swarm, Kraven the Hunter, Electro, The Lizard, and Swiss Miss (whom Miss Arrow invents on the spot); throughout this super villain parade, we also learn that Peter and MJ have begun dating. With all of these villains afoot, Peter is exhausted and not paying much attention to her or anyone else in his life ("Spider-Man Rising"). As Peter sleeps one night, Arachne invades his dreams. She realizes that she will no longer be alone now that there is another spider person to share her darkness ("Turn Off the Dark"). She begins to weave illusions in his mind, and Peter can't tell the difference between dream and reality when he awakes. MJ becomes completely fed up with Peter's constant lateness and disregard for her after he does not show up for her new play. That night, he decides to abandon Spider Man forever ("Walk Away"). The Daily News finds Peters suit thrown in the trash and runs a headline about Spider Man disappearing; Arachne reads this and will have none of it ("Think Again"). She devises a plan to bring Spider Man back: by having all of his former enemies descend on the city at once. The Geek Chorus interrupts, citing the fact that they are all dead. Arachne's furies take over the script writing and scare the Chorus away. Peter and MJ enjoy a night out dancing, now that Peter has no real commitments to Spider Man and is back in school doing well. Suddenly, the power goes out; then the walls of the club come alive with the image of the Green Goblin, apparently alive and kicking and wreaking havoc. The villains destroy the city piece by piece, yet still Spider Man does not appear ("Sinistereo"). Arachne is upset that Spider Man has not taken her bait, and she visits him in another dream in which the two of them get married. When that does not work, she uses a headline in the Daily News about 50 stolen shoes to weasel her way into the office of its editor, J. Jonah Jameson. Her furies steal the shoes for themselves and descend upon Jameson ("Deeply Furious"). Arachne convinces him to run a headline pronouncing Spider Man a needed hero, and he does. After enjoying the blackout and its intimacy, MJ and Peter come to a standstill: because of the dreams and the added pressure of needing Spider Man, Peter doesn't think he can be good enough for MJ anymore. She assures him that he is all she needs in the world ("If the World Should End"). On a path of soul-searching, Peter realizes that if MJ loves him then he can go on Spider Man; he finds his inner hero and vanquishes the Sinister Six ("The Boy Falls From the Sky"). Arachne kidnaps Mary Jane, and the Geek Chorus appears once again. They argue about who Spider Man's true nemesis is, the one he can never beat, with some thinking it must be MJ. But Miss Arrow assure them that it is Arachne, since she is an expert of weaving illusion. Back in the story, we see that Miss Arrow is right: Arachne has trapped Peter in her giant web. MJ is suspended in a cocoon and will die unless Peter pledges to be with Arachne, to share her darkness forever. They fight, and eventually Peter agrees to be with Arachne if it means saving MJ. Arachne has a sudden change of heart, realizing that there is still humanity left in the spider man. She finds her own humanity and spares MJ's life ("Love Me or Kill Me"). Arachne spares Peter of a life with her, as she knows he will always only love MJ; but in realizing his humanity, she has found her own and is released of her burden of darkness. It is metaphorically passed on to Peter as Arachne, as she ascends into the light by the same cloth she used to take her life. With his suit at the Daily News, MJ sees Peter and finally realizes his secret. She agrees to stand by him as a new crime is committed and Peter must go.

Updated On: 5/22/12 at 03:08 PM

[broadwayboy223]

Posted: 2/2/18 at 11:51am

I hate to dig this up but I'm just so curious if a video bootleg of 1.0 exists at all? I know there are audios for sure

[MrsSallyAdams]

Posted: 2/2/18 at 12:11pm

I've not found a 1.0 bootleg but I will recommend co-librettist Glen Berger's hilarious tell all book: Song of Spider-Man. Julie Taymor seemed more interested in writing about Greek Myths than Spider Man. She convinced herself that greek heroes were the comic book heroes of their day and that an expensive show about Arachne would find an audience. There were no Disney execs to say "no" to her and Glen certainly wasn't about to. He makes himself look very very bad in this book but if you can get past the cringier moments it's a fun read.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21412289-song-of-spider-man 

Updated On: 2/2/18 at 12:11 PM

[Lot666]

Posted: 2/2/18 at 12:28pm

I'd like to find audio of the opening song performed by Arachne in the revised version, where she and other spider women descend to the stage on gold silk banners. It was the only part of the show that I liked.

Updated On: 2/2/18 at 12:28 PM

[Justin D]

Posted: 2/2/18 at 2:23pm

Lot666 I totally agree with you there, best part of the show by far.

[Lot666]

Posted: 2/2/18 at 2:25pm

Justin D said: "Lot666 I totally agree with you there, best part of the show by far."

Do you (or does anyone) know what that song was called?

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 2/2/18 at 2:39pm

Lot666 said: "Justin D said: "Lot666 I totally agree with you there, best part of the show by far."

Do you (or does anyone) know what that song was called?"

Behold and wonder

[uncageg]

Posted: 2/2/18 at 2:55pm

That was visually stunning. My favorite part was him singjng "Boy Falls From the Sky". One of my top 10 stage moments.

Not the best show but it was visually incredible.

[BroadwayAndSports]

Posted: 2/2/18 at 3:47pm

uncageg said: "That was visually stunning. My favorite part was him singjng "Boy Falls From the Sky". One of my top 10 stage moments.

Not the best show but it was visually incredible."

Yeah honestly that moment of the show, the music, flying, all the Spider-Mans...it was awesome. Follow that with the big fight scene and the show had a great climax. 

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 2/2/18 at 3:47pm

I only saw version 1.0 and it was...unlike anything I'd ever seen.  Deeply Furious (aka The Shoe Song) was hilariously bad.  It took a minute to figure out what was going on because the lyrics were almost unintelligible, but when I realized Arachne and her Spider Girls were robbing shoes stores, I was howling with laughter at the absurdity of it.  The parade of villains in the second act looked like a runway challenge from America's Next Top Model.  All it needed was Miss Jay saying, "Swiss Miss?  You look more like Swiss MESS!"  There was also a striking difference in the design styles between the acts.  The first act was a bit more creative and innovative, especially the "pop-up book" perspective of the city for the Spider-Man/Green Goblin fight as well as the bouncing off the walls number.  But at the same time, there would be these silly two-dimensional cut-outs of the Goblin popping up like in a comic-book panel, even though he was already introduced on stage as a live character.  The second act brought in traveling video screens (I think they rotated as well?).  It was a giant schizophrenic messy spectacle.  Absolutely bizarre.  I'm glad I got the chance to see it before it changed.

Updated On: 2/2/18 at 03:47 PM

[broadwayboy223]

Posted: 2/2/18 at 4:05pm

I know some people have a really bad quality bootleg of 1.0, but I was hoping someone else had a more decent one. I wanted to see more of Julie Taymor's work.

[broadwayboy223]

Posted: 2/2/18 at 5:37pm

Does anyone have a copy of Julie Taymors original book?

[Lot666]

Posted: 2/5/18 at 9:14am

Call_me_jorge said: "Lot666 said: "Justin D said: "Lot666 I totally agree with you there, best part of the show by far."

Do you (or does anyone) know what that song was called?"

Behold and wonder"

Thank you! Does anyone know if there is a studio (i.e., non-bootleg) recording of that track for sale somewhere?

[Justin D]

Posted: 2/5/18 at 11:42am

Nope, that's another thing that kinda pissed me off is that the CD isnt really a good representation of a 'cast recording' as the show changed so much.

My other fond memory of the show is that I sat on an aisle in the top balcony and the stunt guy just lept off the ledge right in front of me and something about that I found to be totally theatrical

[Lot666]

Posted: 2/5/18 at 12:09pm

Justin D said: "Nope, that's another thing that kinda pissed me off is that the CD isnt really a good representation of a 'cast recording' as the show changed so much."

Yeah, it's not exactly an "original cast recording" of the show.

[DRSisLove]

Posted: 2/5/18 at 12:50pm

"Deeply Furious" may go down as one of the worst (yet, best) things I've ever seen on stage. Girls jumping around with additional legs with heels yelling "I'm clickin my frickin heels." I can still picture it in my head so clearly years later.