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Artist News
Spider-Man director steps down
By CMU Editorial | Published on Friday 11 March 2011
So, Julie Taymor has stepped down as director of fated Broadway musical ‘Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark’, the stage show with music by Bono and The Edge, which counts legendary tour promoter Michael Cohl as a lead producer.
As much previously reported, the ambitious stunt-filled ‘Spider-Man’ show has experienced numerous delays, and has been in preview since November. Although there has been no press night as yet, many critics have bought tickets to previews and published their mainly negative reviews.
The official launch was due to finally take place next week, but has now been pushed back to a more ambiguous “evening in the early summer” to allow more changes to the show. Gossipers reckon the new delays are because producers want to make a number of changes to the script following the poor reviews.
The official reason for Taymor’s departure is that, having not expected to still be working on the show by now, she has other work commitments. Some expect those brought in to do the next stage of development on the show may make a number of changes to the script Taymor co-wrote.
The director is best known for conceiving the critically acclaimed ‘Lion King’ stage show, but some say that while ‘Spider-Man’ is as visually impressive as her previous hit, the story is disappointing. With ‘Lion King’, of course, the story came straight from the Disney movie.
As previously reported, despite all this, the previewing ‘Spider-Man’ show remains one of Broadway’s biggest earners.
