Reinhold Gliere / Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark

On this day in classical music: Reinhold Gliere’s ballet “The Red Poppy” received its premiere in Moscow in 1927. Set in a Chinese seaport where a ship is docked, “The Red Poppy” told the story of a young Chinese girl who dances for the sailors. The work’s most famous music is the “Russian Sailors Dance.” Listen to the popular work here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9EphP0u2xg

 On this day in the musical theatre: After 182 previews (the most ever for any Broadway musical), the firing of director Julie Taymor, a month-long shutdown and a $75 million price tag, “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” finally opened on Broadway. Based on the Marvel Comics characters and the 2002 film starring Tobey Maguire, “Spider-Man” opened to lackluster reviews, most of which praised the special flying sequences but little else. Curiosity has kept the show running, with most performances averaging between 80 and 90 percent of capacity (the Foxwoods Theatre seats 1,930). Given the musical’s high running costs, it will have to run for years to recoup its hefty investment. Watch a montage from the musical here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vU440u65WrA 

 

Musical musings: With all of the backstage drama that accompanied “Spider-Man” during its troubled previews, rewritings, postponements, technical failures and hazardous working conditions (many actors were injured when flying sequences malfunctioned; others were left hanging mid-air and had to be rescued), critics were gunning for “Spider-Man.” They outdid themselves in panning the musical, flinging their poisoned prose much like Peter Parker unleashed his special powers. Here’s a bit of Ben Brantley’s review in the New York Times: “First seen and deplored by critics several months ago — when impatient journalists (including me) broke the media embargo for reviews as the show’s opening date kept sliding into a misty future — this singing comic book is no longer the ungodly, indecipherable mess it was in February. It’s just a bore. The first time I saw the show, it was like watching the Hindenburg burn and crash. This time ‘Spider-Man’ — which was originally conceived by the (since departed) visionary director Julie Taymor with the rock musicians Bono and the Edge (of U2) — stirred foggy, not unpleasant childhood memories of second-tier sci-fi TV in the 1960s, with blatantly artificial sets and actors in unconvincing alien masks. ‘Spider-Man’ may be the only Broadway show of the past half-century to make international headlines regularly, often with the adjective ‘troubled’ attached to its title.” 

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