Another delay for Spider-Man production

The Broadway production of 'Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark', plagued by financial problems and injuries including a stunt man’s 30-foot fall after his safety harness malfunctioned, has delayed its opening night again, this time for more than a month.

Producers said they need until March 15 to fine-tune aspects of the $65m (€48.6m) show, including a new ending, before allowing critics to weigh in.

Lead producer Michael Cohl promised this is “the final postponement”.

The show – the dreamchild of Lion King director Julie Taymor with music by U2’s Bono and The Edge – hasn’t been hurt at the box office by the raft of injuries, cancellations, the defection of a lead actress, in-show delays and postponements.

The new opening delay does not really hurt the musical, even if it means setting a new record for the show with the most preview performances.

Although producers are charging full price for tickets, the musical is still selling out the 1,930-seat Foxwoods Theatre in Times Square almost every night, and last week the webslinger tale took the week’s box-office crown from the Oz musical 'Wicked'.

In a statement, Taymor said: “We are so grateful for the enthusiastic audiences who have been coming to see 'Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark' and we are dedicated to giving them the very best show we can.”

Once a show officially opens, it is considered frozen and no more tinkering is allowed. The latest delay was somewhat expected since a big, spectacular finale still seemed absent.

Audiences at previews were also confused about the role of Arachne, Spider-Man’s evil love interest.

Bono and The Edge, both newcomers to writing musicals, returned from touring this month to help fix the show’s problems. In a statement, they said: “We are looking for the extraordinary here and we are nearly there.”

The show has been built specifically for the Foxwoods Theatre, meaning a traditional out-of-town tryout to fix glitches was not possible.

Cohl has said he considered delaying previews until the production had gelled better, but argued that the cast and crew had to bite the bullet eventually, even if they risked embarrassment and bad press.

The show’s massive costs – a 41-member cast, 18 orchestra members, complicated sets and dozens of daring aerial stunts, including a battle between two characters over the audience – mean the theatre will have to virtually sell out every show for several years just to break even.