Thought you had seen enough of Spider-Man after the big-screen trilogy? Well, there’s more. Coming Soon: Spider-Man the Musical, titled “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.”
This isn’t going to be any ordinary show. In the history of Broadway, nothing like this has ever been produced. First of all, as a $60 million investment it will be the most expensive production Broadway has ever seen. Not one of the “mega-musicals” – like “Phantom of the Opera,” “Wicked,” and “Shrek the Musical”- have even cost half of that amount. Secondly, this action-packed musical will literally go above and beyond the stage. The show will include “aerial battles between Spider-Man and the Green Goblin, swinging at 40 miles an hour to landing spots on the mezzanine and balcony levels. The show will have about 150 pieces of moving scenery and a three-dimensional set that looks like a pop-up New York.”
While the all of those details about the show amazed me, I was just as interested in learning about how much financial business goes on behind the scenes of any production. As The New York TImes article explains, whether The Rolling Stones are putting on a rock concert or a theatre group is putting on a musical, much of the world of art overlaps with the world of business. While the organizers of any show want to create an artistic, creative final product that influences the audience, part of the motivation behind many works lies in the profits.
For example, Michael Cohl, the main producer of the upcoming Spider-Man musical, sees the Broadway production as an investment. Tens of millions of dollars are being poured into the show, purely in the hope that it “will swing from New York to worldwide arenas that are traditionally the preserve of rock stars and Cirque du Soleil productions. The potential for profit is significant, he believes, justifying the extraordinary front-end costs for New York.” Thinking about art from a business perspective can take away from its mystique. However, I am still as excited as anyone to see Spider-Man live, soaring over my head, like every boy dreams of growing up.
In case you are anticipating this show as much as I am, performances will begin on November 14th at Broadway’s Foxwoods Theatre.
Read more about it here
It is always interesting to investigate the business side of the arts. Which is more impressive: a $10 million dollar Broadway extravaganza that wows the audience, or a Picasso painting made from $5 worth of paint and a discarded piece of wood? Or a Symphony created with a few pencils and some manuscript paper? Or a novel written in long had on legal pads… you get the idea…