Spiderman the musical has been a roller coaster in terms of production. It costs double the price of a normal broadway play. It also had a long bring of injuries and a seemingly endless period of previews. Most broadway shows have a month of preview shows. Spiderman the musical had six months of previews. 
The list of issues that the play faced does not end there; Early reviews for the musical were quite negative, and the artistic disagreements between the director and her fellow creators and new producers were so sharp, that she was fired from the show. The original director, Julie Taymor may have appeared for opening night with a happy face, but she was furious. She is currently legally pursuing $500,000 dollars in royalties she believes she is owed. I found this musical to be a such a stark contrast to Don Giovanni, the opera we are about to see. Spiderman uses lots of cables and modern technology for effects; Don Giovanni uses none. Spiderman’s composers are Bono and the Edge of U2, instead of an orchestra like Don Giovanni. It’s unlikely to happen, but a seeing a more modern musical would provide excellent context for discussion after seeing Don Giovanni. The article on Spiderman can be found here.
The Arts in NYC, Professor Smaldone, Fall 2011
Queens College
It is interesting to compare the means and the money of a Broadway show and an operatic production. The truth is, that an opera like Don Giovanni is HUGELY expensive. And the intentions of the composers are not very different. Bono and the Edge are writing in a style meant to capture the story and emotion of Spiderman and communicate it to a popular audience in 2011. Mozart was working within the stylistic limits of his audience as well, but his audience was an audience of aristocrats with distinct expectations.