Troubleshooting Broadway's 'Spider-Man:' Pop Culturist Says More Work Needed, but Show Has Potential
Dec. 2, 2010 — -- In a perfect world -- perfect for comic book fans, that is -- Spiderman would fly through the air with the greatest of ease, pausing only to save lives or bask in the cheer of his adoring fans.
In real life, however, Spiderman must grapple with props and the cables that keep gravity from becoming a problem. And, as a Broadway audience discovered earlier this week, no amount of money can prevent some technical glitches.
The $65 million Broadway show, "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" was castigated by bloggers and reviewers after it's opening night of previews. The show was beset by numerous stops and starts, even a heckler in the audience.
But pop culturist and blogger David Levin said the massive production has a real shot at being the next big hit on the Great White Way.
"I think it could be a success," he said, standing outside the theater doors in New York City's Times Square. "There's all the elements that generally make a show a success."
"They need to work on the story," he said.
Levin saw "Spider-Man" this week in its second night of previews. Many of the kinks that drew such harsh reviews the first time had been worked out and the show only stopped once, punctuated by a Spidey salute to the audience to acknowledge the glitch.
He's confident the technical headaches can be worked out by opening night in January, but said the show's producers also should make a few changes to both story and presentation.
"It is a flawed work in progress right now. They need to work out the kinks. I think they can."
"The things I saw that can be fixed are mostly script fixes," he said. "Technical stuff, they'll work out."
David Levin spoke with ABC's Linsey Davis for today's Conversation. We hope you'll watch to learn more. You can also click here to read Levin's review of the show on his blog.
