By John Fleming, Times Performing Arts Critic
In Print: Wednesday, August 12, 2009
TAMPA — Wonderland: Alice's New Musical Adventure is all set and ready to go. The new Frank Wildhorn musical, which is being produced by Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center and will have its premiere there on Dec. 5, officially announced complete casting Tuesday.
Janet Dacal will play Alice, as first reported in July by the St. Petersburg Times from an interview with composer Wildhorn. Dacal, a Cuban-American who lived in Miami, is now playing Carla, the ditsy redheaded beauty salon assistant in In the Heights, the Tony Award-winning musical set in the Manhattan barrio.
"If you don't have the right Alice, the show won't work," said Jack Murphy, who is writing the book and lyrics of the musical, inspired by Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass.
Though Alice is a British expatriate children's book author living in New York in the musical, the character won't change with a Latina in the role, Murphy said.
"We were very excited to get Janet. This is not going to be your mother's Alice in Wonderland. This is a modern woman who speaks to today's audience."
Tuesday's announcement confirmed that principal cast members include Karen Mason (Sunset Boulevard, Mamma Mia!) as the Queen of Hearts, Eugene Fleming (Fosse) as the Caterpillar and Nikki Snelson (Legally Blonde) as the Mad Hatter.
The 25-member cast also has Julie Brooks playing Alice's 10-year-old daughter, Chloe; Jose Llana as El Gato; Ed Staudenmayer as the Rabbit; and Sarasota native Darren Ritchie as Jack/White Knight. For the complete cast see blogs.tampabay.com/arts.
Wonderland, directed by Gregory Boyd, begins rehearsals at the TBPAC on Oct. 12. The show will be staged in Ferguson Hall and start preview performances Nov. 24 and open Dec. 5. After the Tampa run closes on Jan. 3, the production will make a quick transfer to the Alley Theatre in Houston, Texas, where Boyd is artistic director. It will play the Alley Jan. 15-Feb. 14.
John Fleming can be reached at fleming@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8716. He blogs at Critics Circle at blogs.tampabay.com/arts.
http://www.tampabay.com/features/performingarts/article1026845.ece
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Spider-Man The Musical Is Dead Dead Dead!
As we previously mentioned, the upcoming Spider-Man Broadway musical has run out of $$$$$$, and….
The entire cast - including Evan Rachel Whore - has just been released from their contracts and the crew has been put on "hiatus" until further notice because the $45 million dollar musical broke the bank!
Spider-Man, with Julie Taymor on board as director and music penned by Bono and The Edge, was destined to be a mess from the beginning.
Taymor devised an "installation show" for the musical, but sources say the director was in over her head with the amount of special effects she hoped to include in the show.
The show was said to have a running cost of $900,000 a week, which would have required the show to sell out at New York's Hilton Theater every night for five years straight just for the producers to break even!
Ridiculous!!!
Spider-Man is still set to open for previews on February 10th, 2010.
Yeah right!
Posted: August 12, 2009 at 2:30 pm
http://perezhilton.com/2009-08-12-spider-man-the-musical-is-dead-dead-dead
The entire cast - including Evan Rachel Whore - has just been released from their contracts and the crew has been put on "hiatus" until further notice because the $45 million dollar musical broke the bank!
Spider-Man, with Julie Taymor on board as director and music penned by Bono and The Edge, was destined to be a mess from the beginning.
Taymor devised an "installation show" for the musical, but sources say the director was in over her head with the amount of special effects she hoped to include in the show.
The show was said to have a running cost of $900,000 a week, which would have required the show to sell out at New York's Hilton Theater every night for five years straight just for the producers to break even!
Ridiculous!!!
Spider-Man is still set to open for previews on February 10th, 2010.
Yeah right!
Posted: August 12, 2009 at 2:30 pm
http://perezhilton.com/2009-08-12-spider-man-the-musical-is-dead-dead-dead
Spiderman Needs Some Ca$$$h
Oops!
Someone forgot to tell the producers of the Broadway-bound Spiderman show that we are in economic crisis! One of the backers of the lavish production, Hello Entertainment, are halting production on the show due to "unexpected cash flow problem."
So you ran out of money? Got it!
The studio released this statement explaining the hold-up: "Plans necessary for this correction are in hand now and it is expected that activities, including work in the theater, will resume within the immediate future."
Not likely. Not many people have thousands of dollars lying around to save a Broadway show.
Good luck with that!
Posted: August 10, 2009 at 2:22 pm
http://perezhilton.com/2009-08-10-spiderman-needs-some-cah
Someone forgot to tell the producers of the Broadway-bound Spiderman show that we are in economic crisis! One of the backers of the lavish production, Hello Entertainment, are halting production on the show due to "unexpected cash flow problem."
So you ran out of money? Got it!
The studio released this statement explaining the hold-up: "Plans necessary for this correction are in hand now and it is expected that activities, including work in the theater, will resume within the immediate future."
Not likely. Not many people have thousands of dollars lying around to save a Broadway show.
Good luck with that!
Posted: August 10, 2009 at 2:22 pm
http://perezhilton.com/2009-08-10-spiderman-needs-some-cah
Production on New Spider-Man Musical Temporarily Halted
By Andrew Gans
09 Aug 2009
Production on the eagerly awaited new Julie Taymor musical Spider-Man, Turn Off The Dark has been temporarily halted, according to The New York Times.
Hello Entertainment, one of the producers of the big-budget musical, released a statement to the Times explaining production had been suspended due to "an unexpected cash flow problem."
The statement, however, added, "The plans necessary for this correction are in hand now, and it is expected that activities, including work in the theater, will resume within the immediate future and with no material impact upon the planned production schedule."
Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark is currently scheduled to begin previews at Broadway's Hilton Theatre Feb. 25, 2010. A spokesperson for the musical previously told Variety that the work stoppage is not expected to affect the preview date.
Evan Rachel Wood will play Mary Jane Watson, Peter Parker's girlfriend, and Tony winner Alan Cumming will star as Norman Osborn (aka Green Goblin), Spider-Man's most notorious nemesis.
The Lion King's Taymor directs. Spider-Man, Turn Off The Dark features music and lyrics by Bono and The Edge and a book by Taymor and Glen Berger.
Drawing from over 40 years of Marvel comic books, Spider-Man, according to press notes, "spins a new take on the mythic tale of a young man propelled from a modest rowhouse in Queens to the sky-scraping spire of the Chrysler Building, the bustling offices of the Daily Bugle, through the dizzying canyons of Manhattan, to new vistas never before seen. The musical follows the story of teenager Peter Parker, whose unremarkable life is turned upside-down — literally — when he's bitten by a genetically altered spider and wakes up the next morning clinging to his bedroom ceiling. This bullied science-geek — suddenly endowed with astonishing powers — soon learns, however, that with great power comes great responsibility as villains test not only his physical strength but also his strength of character. Spider-Man's battles will hurtle the audience through an origin story both recognizable and unexpected — yielding new characters as well as familiar faces — until a final surprising confrontation casts a startling new light on this hero's journey."
The creative team also includes choreographer Daniel Ezralow ("Across the Universe," The Green Bird), set designer George Tsypin (The Magic Flute, The Little Mermaid), costume designer Eiko Ishioka (Academy Award for "Bram Stoker's Dracula," Tony nomination for M. Butterfly), lighting designer Donald Holder (Tony Awards for The Lion King, South Pacific), sound designer Jonathan Deans (Fosse Young Frankenstein, Ragtime) and musical supervisor Teese Gohl ("Across the Universe," "Frida").
The musical will be produced on Broadway by Hello Entertainment/David Garfinkle, Martin McCallum, Marvel Entertainment/David Maisel, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Jeremiah Harris. It will be produced in association with Omneity Entertainment/Richard Weinberg, the Mayerson/Gould/Hauser/Tysoe Group, Patricia Lambrecht and Jam Theatricals/S2BN Entertainment.
Interested theatregoers, who possess an AmEx card, can call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets will go on sale to the general public Sept. 12.
Group tickets are also now on sale by calling (800) Broadway.
The Hilton Theatre is located in Manhattan at 213 West 42nd Street.
For more information visit http://www.spidermanonbroadway.com/.
http://www.playbill.com/news/article/131805-Production_on_New_Spider-Man_Musical_Temporarily_Halted
09 Aug 2009
Production on the eagerly awaited new Julie Taymor musical Spider-Man, Turn Off The Dark has been temporarily halted, according to The New York Times.
Hello Entertainment, one of the producers of the big-budget musical, released a statement to the Times explaining production had been suspended due to "an unexpected cash flow problem."
The statement, however, added, "The plans necessary for this correction are in hand now, and it is expected that activities, including work in the theater, will resume within the immediate future and with no material impact upon the planned production schedule."
Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark is currently scheduled to begin previews at Broadway's Hilton Theatre Feb. 25, 2010. A spokesperson for the musical previously told Variety that the work stoppage is not expected to affect the preview date.
Evan Rachel Wood will play Mary Jane Watson, Peter Parker's girlfriend, and Tony winner Alan Cumming will star as Norman Osborn (aka Green Goblin), Spider-Man's most notorious nemesis.
The Lion King's Taymor directs. Spider-Man, Turn Off The Dark features music and lyrics by Bono and The Edge and a book by Taymor and Glen Berger.
Drawing from over 40 years of Marvel comic books, Spider-Man, according to press notes, "spins a new take on the mythic tale of a young man propelled from a modest rowhouse in Queens to the sky-scraping spire of the Chrysler Building, the bustling offices of the Daily Bugle, through the dizzying canyons of Manhattan, to new vistas never before seen. The musical follows the story of teenager Peter Parker, whose unremarkable life is turned upside-down — literally — when he's bitten by a genetically altered spider and wakes up the next morning clinging to his bedroom ceiling. This bullied science-geek — suddenly endowed with astonishing powers — soon learns, however, that with great power comes great responsibility as villains test not only his physical strength but also his strength of character. Spider-Man's battles will hurtle the audience through an origin story both recognizable and unexpected — yielding new characters as well as familiar faces — until a final surprising confrontation casts a startling new light on this hero's journey."
The creative team also includes choreographer Daniel Ezralow ("Across the Universe," The Green Bird), set designer George Tsypin (The Magic Flute, The Little Mermaid), costume designer Eiko Ishioka (Academy Award for "Bram Stoker's Dracula," Tony nomination for M. Butterfly), lighting designer Donald Holder (Tony Awards for The Lion King, South Pacific), sound designer Jonathan Deans (Fosse Young Frankenstein, Ragtime) and musical supervisor Teese Gohl ("Across the Universe," "Frida").
The musical will be produced on Broadway by Hello Entertainment/David Garfinkle, Martin McCallum, Marvel Entertainment/David Maisel, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Jeremiah Harris. It will be produced in association with Omneity Entertainment/Richard Weinberg, the Mayerson/Gould/Hauser/Tysoe Group, Patricia Lambrecht and Jam Theatricals/S2BN Entertainment.
Interested theatregoers, who possess an AmEx card, can call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets will go on sale to the general public Sept. 12.
Group tickets are also now on sale by calling (800) Broadway.
The Hilton Theatre is located in Manhattan at 213 West 42nd Street.
For more information visit http://www.spidermanonbroadway.com/.
http://www.playbill.com/news/article/131805-Production_on_New_Spider-Man_Musical_Temporarily_Halted
"Spider-Man" Musical Suspended By "Cash Flow Problem"
ROLLING STONE
8/11/09, 1:16 pm EST
Tickets for the musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, which features music by U2’s Bono and the Edge, are supposed to go on sale starting a month from tomorrow. But the show’s producers announced in a statement this weekend that work on the production has been temporarily suspended due to an “unexpected cash flow problem,” the New York Times reports. “The plans necessary for this correction are in hand now, and it is expected that activities, including work in the theater, will resume within the immediate future and with no material impact upon the planned production schedule,” the producers said in the statement.
As Rock Daily previously reported, the Spider-Man musical is scheduled to begin with preview performances on February 25th (the original start date was January 2010). Because of the scope of the blockbuster show — and the amount of talent involved, like U2 members and director Julie Taymor — the musical’s budget is reportedly in the $40 million range, making it the most expensive musical in Broadway history, the NYT reports.
So far, Evan Rachel Wood and Alan Cumming have been cast in the roles of Mary Jane Watson and Norman Osborn/Green Goblin, respectively. Over at the Spider-Man official site, you can also hear a snippet of what sounds like the Edge performing what could be the song’s main theme. “It’s unlike any Spider-Man you’ve ever seen,” Wood said.
http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/08/11/spider-man-musical-suspended-by-cash-flow-problem/
8/11/09, 1:16 pm EST
Tickets for the musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, which features music by U2’s Bono and the Edge, are supposed to go on sale starting a month from tomorrow. But the show’s producers announced in a statement this weekend that work on the production has been temporarily suspended due to an “unexpected cash flow problem,” the New York Times reports. “The plans necessary for this correction are in hand now, and it is expected that activities, including work in the theater, will resume within the immediate future and with no material impact upon the planned production schedule,” the producers said in the statement.
As Rock Daily previously reported, the Spider-Man musical is scheduled to begin with preview performances on February 25th (the original start date was January 2010). Because of the scope of the blockbuster show — and the amount of talent involved, like U2 members and director Julie Taymor — the musical’s budget is reportedly in the $40 million range, making it the most expensive musical in Broadway history, the NYT reports.
So far, Evan Rachel Wood and Alan Cumming have been cast in the roles of Mary Jane Watson and Norman Osborn/Green Goblin, respectively. Over at the Spider-Man official site, you can also hear a snippet of what sounds like the Edge performing what could be the song’s main theme. “It’s unlike any Spider-Man you’ve ever seen,” Wood said.
http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/08/11/spider-man-musical-suspended-by-cash-flow-problem/
Broadway Spidey Hits a Bump
By RACHEL LEE HARRIS
Published: August 9, 2009
There’s been another setback for those eagerly awaiting Spider-Man’s arrival on Broadway early next year.
A statement on Sunday from the publicists for Hello Entertainment, one of the producers of “Spider-Man, Turn Off the Dark,” said work had been suspended on the musical because of “an unexpected cash flow problem.” The statement went on to say: “The plans necessary for this correction are in hand now, and it is expected that activities, including work in the theater, will resume within the immediate future and with no material impact upon the planned production schedule.” No date for resuming production work was given. The show comes with a high-profile pedigree: the creative team includes the director Julie Taymor with music and lyrics by Bono and the Edge of U2, while the cast includes Evan Rachel Wood (as Mary Jane Watson) and Alan Cumming (as Norman Osborn). The budget is equally high profile: insiders put the price tag at $40 million, which would make it the largest in the history of Broadway. In June it was announced that previews, at the Hilton Theater, would be delayed by a month, from January to February.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/10/theater/10arts-BROADWAYSPID_BRF.html
Published: August 9, 2009
There’s been another setback for those eagerly awaiting Spider-Man’s arrival on Broadway early next year.
A statement on Sunday from the publicists for Hello Entertainment, one of the producers of “Spider-Man, Turn Off the Dark,” said work had been suspended on the musical because of “an unexpected cash flow problem.” The statement went on to say: “The plans necessary for this correction are in hand now, and it is expected that activities, including work in the theater, will resume within the immediate future and with no material impact upon the planned production schedule.” No date for resuming production work was given. The show comes with a high-profile pedigree: the creative team includes the director Julie Taymor with music and lyrics by Bono and the Edge of U2, while the cast includes Evan Rachel Wood (as Mary Jane Watson) and Alan Cumming (as Norman Osborn). The budget is equally high profile: insiders put the price tag at $40 million, which would make it the largest in the history of Broadway. In June it was announced that previews, at the Hilton Theater, would be delayed by a month, from January to February.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/10/theater/10arts-BROADWAYSPID_BRF.html
'SPIDER-MAN' A NO-SHOW
MICHAEL REED
Last updated: 12:04 pm
August 12, 2009
Posted: 2:49 am
August 12, 2009
SPIDER-MAN has vanquished Green Goblin, Electro, Doc Ock and Lizard.
But when it comes to the greatest supervillain of them all -- The Riedeler -- Spidey has met his match.
The $45 million "Spider-Man," directed by Julie Taymor and written by Bono and The Edge, is caught in my net, and I can report today that escape is virtually impossible.
Mwahahaha!
Last week, production crews at both the Hilton Theatre and the scene shop where the show was being built were put on "hiatus" because the producers ran out of money. Assistants in the scene shop "ran to the bank to cash their checks because they weren't sure they'd clear," a source says.
Now comes word that the actors have been released from their contracts, with no incentive (i.e., money) to hang around waiting for the production to get back on track.
Meanwhile, ticket agents are desperately trying to get refunds for deposits from theater parties that booked early previews.
"I hope they don't stiff us the way Garth Drabinsky did," says one ticket agent, referring to the disgraced impresario recently sentenced in Toronto to seven years in jail.
A desperate attempt was made last week to save "Spider-Man" by bringing in a couple of veteran producers. But they're too smart to get involved in what's turning out to be the biggest fiasco in Broadway history.
And so, while the official line is "the production will begin previews on Feb. 25, 2010," the betting is that the Hilton Theatre, whose insides have been gutted for this show, is going to be an empty barn this winter.
"Spider-Man" has been in trouble from the beginning, done in by the inexperience of its producers -- Sony, Marvel Comics and David Garfinkle, a Chicago lawyer who, sources say, had almost no Broadway experience.
"He was in over his head," a source says.
Taymor, the director of "The Lion King," conceived of "Spider-Man" as an "installation show," something big and bold and full of special effects. Something, in other words, like Cirque du Soleil.
That's fine if you're going to put the damn thing up in Las Vegas, where "installation shows" run several times a day and are funded in large part by hotels and casinos.
But at $45 million -- and with a weekly running cost of almost $900,000 -- "Spider-Man" at the 1,700-seat Hilton could never be profitable.
The show would have to run five years, selling every single seat in the house, to just break even.
"That," says a source who crunched the numbers, "is insane."
Artistically, it's impossible to tell if "Spider-Man" is any good.
The designs for the sets and costumes that I saw were impressive, and some of U2's songs weren't bad -- moody and melodic, if not all that theatrical -- but even people working on the show weren't quite sure what it was going to be like.
"A lot of it seems to exist only in Julie's head," one source says.
Which may be where it remains for a long, long time.
michael.riedel@nypost.com
http://www.nypost.com/seven/08122009/entertainment/theater/spider_man_a_no_show_184141.htm
Last updated: 12:04 pm
August 12, 2009
Posted: 2:49 am
August 12, 2009
SPIDER-MAN has vanquished Green Goblin, Electro, Doc Ock and Lizard.
But when it comes to the greatest supervillain of them all -- The Riedeler -- Spidey has met his match.
The $45 million "Spider-Man," directed by Julie Taymor and written by Bono and The Edge, is caught in my net, and I can report today that escape is virtually impossible.
Mwahahaha!
Last week, production crews at both the Hilton Theatre and the scene shop where the show was being built were put on "hiatus" because the producers ran out of money. Assistants in the scene shop "ran to the bank to cash their checks because they weren't sure they'd clear," a source says.
Now comes word that the actors have been released from their contracts, with no incentive (i.e., money) to hang around waiting for the production to get back on track.
Meanwhile, ticket agents are desperately trying to get refunds for deposits from theater parties that booked early previews.
"I hope they don't stiff us the way Garth Drabinsky did," says one ticket agent, referring to the disgraced impresario recently sentenced in Toronto to seven years in jail.
A desperate attempt was made last week to save "Spider-Man" by bringing in a couple of veteran producers. But they're too smart to get involved in what's turning out to be the biggest fiasco in Broadway history.
And so, while the official line is "the production will begin previews on Feb. 25, 2010," the betting is that the Hilton Theatre, whose insides have been gutted for this show, is going to be an empty barn this winter.
"Spider-Man" has been in trouble from the beginning, done in by the inexperience of its producers -- Sony, Marvel Comics and David Garfinkle, a Chicago lawyer who, sources say, had almost no Broadway experience.
"He was in over his head," a source says.
Taymor, the director of "The Lion King," conceived of "Spider-Man" as an "installation show," something big and bold and full of special effects. Something, in other words, like Cirque du Soleil.
That's fine if you're going to put the damn thing up in Las Vegas, where "installation shows" run several times a day and are funded in large part by hotels and casinos.
But at $45 million -- and with a weekly running cost of almost $900,000 -- "Spider-Man" at the 1,700-seat Hilton could never be profitable.
The show would have to run five years, selling every single seat in the house, to just break even.
"That," says a source who crunched the numbers, "is insane."
Artistically, it's impossible to tell if "Spider-Man" is any good.
The designs for the sets and costumes that I saw were impressive, and some of U2's songs weren't bad -- moody and melodic, if not all that theatrical -- but even people working on the show weren't quite sure what it was going to be like.
"A lot of it seems to exist only in Julie's head," one source says.
Which may be where it remains for a long, long time.
michael.riedel@nypost.com
http://www.nypost.com/seven/08122009/entertainment/theater/spider_man_a_no_show_184141.htm
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