There are ethics questions of reviewing a show in previews, even after three and a half months of performances. Before the show I saw, a producer explained that these extended previews are the equivalent of an out-of-town tryout, which in this instance has to occur at the only theater redesigned specifically to accommodate this show's technical challenges.
However, the problems with Spider-Man have little to do with the tech at this point. They have to do with booking a Broadway theater with a half-baked story, with the inability to repair it, and with the novel idea of marketing an unfinished show full-throttle and full-price (commercials are on Jet Blue's flights to and from NYC), while keeping the press at bay. Enough is enough.
Couldn't leave New York without taking in the closing performance of Willy Decker's glorious, somewhat minimalist, beautifully sung and perfectly sculpted staging of La Traviata, starring Marina Poplavskaya as Violetta, at the Met.
Decker used no chandeliers and no hoop skirts for Verdi's very social tragedy, centered on a high-end Parisian courtesan with tuberculosis who stifles her one deeply requited love with jealous Alfredo (Matthew Polenzani) — for his own sake. At two and three-quarter hours, there were no more than four plot turns, and every image and note were in harmony.
Wolfgang Gussman's contemporary set and costumes placed the action on a largely open expanse, populated with sofas and an emblematic clock, which stopped when Violetta and Alfredo shared time, so to speak. In one scene it wound up lying center-stage, Violetta in a red dress thrust upon it, while Alfredo angrily hurled money at her. It was carried offstage shortly before Violetta's death.
Time runs out, or is run out.
Violetta frequently wore that red dress (when not in a negligee), sometimes surrounded by an army of Champagne-swilling men in black suits.
In Act 2, she and the couches were adorned in a matching floral pattern, a motif repeated in a massive overhanging mural. As recriminations and tragedy unfolded, Violetta removed the floral drops from the couches, revealing white. Meanwhile, lighting designer Hans Toelstede slowly bled the color out of the mural, until the entire stage canvas was in black and white.
Her Doctor Grenvil appeared throughout the opera, from the opening scene, in a black overcoat and cloak, slowly circling the stage rim, or appearing at an upper tier. Very Robert Wilson.
Poplavskaya didn't so much attack Violetta's arias as slide into them effortlessly, sounding like a lark in summer. Also with crisp tones and a committed performance, tenor Polenzani brought to Alfredo an authentic impetuosity, and baritone Andrzej Dobber was grand as Alfredo's troublemaking father.
Gianandrea Noseda conducted.
SPIDER-MAN: TURN OFF THE DARK | Directed by JULIE TAYMOR | Book by TAYMOR and GLEN BERGER | Music and lyrics by BONO and THE EDGE | FOXWOODS THEATER, 214 W. 42nd St., New York | Indefinitely
LA TRAVIATA | By GIUSEPPE VERDI | Directed by WILLY DECKER | METROPOLITAN OPERA, Lincoln Center, New York | Closed
Want to know more about 'Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark'? Check out this exclusive, behind-the-scenes Mr. Media® Radio-TV interview with actress America Olivo (Bitch Slap, Circle, Friday the 13th), who has been with the musical for seven months as the understudy for Arachne, Aunt May and more: http://www.mrmedia.com/2011/02...
Good for you guys for reviewing Spiderman, Turn Off the Dark!
To all the publications who haven't I simply ask: who do you work for - your readers, or the producers?
The cushion of a preview period is intended to let a production transition into a new space and/or integrate a few new actors and hear the show play with the local audience. There is no precedent, ethical or otherwise, for a show to go through a full development process in the public eye. When they decided to sell tickets to this "process", there were no rules in place for the media. It's new territory. The production's use of the word "previews" is inaccurate and abusive. Spiderman, the Work In Process has premiered. Review away.
You got the name of the lead actor in "Spiderman" wrong: His name is Reeve CARNEY, not Reeve "Parker." He is from right here in LA, Studio City. His band, Carney, plays in the orchestra for the show and includes Reeve's brother, Zane.
Please correct your article to show Reeve's correct name: Reeve CARNEY, not Reeve Parker.
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