Spider-Man musical claims yet another victim
Look, Julie Taymor, we know you've done some awesome stuff in the past. But really, that doesn't give you the green light to go a-maiming actors left and right.
We've been keeping tabs
on the body-count of this giant-ass-production-that-could since reports
of injuries started popping up early in November. Well, it looks like
that number continues to rise. During a Nov. 28th preview performance,
actress Natalie Mendoza, who plays the evil spider goddess Arachne
(really?), suffered a concussion when hit by a falling rope.
Then, just two nights ago, Twitter lit up with reports from Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark audience members that some sort of catastrophic fall had occurred during a preview performance. Broadwayworld.com reports
this morning that the performer who suffered the fall was aerialist
Christopher Tierney. Word is, the dude broke several ribs after a nearly
30 foot free-fall into the theater's pit. He's still hospitalized in
serious, but stable, condition.
A statement
on the Actors' Equity Association website says the labor union is
working with the management of the production and the Department of
Labor to ensure that no further performances will occur until further
safety measures are put in place.
At first, it was funny - the Lion King lady
and Bono are making a Spider-Man musical, ha-ha-ho-ho-he-he. Then, with
the first couple injuries, it got worrisome. But now, with two more
high-risk logistical uh-ohs added to the list, to continue would be
entirely inadvisable.
And apparently, according to
Gawker's Richard Lawson, the show is just God-awful boring. So let's
cut our losses, Taymor, Bono, and co. It was a valiant try. But to keep
hurting people in the name of sub-par art is totally not cool.