As you may know, Kill Hannah front man Mat Devine has put the glamdustrial group on hold to take a part in the $65 million Broadway show Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, which is directed by one of the people behind the mega-successful stage adaptation of the Lion King and features music by a couple of upstart rock ‘n’ rollers named Bono and the Edge. Given the show’s vast budget (the largest in Broadway history), its ambitious technical components, the involvement of U2, and the “interesting” concept of a stage musical based on Spider-Man, there’s been a lot of speculation surrounding the production, much of it negative.
Turn Off the Dark opened over the weekend, and critics are basking in schadenfreude now that it’s had a disastrous premiere. Says the New York Post:
Stunned audience members were left scratching their heads over the confusing plot—when they weren’t ducking for cover from falling equipment and dangling actors at the Foxwoods Theatre on West 42nd Street, some said.
At various points, overhead stage wires dropped on the audience, scenery appeared on stage missing pieces—and the show’s star was even left swaying helplessly over them midair during what was supposed to be the climatic end to the first act.