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Spider-Man... the Musical?

TheBrew

TheBrew

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I ended up randomly catching this video on IGN:

http://stars.ign.com/dor/objects/913479/evan-rachel-wood/videos/wood_spidey_musical_121208.html

So it looks like Julie Taymor (Across the Universe, Frida, The Lion King Musical) is doing a broadway version of Spider-Man with Evan Rachel Wood as MJ... according to the video Parker has not been cast yet, though it sounds like Wood wants to join up with Jim Sturgess again.

Taymor does some really cool things, so no matter how bad this could be, it will at least be interesting.
 
The first problem I see is that it's hard to set the line "With great power comes great responsibility" to a musical meter -- at least, not in a short, catchy way.

Unlike "A Superstitious, Cowardly Lot," which, as Paul Dini proved in Batman Beyond, is eminently hummable. :D
 
With great power comes great responsibility
He swings through the air with amazing agility
Overcoming supervillains and their hostility
With his incredible webslinging facility

(c) Me. 17/12/2008.
 
He needs a special guest sidekick who already has his own song...

Someone like Spider-Pig, Spider-Pig, does whatever a Spider-Pig does,
Can he swing from a web? No he can't, he's a pig. Look out! Here comes the Spider-Pig!
 
Captaindemotion said:
With great power comes great responsibility
He swings through the air with amazing agility
Overcoming supervillains and their hostility
With his incredible webslinging facility
Click to expand...

I'm not convinced until you set it to music. I wasn't talking about rhyme, I was talking about meter and rhythm.

Besides, even though the lines rhyme, they don't tell a story. The song containing that line would have to be about that line. Probably it would originate with Ben singing it as a lesson to Peter, and then later Spidey would reprise it (with modified lyrics) as he takes the lesson to heart and sings of his own understanding of it.

Of course, there's always the Sondheim route:

Attend the tale of Spider-Man.
He does whatever a spider can.
He swings a web of any size
And catches nefarious crooks just like flies,
Does Spidey,
Does Spider-Man:
Your friendly neighborhood Web...
Head.
 
While I can see the story lending itself well to a musical format, I don't know how the character would translate, especially if they are planning to showcase his powers anytime during the show (particularly the wall crawling, web swinging, and web shooting).

Scrooge4747 said:
chardman said:
Scrooge4747 said:
What could possibly go wrong?
Click to expand...

You are, I hope, aware that there was a Broadway Musical of Superman back in 1966. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It's_a_Bird...It's_a_Plane...It's_Superman
Click to expand...

I'm aware and it was adapted to a TV special a clip from which is in the link I posted.

It all doesn't make it any less horrifying and wrong.
Click to expand...

Thing is the TV version was a cheap-ass, poorly produced version of the musical. Is the musical a Tony award winning show? No, but it is a lot of fun, especially if you get actors who don't just stand there looking like they are about ready to fall asleep as the TV clip demonstrates.
 
Dropo said:
While I can see the story lending itself well to a musical format, I don't know how the character would translate, especially if they are planning to showcase his powers anytime during the show (particularly the wall crawling, web swinging, and web shooting).
Click to expand...

If they could pull off Peter Pan as a stage musical, with the performers "flying" on wires, then they could do much the same with Spidey.

The main problem as I see it is the full-face mask. Not sure how feasible it is to sing through one of those. And it would be cheating for the songs to be pre-recorded. (EDIT: No, wait, I just read that according to Evan Rachel Wood, who's playing Mary Jane, only Peter, not Spidey, will sing. That doesn't seem right, though. Spidey's supposed to be more vocal and expressive than Peter, not less like in the movies.)
 
^^Maybe, but having the mask on might have an effect on the performer's breathing or freedom of mouth/jaw movement, for all I know.
 
I am sure that there would be logistical problems, but I bet that they could be solved with some creative engineering. I mean, it is Julie Taymor. The very least you can expect from her is that it will be creative.
 
Taymor's movie of TITUS is absolutely amazing...super strong performances in a gritty but flashy pastiche of imagery and bombast. Possibly my all-time favorite filmed Shakespearean piece.
 
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