Actor Chris Tierney, dressed in the iconic Spider-Man superhero costume, teetered on the edge of the set piece representing the Brooklyn Bridge. After a dramatic moment, Tierney leapt out toward the audience, just as Director Julie Taymor had choreographed. The rope attached to his back was meant to hold the actor in a launch-like position, like a cinematic freeze-frame effect. But, last night things did not go as rehearsed. The cable attached to the actor’s back detached and the 31-year-old “aerialist” plunged at rapid speed through the stage floor. Moments later, Jennifer Damiano, the actress playing Spidey’s love interest, Mary Jane, screamed in horror… real-life horror. Her fellow cast-member had just seriously injured himself in an accident that could have, and should have been prevented.
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Actors’ Equity Association, the theatrical actors union, has finally stepped in and pulled its members from the production until significant changes are made to the show’s special effects. The show’s press representative has announced that they plan to re-open Wednesday night, but insiders say it will be difficult to make that deadline.
Broadway professionals who are accustomed to dealing with Actors’ Equity Association on a regular basis have been wondering when the union would finally step in and perform the fundamental role they have always claimed to play: protector of the safety of their members. In an era where producers are forced to hire full-time massage therapists for chorus dancers and must pay hazard premiums to actors who perform on a raked (slanted) stage, it is an outrage that Mr. Tierney was the fourth actor to sustain an injury in this ill-conceived stage extravaganza.
Of course, ultimately the responsibility for this debacle is a combination of a stubborn, visionary director and a weak, inexperienced producer willing to accommodate her every desire. But, in the traditional roles of the collaborating entities that make up a Broadway Musical team, the director and producer have never pretended to have the actors’ safety and well-being as their primary focus. That sanctimonious position has been held by the actors’ union which often holds productions hostage for hazard pay, extra staffing and special make-up to protect the pores of the actors in their charge.
I’m a supporter of the free market and the rights of employers to basically call the shots for their employees’ work conditions. I also support the other side of the free market which dictates that if an employer can’t provide a safe work environment, they have to deal with the fact that it will be very hard to find someone to work for them, and they are sure to be met with a hefty lawsuit if their employee gets injured due to their negligence. But, years ago the actors’ union threw a wrench in to the free market ebb and flow between employer and employee and took on the role of grand protector of the actors’ safety and rights. So one has to ask, where were they? How did this show continue to go on?
I’m sure the union had a strong presence at the theatre during rehearsals and the lengthy preview process, and I hear through insiders associated with the production that there were moments of near-mutiny with cast members refusing to accommodate Taymor’s vision of a special effects, rock-and-roll extravaganza for fear of their lives.
As I said before, ultimately this is the fault of the director and the accommodating producers. With Ms. Taymor, I am really disappointed. She made history with her imaginative staging of Disney’s “Lion King” with her ground-breaking costumes that represented African animals in a very theatrical and surrealistic way. She seemed to understand that when adapting a film to the stage, it is a horrible trap to try to re-create the film frame-by-frame. It can’t be done. It is a different medium. Instead, Taymor re-invented and re-imagined “Lion King” for the theatrical stage.
So, what went wrong here? Why did Ms. Taymor try to re-create flying and climbing stunts on stage with real actors that were actually performed by CGI creatures on film? My hunch is the producer gave her a blank check and told her to go for it.
Michael Cohl is a first-time solo producer. He has three theatre credits to his name, as a partner with a producing entity called TGA Entertainment. Mr. Cohl’s background is a concert promoter and he was brought in as producer by the show’s composer, Bono of U2. Mr. Cohl had promoted many of U2’s concerts. As Mr. Cohl is now learning, Broadway ain’t concert promotion.
As long as rookie producers are willing to sycophantically accommodate diva writers and directors’ unrealistic and ill-conceived visions, disasters like this (and Shrek, the musical) will continue.