Spider-Man falls

NEW YORK (AP):

The troubled Broadway musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark was plagued by its fourth accident since it began previews last month when an actor performing an aerial stunt fell about 30 feet, fire officials said.

Firefighters were called to the Foxwoods Theater at about 10:45 p.m. Monday after the 31-year-old actor fell near the end of the latest preview performance. He was taken to Bellevue Hospital with minor injuries, police said.

Police did not release the actor's name but a performer in the show identified him as Christopher Tierney. The performer spoke on condition of anonymity because the performer was not authorised to speak publicly about the accident.

A nurse at Bellevue Hospital said that a Christopher Tierney was admitted and was in stable condition but would not provide details.

Tierney is the show's main aerialist and performs stunts for the roles of Spider-Man and the villains, Meeks and Kraven.

The cable to Tierney's harness snapped during a scene in which Spider-Man rescues his love interest, Mary Jane, the performer said. It was unclear if Tierney was properly harnessed when the cable snapped. The performer said the show's actors are responsible for hooking themselves up to harnesses used for aerial stunts.

Actress Natalie Mendoza, who plays Spider-Man's evil love interest, Arachne, herself was injured during the show's first preview last month, posted a Twitter message asking people to pray for the actor.

"Please pray with me for my friend Chris, my superhero who quietly inspires me everyday with his spirit. A light in my heart went dim tonight."

The fall

Miramontez said the fall happened about seven minutes before the end of the performance and the show was stopped.

"All signs were good as he was taken to the hospital for observation," Miramontez said.

Maria Somma, a spokeswoman for Actors' Equity, said the union was told about the accident shortly after it happened Monday night and was working with state and city officials.

On Friday, the show's lead producer Michael Cohl delayed the show's official opening for the second time, pushing it back 27 days, from January 11 to February 7.

The US$65-million musical was conceived by Tony Award-winning director and co-writer Julie Taymor and U2's Bono and The Edge, who wrote the music. More than eight years in the making, delays and money woes have plagued the show's launch. Three other accidents have injured actors, including one who had both his wrists broken while practising an aerial stunt.

The show's massive costs - a 41-member cast, 18 orchestra members, complicated sets and 27 daring aerial stunts, including a battle between two characters over the audience - mean the 1,928-seat theatre will have to virtually sell out every show for several years just to break even.

The weekly running bill has been put as high as $1 million. (Tickets are priced from $67.50-$135 for weekday performances and $67.50-$140 for weekend performances.)

The first preview on November 28 did not go well. The musical had to be halted five times because of technical glitches and Mendoza was hit in the head by a rope and suffered a concussion. Her injury would eventually keep her sidelined for two weeks.

The show - whose costs easily dwarf Broadway's last costliest show, the $25-million Shrek The Musical - may be about a comic-book hero, but it has now itself become easy fodder for comics.

Online, where parodies by Saturday Night Live and Conan poking fun of the musical's early technical problems had recently been eagerly passed around, the tone shifted Tuesday from jokey schadenfreude to mild outrage.

Sarcasm

"Becoming a bit of a joke - a bad one - but a joke," wrote Dan Truong, a Toronto photographer, on Twitter.

An actor from TV's Modern Family, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, used sarcasm to hint at the grisly nature of the accident-prone production.

"I'm torn between wanting to see Spiderman on Broadway and not wanting to see someone literally die doing musical theatre," he said.

TV personality Dave Holmes said if Spider-Man makes it out of previews, "it will be the leading cause of death in the state of New York."

The reactions to the cast's apparent physical peril suggested the musical may have more than opening kinks to work out if it is to continue. "I'm going to see Spider-Man and I'm scared," said Kathleen Nolan of New York.

Still, a trickle of ticket-buyers appeared at the Foxwoods box office Tuesday morning. The accident did not stop Yumeho Asai, 20, of Gifu, Japan, from buying a ticket. She is studying musical theatre herself. "I'm just so interested in the technical aspects," she said.

Justin Waldman, 17, of Toronto, hadn't heard about the show's accidents, but said it wouldn't affect buying a ticket.

"I like Spider-Man and I like U2, so I think the combination of the two would be a good mix," he said.