Broadway’s “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” is not to be confused with the current Spider-Man movie. In fact, the Broadway Spider-Man is actually a less intimate, more flashy spectacle than the current movie, amping up the action and downplaying the emotional aspects of the Spider-Man mythology. The interesting (and entirely unexpected) thing is…it works. It turns out a Spider-Man that gets down to business is actually a more effective Spider-Man.
Act One: The play starts slowly…very slowly, as we—-sigh—-once again learn the whole Peter Parker into Spider-Man origin story. That’s right, we go through the motions of the same old, same old 1. Introduce nerdy, unpopular Peter Parker, check. 2. Introduce girl-next-door Mary Jane, check. 3. Get Peter bitten by a spider, check. 4. Develop initially good scientist that will eventually turn into super-villain (in this case, Norman Osbourne aka The Green Goblin), check. 5. And get Spider-Man to start developing his powers around the same time (yawn) Uncle Ben dies, check.
One thing that strikes you is how interchangeable all of the characters in the Spider-Man universe are. The villain always seems to be an initially good scientist who goes mad the second he’s given any power (Norman Osbourne turned Green Goblin in this and the very first Spider-Man movie, Doctor Octopus in the second, and now Dr. Connors turned Lizard in the new film) and Spider-Man’s love interest is always an inexplicably attainable babe-next-door (Mary Jane or Gwen Stacy, doesn’t matter). Not to mention the well-meaning guardians who keep dying on Peter (first his parents, then Uncle Ben) that feels directly ripped off from Batman’s origin. So, to be honest, I wasn’t entirely knocked out by the first Act, even if several of the sets really are incredible.
But then…
Act Two: Something incredible happens in Act Two. They quit building on old material, and pretending that we really care about any of the characters and just go for it with non-stop action and set pieces. The Green Goblin comes out, and you can tell the actor playing him is having a blast chewing the scenery. [At one point, a baby started crying, loudly, in the audience, and he said “I wish to hell I had that kid’s microphone” to raucous applause.] The “Sinister Six” (The Lizard, The Hunter, Carnage, and some other lesser-known villains) come out to do battle and Spider-Man begins hopping into balconies, swinging around the theater, and shooting webs at audience members, all to screaming cheers.
It turns out that the cheesier Spider-Man gets, the better he gets, and that’s because he’s never been a very deep character to start with. And the more that the show embraces the whole “Tourist Trap” vibe of the production, the more it delivers what we really want: a tacky, wildly fun good time. By the time the show gets to the climax (where Spider-Man and Green Goblin fly out OVER the audience) the crowd was transported to entertainment heaven. And, I hate to admit it, I was too. Grade: B+…If you want a real, wowser Broadway experience and you’re only in town for a week, this is what you should see.