SPIDER-MAN TURNS OFF THE PREVIEWS

After a record 177 preview performances during which anything that could go wrong did, the production of Broadway’s Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark finally became “frozen,” Wednesday night, with no further casting, rewrites, songs, or choreography planned, the New York Times reported today (Thursday). Critics have been invited to attend shows tonight, Friday and Saturday, with their reviews embargoed until after Tuesday’s official opening. “I assure you that there are a lot of very excited and relieved people at the Foxwoods Theater today,” director Philip William McKinley told the newspaper. “But no one will be celebrating until Tuesday night.” Most critics already reviewed the $70-million show way back in February when they decided that enough was enough — that people who were being asked to fork over hundreds of dollars per ticket ought to at least be given a professional appraisal of what they were in for.