Theater

Spider-Man Musical: 'Sheer Ineptitude'

New York papers skewer the show.

Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark may still be in preview performances, but the New York papers appear to have agreed to review it early, with The New York Times, the Post and the Daily News all panning the play on Tuesday. “Only when things go wrong in this production does it feel remotely right—if, by right, one means entertaining,” says New York Times theater critic Benjamin Brantley. When his showing was halted due to “mechanical difficulties,” he says, “for the first time that night something like genuine pleasure spread through the house.” Otherwise, he blasts the show’s “sheer ineptitude,” and wonders, “How can $65 million look so cheap?” The show, he says, is “so grievously broken in every respect that it is beyond repair.” The Daily News calls it a “five out of 10,” while the Post complains, “The wires are all too visible.”