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The Inside Story of the Most Controversial Musical in Broadway History
Simon & Schuster
November 2013
On Sale: November 5, 2013
384 pages ISBN: 1451684568 EAN: 9781451684568 Kindle: B00BSB2C2O Hardcover / e-Book
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Non-Fiction
As one can imagine, writing a Broadway musical has its
challenges. But it turns out there are challenges one can’t
imagine when collaborating with two rock legends and a
superstar director to stage the biggest, most expensive
production in theater history. Song of
Spider-Man is playwright Glen Berger’s story of a
theatrical dream—or nightmare—come true. Renowned director
Julie Taymor picked Berger to cowrite the book for a $25
million Spider-Man musical. Together—along with U2’s Bono
and Edge— they would shape a work that was technically
daring and emotionally profound, with a story fueled by the
hero’s quest for love—and the villains’ quest for revenge.
Or at least, that’s what they’d hoped for. But when
charismatic producer Tony Adams died suddenly, the show
began to lose its footing. Soon the budget was ballooning,
financing was evaporating, and producers were jumping ship
or getting demoted. And then came the injuries. And
then came word-of- mouth about the show itself. What
followed was a pageant of foul-ups, falling-outs,
ever-more-harrowing mishaps, and a whole lot of
malfunctioning spider legs. This
“circus-rock-and-roll-drama,” with its $65 million price
tag, had become more of a spectacle than its creators ever
wished for. During the show’s unprecedented seven months of
previews, the company’s struggles to reach opening night
inspired breathless tabloid coverage and garnered
international notoriety. Through it all, Berger
observed the chaos with his signature mix of big ambition
and self-deprecating humor. Song of Spider-Man records the
journey of this cast and crew as a hilarious memoir about
friendship, collaboration, the foibles of hubris, and the
power of art to remind us that we’re alive.
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