The seemingly cursed Broadway production "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" has encountered another snag in its web.
The production's lead producers, Michael Cohl and Jeremiah J. Harris, announced on Wednesday that there's been a shakeup in the production's creative team.
And while "Across the Universe" director Julie Taymor will still be part of the production, she will no longer be directing, due to the schedule push-back that the changes will require.
Opening night has been moved from March 15 to "an evening in early summer, 2011."
Also, according to the producers' statement: "The additional time commitment required by this new plan will make it impossible for director and co-book writer Julie Taymor to continue on in her day-to-day duties with the production."
Philip William McKinley has been enlisted to help implement new staging for the show, while playwright Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa — who has written for the "Spider-Man" comic books — will handle book rewrites for the show.
It's unclear what Taymor's new role will be, judging from the producers' joint statement. According to Cohl and Harris, "Julie Taymor is not leaving the creative team.
Her vision has been at the heart of this production since its inception and will continue to be so. Julie's previous commitments mean that past March 15th, she cannot work the 24/7 necessary to make the changes in the production in order to be ready for our opening."
Practically since its inception, "Spider-Man: Turn Off the the Dark" has experienced numerous problems, including a December 2010 accident that left actor Christopher Tierney with multiple injuries.
The show's opening night has been delayed several times; most recently, back in January, the production was moved from a February 7 opening date to March 15. At the time, producer Cohl said, "I picked a date in March that allows me to ensure that this will be the final postponement.”
