Increasing the likelihood of another delay for “Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark,” the producers of the upcoming $60 million Broadway musical were unable to present all of the two dozen flying and aerial maneuvers on Wednesday for safety inspectors from the New York State Department of Labor, requiring them to return before performances can begin.
A department spokesman, Leo Rosales, said on Wednesday that the producers and director Julie Taymor were prepared to show only several of the maneuvers; the state agency must approve all two dozen in the next 10 days if performances are to begin as scheduled on Sunday, Nov. 14.
“Spider-Man” is expected to involve more flying and special effects than any Broadway show in history, with actors and dancers swinging over the heads of audience members, without nets, inside the Foxwoods Theater. At least one of the flying maneuvers, in which actors are launched from the back of the stage like a slingshot, has raised safety questions after injuries to two performers this fall, including an actor who broke both of his wrists when he landed with serious force on the lip of the stage.
“The producers were not prepared to demonstrate all of the maneuvers today, as they were supposed to, because they weren’t ready for the all of the flying and aerial work to be shown,” Mr. Rosales said. “We made it clear that we need to see every maneuver before they are legally allowed to hold their first performance. This is a unique production, with an unprecedented amount of activity going on directly above audiences, so we want to see each one of those activities demonstrated.”
Ms. Taymor and the producers had been working toward the inspection for weeks, and even had the show’s composers, U2’s Bono and the Edge, on hand as the state employees visited the theater on Wednesday afternoon.
While preview performances for “Spider-Man” are still set to begin on Nov. 14, people inside and outside the production have said this week that the start date may end up being delayed because of the extensive technical work still underway. Any delay is up to Michael Cohl, the lead producer of the musical; he referred questions about the inspection and a possible delay to a spokesman for the production.
The spokesman, Rick Miramontez, said in an e-mail: “The plan has always been to present aerial sequences to the inspectors in stages, as they are developed. This has and will necessitate several visits to the theater.” He did not reply to a question about whether the aerial sequences can be finished and reviewed by the inspectors before next Sunday.
“Spider-Man” was originally supposed to begin performances back in February, but the production shut down for months in 2008 after the original set of producers could not raise the money to capitalize the show, which at the time was estimated to cost around $40 million. Mr. Cohl, a prominent rock-concert promoter for U2, the Rolling Stones, and other bands, came on board as lead producer a year ago and has since raised the money for the show; Mr. Cohl said in September that the musical now cost $60 million, believed to be more than twice as much as the price tag of the previous Broadway show with the biggest budget, “Shrek the Musical.”
Mr. Rosales of the Department of Labor said he could not comment on the inspectors’ findings from their visit today because they were still going over the designs before making safety determinations on each of the maneuvers. He also said he did not know when the producers would be ready to have the inspectors return.
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