A lead actress in the new Broadway musical “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” suffered a concussion at the first preview performance on Sunday night when, standing offstage, she was struck in the head by a rope holding a piece of equipment, a spokesman for the actress said on Friday. The actress, Natalie Mendoza, who plays the villainess Arachne, did not perform on Thursday night and is not expected to return before Tuesday.
Ms. Mendoza did perform at the second performance, on Wednesday night, against her doctor’s advice, said the spokesman, Shea Martin. A spokesman for the production, Rick Miramontez, said, “It was her choice, and she insisted on doing it.”
The show’s director, Julie Taymor, and the lead producer, Michael Cohl, were informed before Wednesday’s performance that Ms. Mendoza had a concussion, Mr. Miramontez said. The role of Arachne involves several flying sequences, including one in the first act where Ms. Mendoza is spun upside-down. Mr. Cohl would not comment and Ms. Taymor did not respond to interview requests by mid-Friday afternoon.
On Friday, representatives for the Actors’ Equity union and the New York State Department of Labor, which monitors safety in public performances, said they were looking into the accident.
Ms. Mendoza is the third actor in “Spider-Man” to be hurt working on the production; during rehearsals this fall, one dancer broke his wrists after landing incorrectly during a flying stunt, while another actor injured his feet doing the same stunt.
The actress did not report her injury on Sunday night; otherwise, Mr. Miramontez said, it would have been included in the stage manager’s post-performance report. The seriousness of the accident was also not clear; Mr. Martin said that she may have been hit by the equipment on the rope, as opposed to the rope itself, or that the rope may have been made by re-enforced materials. Ms. Mendoza, 30, is 5’6’’ tall with a slim, athletic build.
At some point afterward Ms. Mendoza saw a doctor — the cast had the day off on Monday — and, late Tuesday morning, she sent out a message via Twitter that simply said, “Concussion.” She informed the production on Tuesday that she had a concussion; the spokesman, Mr. Miramontez, said it was noted in the stage manager’s report for the Tuesday rehearsal.
On Wednesday, Ms. Mendoza told Ms. Taymor and the producers “that she strongly wished to perform” in the preview that night even though her doctor had advised against it, Mr. Miramontez said. The particulars of the discussion about allowing Ms. Mendoza to perform on Wednesday night remain unclear.
Ms. Taymor was in rehearsal on Friday and interview requests for her were pending with Mr. Miramontez and her personal publicist, Chris Kanarick.
On Thursday Ms. Mendoza fell ill, and the production announced that night that her understudy, America Olivo, was performing as Arachne through the weekend because Ms. Mendoza had a concussion.
Ms. Olivo is now scheduled to play Arachne until at least Tuesday night; she did not reply to an e-mail request for comment on Friday.
“Spider-Man” is the most technically complex show ever on Broadway, with 27 aerial sequences of characters flying and scores of pieces of moving scenery, some of which are among the biggest on a New York stage right now. Yet the show remains under-rehearsed: Ms. Taymor acknowledged in an interview in November that “the musical probably won’t be ready to do without stopping and fixing things in the first few performances.”
Performances had already been delayed by two weeks in November, at a cost of a few million dollars in ticket revenue and rehearsal expenses. “Spider-Man” has cost $65 million, more than twice as much as any Broadway show in history; it is scheduled to open on Jan. 11, 2011.
The actress declined an interview request made through Mr. Martin. He also declined a request to interview Ms. Mendoza’s doctor.
A spokesman for the state Labor Department, Joseph Morrissey, issued a statement in response to questions: “The Department of Labor’s agreement with the production says that if an accident or equipment malfunction happens as it relates to an aerial performance, we need to be notified. The production has explained to us the details of the accident. They also indicated that they have made changes to prevent this type of accident from happening again. We plan to follow up regularly to ensure that these modifications are adequate.”
Asked what changes had been made as a result of the accident to protect the actors and stagehands, Mr. Miramontez said that Mr. Cohl did not have specific details but “takes the issue of safety extremely seriously and everything is done to make sure that everyone involved in the show is safe and is knowledgeable about safety.”
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