Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark

So I saw Spiderman last night. It had been something I wanted to see before the 20 different accidents and the million terrible reviews. The little kid in me (plus the U2 fan) thought that this would at least be a great experience.

I'm not a critic, so I can't tell you if it sucked or not. They way I described it as soon a I left was this: It's like watching a live Power Rangers episode with Team America puppet-pulling (read: stupid) action sequences. The "flying" was cool, but I was crapping myself thinking that somebody might fall.

The whole concept of the play its hard to pull off. Nobody will be happy because Spiderman is one of those iconic heroes in America - everyone has their own image of him. I'm not going to say I wasn't happy, but I wasn't thrilled. They killed some of the key original story lines.

I'm not sure it was ever meant to be a musical. That's part of the problem. There were points where I couldn't really understand what was being sung, it felt like the guitars overpowered the voices. Some of the songs were really good (I've been trying to download them all day today), but some were terrible. I kept trying to picture Bono singing them, and it didn't really work for me. But the "main" song was right up Edge's alley. It felt like all the songs were adaptations of other U2 songs, which is kind of weak, but U2 is amazing, so it balances fairly.

I'm not a huge Spiderman nerd. I couldn't tell you everything about the villains and the differences between Amazing Spiderman and Ultimate Spiderman and SuperDuper Spiderman. I watched whatever version that was on Fox on Saturday Mornings. I vaguely remember something about the spider goddess, but I really didn't like that whole theme. It really bothered me that the "with great power comes great responsibility" line from Uncle Ben that was like the focal point of the entire cartoon/movie/comic was barely mentioned. They could of made a song out of that.

Staging wise (is that the right term? I've become such a loser.) was probably the best thing about the show. They were able to mix in a healthy combination of comic book into the "real" world. You can see why the show is the most expensive in Broadway's history - the set was moving more than Kanye West's during his Glow in the Dark Tour.

One funny thing from last night - at the end it was pretty clear that Peter Parker was supposed to fly one last time, but he didn't get his "flying tools" strapped on in time/correctly, so he just walked off the stage and sort of threw the cords at the stage hands. Glad to see he didn't risk his life, but it's a shame the ending wasn't what it could of been.

The show is still in "previews" or whatever the correct terminology is for it. I don't think it's a total disaster. I just think they need to change things around. The whole Spider Goddess thing was brutal. Scratch her, make one of those "Sinister Six" the core villain for part two. They're strong enough characters there. There's a lot they could do - the Spiderman Universe is so expansive, it makes no sense to keep it to just the Green Goblin.

I just pray this isn't the beginning of a trend, as in a few years we see a X-Men on Broadway. And then the Hulk. Then Iron Man. Etc. Keep them on the silver screen.

American Idiot on Broadway

Last night I saw American Idiot on Broadway. I'm not sure if I'm emphasized how important this album was in my life in 2004-2006. So let me reiterate.

Remember when you were 16 and just started driving by yourself? And you could blast the music as loud as you wanted, listening to whatever you wanted? I had too much fun with it. Literally I burned at least 30 CDs - mainly of music I had never heard of - and would just listen and listen and listen. That's probably why my iTunes is overflowing with music I'll never listen to.

American Idiot was really one of those albums in my car - although it got bumped to the front of the list because the title song was featured on Madden NFL 2005. I'm serious. You don't have to remind me how cool I am.

Anyways, this was the album that I'd listen to the most - mainly on the commute to and from school. It was a different album than what I'd really known - I'd consider myself a music novice back then - in that it was a narrative story through song. It was different than anything else I'd heard, except for Born To Run (obviously). It was a story I felt like I could somewhat relate with - a teenager growing up in uncertainty. I didn't have a broken family, girlfriend, or drug addiction, but I felt I connected with it. Smells like Teenage Spirit. I'm not funny.

I couldn't tell you how many times I listened to that album. It was the go-to album for me and my close friends. Anytime we were driving, relaxing, working out, whatever. That was it. I used to have my trips home measured in time based on the songs (I'd be in the middle of Are We The Waiting from South Jersey, and would hit I-76 in time for Holiday, when I could speed up. Did I mention I'm super cool?) I think at least 4 songs from that album are on my iTunes Top 25 (Blink-182 has a huge presence there too, I blame Colin for that). I've been to four Green Day shows in the past six years, and each one has just been phenomenal. I can't get enough of the American Idiot songs. I'm not into the politics of it, I just enjoy the story it tells.

So okay, did I establish that I love the album?

I've been wanting to see the show on as soon as I had heard about it. I'm also not the one who wants to see any plays (although I'm interested in the Spiderman one too since U2 is doing the music). Originally it was only going to be for a week in LA. Then it got the promotion to the big leagues. So it's been on my radar for a while. The mere fact that a rock ("punk") band would be able to create an album that could be adopted and be successful on Broadway is an unbelievable achievement. Add to it that the album is easily one of my Top 5 ever and it's like a slam dunk.

Are you ready for me to talk about the show yet?

I don't know why I keep typing like this. Does anyone like it or am I losing readership?

I didn't really know what to expect - and I tried to read as little as possible so it would all be new. This week only, Billie Joe Armstrong (lead singer of Green Day, wrote the album, some consider him a God) was filling in for an actor on leave, and that made my expectations even greater.



The show was great. I'm not artsy enough to comment on the acting itself, but I think I set my expectations to be too high. That's not taking away from the show at all. It was re-written a little bit, and while it certainly didn't "upset" me, I was surprised. It makes sense, but I just wasn't ready. They also incorporated songs from the latest Green Day album, 21st Century Breakdown, which is another concept album, but is not as tight as Idiot. I didn't think they would be able to combine the two, but it worked pretty well.

I think it's like reading a book and then seeing the movie based on the book. You have this image in your head of how you think the events would happen - and it makes perfect sense. Then you see someone's vision of the story, and it wasn't what you had in mind. It's not wrong - it's just not how you imagined it. Which is why everyone says the book is better than the movie. It's interpretative. That's how I would describe it.


I guess what I was expecting was it to be more like a concert, and it's not. It's a performance. It's a story. The music is the background to the acting. It still was an amazing interpretation, and I really enjoyed the entire experience. If you hadn't heard the album beforehand, you might not of connected the dots.

Having Billie Joe in the show was surreal. He did a fantastic job as St. Jimmy, the Tyler Durden-like alter ego of the show. I just find it great that a multi-millionaire rock star who's toured around the world over and over would take the time to perform in a Broadway show that he wrote. And not only did he perform - he killed it.

The other thing that me and my buddy were talking about was the "punkness" of Green Day, and the debate of is doing a show on Broadway punk or not. You could argue it either way, saying that it's not, or that it's punk because it's one of the last thing you expect a punk band to do. Honestly though, who cares? Just enjoy it for what it is - entertainment.

I'll close with this link - for the encore, the entire cast came out and performed "Time of Your Life" with an acoustic guitar. With Billie Joe, it's even more powerful. Check it out.

I hope you had the time of your life.