Bono isn’t used to failure, said Patrick Healy in The New York Times. But even he admits to being deeply disappointed in Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, the $75 million musical that finally opened last week. He and U2 bandmate the Edge first began collaborating with renowned director Julie Taymor on the music for the show back in 2002—a decision he regrets. “The hours and weeks and months...If we thought it would take this long, there is not a chance on earth we’d have done it.”
Despite Taymor’s struggles with her ambitious vision, Bono says he retained faith in her talent. “We read her script, we were part of developing that script, we thought it was great.” But when the show opened in previews, critics savaged its plot as incoherent and boring. In hindsight, Bono admits he found the plot “obtuse,’’ and wishes he’d spoken up about his doubts. “Julie was clearly exhausted, overwrought, and we all thought that if we don’t tread carefully, she’s going to walk. I certainly didn’t feel I could be 100 percent frank with Julie.’’
Now that Taymor has been fired and the show rewritten, Bono thinks it’s better, but says it’s still a work in progress. “The first time I loved Spider-Man,’’ he says, “was two and a half weeks ago.”
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