Shane and I went to see Spider-Man today and it is not as bad as recent critics would have you believe. It wasn't the greatest show either, but it was not boring.
If you are a kid expecting non-stop action, you may be dissapointed. It is a musical after all and they stop the action for a U2ish song every once in a while. There were lots of restless kids in the crowd making lots of noise--mostly from eating and drinking during love songs.
What I did like was the staging. I sat in the front row of the lowest balcony, aka The Flying Circle. Several times during the show Spidey would fly across the orchestra seats and land on a platform about 6 feet away. That was pretty impressive. The sets were pretty amazing. One especially amazing one was a horizontal skyscraper showing the street below as if the audience was hanging out the window. It was worth seeing the show just for the visual effects. I assume that is the work of the director, Julie Taymor.
A few of the songs were fairly good. You could easily recognize they were Bono and The Edge songs a mile away. They often started with the familiar U2 intro. Although, one of the best musical moments in the show is the Green Goblin singing "I'll Take Manhattan," not a U2 song. I won't be buying the soundtrack.
The show is too long and the story ends with a whimper when it should have some sort of twist or surprise. The story could be much better. There is not even a point when Mary Jane learns of Spider-Man's identity. The first act is much better than the second.
I wouldn't see it again, but I'm glad I saw it. I'm glad I had the seat I had--it was a great seat. Shane sat in a side box and he also liked his view. I was worried whether he was going to like the show, buy i think he liked it more than i did. If you go, don't get a rear orchestra seat or you'll miss a lot of the action. I would recommend the Flying Circle, side boxes, or front center orchestra--in that order.
