Spider-Man: The Safety Hazard

I'm sure by now everyone knows about the stunt-gone-wrong in Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark that happened earlier this week. After all, the story of stunt man Christopher Tierney, who took a gigantic plunge leaving him with serious injuries after his flying equipment failed, was everywhere from theatre websites to Good Morning America, and even to video game website I was on. You certainly didn't have to be a theatre fanatic to learn of this unfortunate incident.

So what does this mean for the fate of this troubled musical? Personally, besides added safety precautions, I don't think much. If anything, I think this sudden spike of media coverage will make people want to see this show. It gives the show a bit more controversy to it and an added sense of danger.

But what do I think should happen? I really don't think this show should go on, and not because I think that it's not a good musical. I don't have any real opinion on the show itself, since I haven't seen it or even heard any of its music, but if a show is a danger to the actors in it, then it shouldn't be allowed to continue. I understand that accidents happen, but there have been other incidents too, namely Natalie Mendoza's concussion. And not to undermine a concussion, but Tierney's situation was much more serious. He could have broken his neck, done damage to his spine, or even have died. He was lucky to fall in a way that prevented anything too serious from happening.

Maybe millions of dollars have been put into this show, and I'm sure that the director, Julie Taymour, would hate to see such a huge, controversial musical like this flop, but the safety of actors needs to be the top priority in any show. Unless serious changes are made to ensure safety, I'm not sure if I can agree with this show continuing. We don't need the next line about this musical to read "Spider-Man Actor Dead."

Very off-topic PS: MERRY CHRISTMAS!