In 30+ years of regularly attending Broadway productions, “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” is the worst show I ever saw. Nothing I’ve seen before or after has been as soulless, joyless or off-putting.
I am happy to report I have more positive things to say about the Orlando Artist Guild production of “The Spider Queen,” Central Floridian Bryan Jager’s retelling of the artistic, physical and commercial disaster. The Broadway musical, which closed in 2014, injured multiple actors, was panned by critics and lost its investors tens of millions of dollars.
“The Spider Queen” is onstage at Fringe ArtSpace, and that’s a perfect spot for the show, which debuted at the 2022 Orlando Fringe Festival. Like “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark,” “The Spider Queen” has had some retooling, and it still has an up-and-coming feel to it. It’s plenty entertaining now, but there’s the tantalizing promise of an even better show to come.
Jager gives his comedic take on the real-life events through the eyes of Glen Berger, who co-wrote the script for Broadway’s “Spider-Man” with Julie Taymor, the visionary director of Disney’s “The Lion King.” By the end of the “Spider-Man” debacle, she would be fired and sue her former bosses. Berger later wrote a book about his experience making the show.
Much like in his source material, Jager is mixing artistry — comparing Taymor to Arachne, the woman at the center of a Greek myth about the danger of hubris who became the world’s first spider — with commercial appeal.
That appeal is there in the clever one-liners, the comic asides and a parade of inside-theater references that both amuse and sting (Poor Lin-Manuel Miranda, poor Reeve Carney, lucky us).
The show is accessible to anyone who has worked on a huge project under difficult circumstances with challenging colleagues and bosses, but it most enjoyable by those who know enough about the theater biz to laugh at a young ingenue’s excitement of hitting the big time after a “Non-Eq tour of ‘Millie.'” “I’m Sutton Foster!” she squeals with delight.
Jager, who also directed this production, fills the show’s second act with delightfully whimsical moments — a silly production number here, a batty visual tableaux there. A parade of taunts from famous Broadway composers endured by U2’s Bono, who composed the rock score of “Spider-Man,” is a highlight. Strangely, these moments only appear in the second half; the first half could use a few of its own to up the energy level.
Speaking of energy, in the original Fringe production, there was a race-against-time, inexorable countdown-to-disaster feeling that unfortunately isn’t as strong in this revamp, perhaps for the simple reason that the original production was racing against the Fringe’s time limit.
And the energy is also somewhat dampened by the relatively low-key performance of Zach Mitchell as Glen. He has the appealing fish-out-of-water quality as the craziness grows around him, but also has a certain passivity that doesn’t display his inner emotions or signal growing alarm.
With commanding presence, Kari Ringer is the formidable Taylor. She has an understandable chip on her shoulder for the misogyny she has faced, and an absolute conviction that her vision is the only way forward — a detriment in a collaborative art form. I wish there was a deeper development of how Glen falls under her spell; it would make later developments even more compelling.
Fine support is on view from Stephen Pugh as in-his-own-world Bono, Tyler Scott as a ruthless New York gossip columnist (is there any other kind?), Kelly Wolfe as a steadfast stage manager (again, is there any other kind?) and Al Milburn as multiple producers. In fact, every actor who played multiple roles does excellent work in differentiating them, especially Christie Young, who at my performance was playing not only the excited understudy but Glen’s long-suffering wife.
One more note about ArtSpace: The run of “The Spider Queen” shows how the versatile space can be cleverly made over, with a fun wall display of Broadway flops caught in a web, a photo spot, spider decor, even the hall into the main theater is decorated with script pages. And don’t miss the Broadway flea market of posters, playbills and other paraphernalia before showtime.
‘The Spider Queen’
- Length: 2 hours, including intermission
- Where: Fringe ArtSpace, 54 W. Church St. in Orlando
- When: Through Oct. 29; the Oct. 27 performance will be audio described, and service animals are welcome
- Cost: $15 and up
- Info: orlandofringe.com/artspace
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