I had to laugh after reading this bit of news on the Entertainment Weekly site about how the ill-fated Broadway production of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark has – GASP! – taken to using focus groups to gain audience feedback.
I realize Julie Taymor & Co. have seemingly made a mess of things (hope they have enough get-well-soon cards for the cast members!) and the recent slew of savage reviews from heavyweight critics makes it clear that the show needs fixing. But to make it seem like resorting to marketing research is a death blow or an admission of failure feels misguided to me.
There is, as the old saying goes, no accounting for taste, and the thought of someone like Taymor – who puts the a in auteur – stooping to allow the opinions of the great unwashed to alter her vision seems laughable. (Now that I think about it, perhaps it is a sign of desperation!) Still, with the preview period ending soon and a reported budget of $65 million, the play can’t afford to ignore the input of theatergoers.
Research won’t likely save the day, but it may allow Spidey to dust himself off and get down to the business of defeating Arachne instead of fending off creditors.