вЂњIt might end up in my obituary, and IвЂ™m not too happy about that. вЂњIвЂ™m philosophical about all of it,вЂќ says Berger. A sure-fire hit had become a legendary debacle. The show did finally have its opening night in June 2011, but by then its fate had effectively been sealed: and though its run continued for another two-and-a-half years, when it closed in January 2014 it had made a loss of $60 million вЂ“ a Broadway record. In the months that followed the first preview, the official opening was repeatedly postponed while Berger and his colleagues dealt with bruising, embargo-defying reviews, sackings, injuries, and countless technical snags.Д«y May 2011, Turn Off the Dark had become so synonymous with theatrical disaster that a headline in The Onion, the satirical newspaper, appeared to be only slightly exaggerating: вЂњNuclear Bomb Detonates During Rehearsal for вЂSpider-ManвЂ™ MusicalвЂќ. And the financial crisis of 20 had scared off private investors, so that in August 2009, the production found itself $20 million short of cash. Its initial lead producer and guiding light, Tony Adams, had had a fatal stroke in 2005 while in a meeting with The Edge. Before the first preview, Turn Off the Dark was already being gossiped about as a вЂtroubledвЂ™ enterprise. WeвЂ™ll keep improving it and improving it, and itвЂ™s going to be duck soup by the time we open in January.вЂќ But we knew by the end of the night, well, thatвЂ™s the worst itвЂ™s ever going to be. One of the crew members fetched a stick to prod him with, but that didnвЂ™t help. It was the worst possible position because no one could reach him. And for some reason he stopped, so you had Spider-Man dangling seven feet above the first two rows.

вЂњThen there was a flourish,вЂќ says Berger, вЂњwhen Spider-Man flies off through the audience towards the balcony.

But everything was going relatively smoothly until the last seconds before the interval.

Spiderman sketch