Every Sunday we are taking a look at the world of books. I read a lot and always want to share my opinions on what I read, so I thought it would be fun to write reviews. Today we are looking at the controversial Broadway Show.

Song Of Spider-Man (2013)

Glen Berger

Synopsis

As you might imagine, writing a Broadway musical has its challenges. But it turns out there are challenges one can’t begin to imagine when collaborating with two rock legends and a superstar director to stage the biggest, most expensive production in theatre history. Renowned director Julie Taymor picked playwright Glen Berger to co-write the book for a $25 million Spider-Man musical. Together-along with U2’s Bono and Edge-they would shape a work that was technically daring and emotionally profound, with a story fuelled by the hero’s quest for love…and the villains’ quest for revenge. Or at least, that’s what they’d hoped for.

But when charismatic producer Tony Adams died suddenly, the show began to lose its footing. Soon the budget was ballooning, financing was evaporating, and producers were jumping ship or getting demoted. And then came the injuries. And then came word-of-mouth about the show itself. What followed was a pageant of foul-ups, falling-outs, ever-more harrowing mishaps, and a whole lot of malfunctioning spider legs. This “circus-rock-and-roll-drama,” with its $65 million price tag, had become more of a spectacle than its creators ever wished for. During the show’s unprecedented seven months of previews, the company’s struggles to reach opening night inspired breathless tabloid coverage and garnered international notoriety.

Through it all, Berger observed the chaos with his signature mix of big ambition and self-deprecating humour.

– from Waterstones website

Positive Points

The book delves into all the problems that the Broadway musical faced – it has some interesting topics about when they first met U2, the original development process and the way it was created.

Negative Points

I found this book dragged on and it felt a bit like a book created to produce a blame game and point the fingers at others which I did not like. It felt like it went on too long and it should of been a lot more to the point.

Overall Review

Initially I was excited to read this book as it was an interesting topic but it is a very hard read – it goes round the houses, it feels like everyone but the author is to blame and it just feels too long. A topic I was once interested in has now bored me due to this book and the way it is written.

Rating : ** 2 Stars

Thank you again for all your support in reading and engaging with the website.

If you want to help support the website then you can! You can buy Holly a cup of tea (and a biscuit!)