"Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" still getting actors hurt, canceling performances

It seems the trouble will never end for Julie Taymor and U2's Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, as unwieldy staging continues to bog the performances down with slip-ups and, even worse, injuries. And it seems like more and more people are starting to question if the show is truly worth it. After Christopher Tierney, the show's lead aerialist, fell thirty feet into the pit, sustaining broken ribs and internal bleeding, several Broadway notables started to speak out against the danger posed to the actors. Adam Pascal of Rent and Aida fame suggested Taymor be put in jail for assault (apparently only jokingly) and then called the show a "steaming pile of actor crippling shit!" (So, uh... I guess he didn't like it, then.)

On top of that, the show had to cancel its two Wednesday performances in order to test out new safety techniques to ensure that its actors would no longer free-fall several stories onto the stage. This basically involves two extra levels of harness checks backstage; producers said they hoped to have the new plan in place in time for today's performances, but that safety was their first concern and they wouldn't resume until they had the new system figured out.