'Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark' looked doomed from the off; the announcement that a 'Spider-Man' musical would be produced came as long ago as 2002, but several postponements, forced changes in creative personnel and a spiralling budget that ran up to some $75 million were just some of the factors that meant the production of the play was consistently delayed from debuting until the back end of 2010.
The result? A panning from critics, and only a recent upturn in commercial fortunes. Indeed, many didn't expect the play to last beyond its initial run. However it has persevered and might even have harboured hopes of some recognition at the latest Tony Awards - prestigious in the stage production world. However in another snub to the much-vaunted show, 'Spider-Man' has missed the cut, receiving only two nominations in the Technical categories and being left out of the main ones altogether. Chastening.
Instead, it was musicals like 'Once,' 'Newsies,' 'Follies' and 'Nice Work If You Can Get It' who were heading up the awards, whilst play categories were dominated by shows like 'Death Of A Salesman,' 'Venus In Fur' and 'Other Desert Cities,' many of which were produced on a fraction of the budget attributed to 'Spider-Man' - an embarrassment indeed.