New team’s Rx for ‘Spider-Man’: Turn up the romance

Video: ‘Spider-Man’s’ new creative dream team speaks out

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   >>> with the web of problems for the

   broadway musical "spider-man: turn off the dark." you're laughing now. faced with bad reviews, on-stage accidents and an enormous budget it's on hiatus. the script is being reworked. we'll talk to the creative team in a moment. first, anne thompson .

   >> here we go. spider-man 2.0 sprks this .

   >> reporter: this is the task of the biggest do-over in broadway history. after months of previews and $70

   million, "spider-man: turn off the dark" is retooling.

   >> walk through, do your patterns so we know everyone is safe.

   >> reporter: from the beginning this high-flying musical pushed the edge of creativity and safety. five crew members injured including christopher tierney. then the critics weighed in. atrocious. horrendous. a national joke. undaunted, spider-man is trying again inspired by tierney's return.

   >> i love being on stage. i love my cast.

   >> reporter: out is the director julie tamor and in is a director of the circus.

   >> you make the impossible possible. that's this company.

   >> reporter: even rehearsal is a spectacle. whe this looks like a nasa control room. it takes all this technology and 136 people to make the show fly. making it last is more basic. it needs a great story and great music. a task even a superhero can't guarantee. for today, anne thompson , nbc news, new york.

   >> three members of the new

   "spider-man: turn off the dark" creative team are with us. director philip mckinley, writer and glen burger. good morning.

   >> good morning.

   >> your shrinks are all asking you this question and your family. why would you sign up knowing the troubled history of the show?

   >> why not? it's stirring to be part of something with great integrity, great dedication. that was my decision. i joined a company that i knew had the fortitude to do it.

   >> no fears that you wouldn't be able to turn it around and that the press would continue to haunt the show?

   >> if you are allowed a mulligan in golf you should be allowed a re-do of a broadway musical .

   >> i think everyone knew spider-man is one of the most beloved characters of all time in popular culture. people didn't want to let it go at just being okay. people wanted to make it as great as it could be.

   >> when you three first sat down and watched the show with your own eyes what was your first reaction?

   >> first time i saw it i was thrilled. i had a great time. i went to see it as a spectator, not a person from the business. it is visually incredible. julie's work is stellar.

   >> you didn't see any of the comments, the criticism from reviewers? those weren't evident to you on stage?

   >> wait, wait. we would be lying if we didn't see some of that.

   >> the problems.

   >> but, look, we're fortunate. we have been able to take the critics and what they have said. that's free advice. that's great. we take that advice, turn it into taking in what they have said and now we'll work on it.

   >> audience members said in the past the tone was off. it was too dark. it didn't do justice to the legacy of spider-man. how do you change that?

   >> one of the things we all felt, i think, and the company and the producers felt was there wasn't enough emphasis on the love story between peter parker and mary jane , two high school kids who fall for each other and fall in love. we really made an effort to bring that story to the forefront and warm them up, give them a little bit of spunk and humor that wasn't there. really, just honor the characters in the marvel comics . uncle ben is there, aunt may . the characters we know and lo.

   >> what's the mood of the cast now? they have been beaten down for a long time. whose the morale level?

   >> great.

   >> high. they can't wait. they see a new dawn in the future.

   >> one of the thingses that's interesting and we need to note is that at the box office , this show has done very well. is there a little piece of you that worries people were buying tickets for the morbid curiosity factor and that if you fix the show all of the sudden that factor will be gone?

   >> we'll push phil down the aisle every night if that's what people want.

   >> i don't think it will be gone because of the spectacular flying that's in it. there will be that element.

   >> not like a hockey game where they are going for the fight?

   >> i think that element may exist. we have guys that drop 30 feet off the top balcony of the theater and fly. we're not taking that away.

   >> and the all new spider-man makes its debut in three weeks?

   >> we open to previews june 12 with a new song. "freak like me." have us back to do it on the plaza. turn us into freaks.

   >> the job has been done for you. good luck, guys. appreciate you coming in.

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