Beauty and the Supercomputer: Julie Taymor Gambles on Spiderman

Abstract

Copeland describes attending a late-night tech rehearsal of Broadway's musical/spectacle/extravaganza, "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark," at Foxwoods Theater. The auditorium is dotted with row upon row of large computer screens, all glowing with vector graphics and pixilated grid patterns. He notes that it quickly becomes apparent that all these computer screens are part of a densely woven web by visionary designer/director Julie Taymor. The entiriety of what Taymor hopes the audience will eventually see has all been "pre-visualized" by Taymor. Copeland discusses how Taymor's big gamble in this production brings her full-circle to her avant-garde roots. Taymor's involvement and vision in such previous productions as "The Lion King" and "Juan Darien: A Carnival Mass" are analyzed.

Publisher

Theatre Communications Group

Publication Date

12-1-2010

Publication Title

American Theatre

Department

Theater and Dance

Document Type

Article

Keywords

American theater, Musical theater, Theater technology, Stage production, Previsualization

Language

English

Format

text

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