Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Thoughts on Spiderman, safety and a union's obligation
If you're in theatre at all, you might be aware of the impending opening of the most expensive and complicated Broadway musical ever: Spiderman.
It certainly sounds uber-cool. U2's Bono and Edge provide the music and lyrics, and it's directed by Julie Taymor. She of the visionary Broadway version of The Lion King.
Broadway roles are hard to come by. Paying acting gigs are hard to come by. The percentage of Equity actors who actually make a living with their acting is horribly small. The actors who got that call that they had been cast in this show must have been over the moon happy about it.
But is it worth dying for?
And what s the duty of our union, as actors, to step in and shut something down when it is clear things are going horribly awry?
I'd say it's a pretty unmistakable moral duty.
The most recent of several serious accidents happened Monday night. An actor's cable snapped, and he fell 20-30 feet. They're not being incredibly transparent about his injuries, but latest reports cite broken ribs, internal bleeding and have him in serious but stable condition. Apparently undergoing back surgery. Nothing mentioned about head injury.
I'm prone to wonder about that, especially since one of the musicals lead actresses only recently returned form two weeks off due to concussion.She was hit in the head by a heavy rope and knocked out. Another actor broke two wrists during an aerial stunt.
A quite comprehensive look at the injuries and issues is here.
This show has been in development for years, rehearsal for months, and suffering technical setbacks, difficulties and these injuries since the very first preview (which is when the above-mentioned concussion happened). I don't mean to sound frivolous about the $65 million investment that's been made, but oh my God!
There are obvious safety issues. What else needs to happen to prove that? Sure, they can blame human error, and they are, but perhaps then they are asking the humans to do too much.
I think Equity (and OSHA) have an obligation to keep this show dark until every stunt and every set piece and every piece of machinery and equipment and every procedure and every failsafe and every fallback option has been thoroughly vetted...by experts. Not the same people who are already working on it. No, a new and fresh set of eyes and ears and hands.
Because a Broadway role...not worth head injury, not worth a broken back, not worth paralysis, and not worth dying for.
(PS-I think the same thing about sports, including cheerleading, in case you were wondering.)
What do you think?
It certainly sounds uber-cool. U2's Bono and Edge provide the music and lyrics, and it's directed by Julie Taymor. She of the visionary Broadway version of The Lion King.
Broadway roles are hard to come by. Paying acting gigs are hard to come by. The percentage of Equity actors who actually make a living with their acting is horribly small. The actors who got that call that they had been cast in this show must have been over the moon happy about it.
But is it worth dying for?
And what s the duty of our union, as actors, to step in and shut something down when it is clear things are going horribly awry?
I'd say it's a pretty unmistakable moral duty.
The most recent of several serious accidents happened Monday night. An actor's cable snapped, and he fell 20-30 feet. They're not being incredibly transparent about his injuries, but latest reports cite broken ribs, internal bleeding and have him in serious but stable condition. Apparently undergoing back surgery. Nothing mentioned about head injury.
I'm prone to wonder about that, especially since one of the musicals lead actresses only recently returned form two weeks off due to concussion.She was hit in the head by a heavy rope and knocked out. Another actor broke two wrists during an aerial stunt.
A quite comprehensive look at the injuries and issues is here.
This show has been in development for years, rehearsal for months, and suffering technical setbacks, difficulties and these injuries since the very first preview (which is when the above-mentioned concussion happened). I don't mean to sound frivolous about the $65 million investment that's been made, but oh my God!
There are obvious safety issues. What else needs to happen to prove that? Sure, they can blame human error, and they are, but perhaps then they are asking the humans to do too much.
I think Equity (and OSHA) have an obligation to keep this show dark until every stunt and every set piece and every piece of machinery and equipment and every procedure and every failsafe and every fallback option has been thoroughly vetted...by experts. Not the same people who are already working on it. No, a new and fresh set of eyes and ears and hands.
Because a Broadway role...not worth head injury, not worth a broken back, not worth paralysis, and not worth dying for.
(PS-I think the same thing about sports, including cheerleading, in case you were wondering.)
What do you think?
Labels: Actors' Equity, Broadway, OSHA, spiderman
// posted by ElisaC @ 10:41 AM 
