If people get tired of SPIDER-MAN talk taking up space on here, just say so.
On the other hand, if people prefer that the SPIDER-MAN posts be shorter but want more of them to increase the number of postings on a given day, let me know that too.
Having said that:
Jose - Did you really mean what you said when you said:
"Since it has been in development for so long, why isn't the book in much better shape? Why were so many of the flying stunts still being developed and worked on? -Remember, the show was supposed to open in February.
Then again, a lot of shows that had been in development for years(!) weren't ready once they started previews on Broadway."
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In case you did mean it, of course, as has been pointed out over and over, the flying stunts were stunning and working great and (at least by all accounts) as safely as any other big musical by the second preview on December 1.
As to the book, I think you know you never know whether a book is totally working until it's playing in front of an audience. For example, look at this year's (much deserving) Pulitzer winner NEXT TO NORMAL, which is a much lower-tech show in the scheme of musicals. It had been in development by the writers Yorkey and Kitt since BMI workshop presentations of a short version in the late 1990's, and the book was still being worked on (though very promising to many people) when you and I saw it at an early preview off-Broadway at Second Stage in spring 2008, it continued to be worked on at Arena Stage in fall 2008 even after having gotten reviewed in New York, then came triumphantly into New York winning loads of awards and becoming a financial and artistic hit.