Jacob Cohl / AP Photo /The O and M Co.Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark is dark today after last night's mishap that saw an aerialist suffer serious injuries in a fall. But the show will go on.
The folks in charge of the trouble-plagued $65 million (and counting) production have announced that previews will resume tomorrow night at Broadway's Foxwoods Theater after adopting some new safety measures.
And if they don't start getting it right, it could be lights out.
"OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration), Actors Equity and the New York State Department of Labor have met with the Spider-Man company today to discuss additional safety protocols. It was agreed that these measures would be enacted immediately," producers said in a statement.
"Tomorrow's matinee has been postponed and will be rescheduled. Tomorrow evening's, and all subsequent performances will proceed as scheduled."
John Chavez, a spokesman for OSHA, could not confirm that such an agreement had been reached, however, he said his team was planning to give a thorough going over of all the aerial equipment and safety harnesses to ensure such incidents don't happen again.
"OSHA does have an ongoing inspection of that production," Chavez told E! News. "Our inspection actually started back on Nov. 2 so it's open and ongoing and of course what just happened adds to it in terms of what we're looking at it."
The accident occurred approximately seven minutes before the end of the show, when the performer, Chris Tierney, doubling for Spider-Man star Reeve Carney in the webslinger's costume, fell out of a harness during an aerial stunt and plunged 30 feet into a pit. Stunned members of the audience tweeted afterwards that they saw a wire snap and then heard a scream (most likely from Jennifer Damiano who plays Mary Jane), and an ambulance and fire crews were on the scene within minutes.
Thankfully, Tierney did not land on his neck or spine, but did suffer several broken ribs and some internal bleeding. He is listed in serious condition at New York's Bellevue Hospital. Director Julie Taymor reportedly visited him in the hospital and many of the cast members and stagehands have since offered up prayers for a speedy recovery.
"Chris Tierney, you are my hero. Your fearlessness, inspiring talent, and shining spirit are lights to us all. We love you so much man," wrote Carney on his Twitter page.
"Please pray with me for my friend Chris,my superhero who quietly inspires me everyday with his spirit. A light in my heart went dim tonight," tweeted Natalie Mendoza shortly after Tierney's fall.
Mendoza plays the show's villainess, Arachne, and is still recovering from a concussion she suffered last month. So far, in its initial weeks of previews, Spider-Man has endured a series of technical snafus, becoming a punchline on Conan and Saturday Night Live sketches.
The show's official open has been pushed back from Jan. 11 to Feb. 7 to allow Mendoza time to recover and the show to work out all the glitches.
In light of Tierney's fall, Actor's Equity assured union members it was doing their utmost to ensure their safety.
"Actors' Equity Association is working with management and the Department of Labor to ensure that performances will not resume until back-up safety measures are in place," the union said.
For a guy who's battled Green Goblin, Doc Ock and Venom, who would have thought that Broadway would be so tough for Spidey?