Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark has already experienced its share of woes, but last night’s show may mark an alarming new low point. A preview of the musical was halted last night when an actor who the Associated Press identifies as 31-year-old Christopher Tierney, “the show’s main aerialist [who] performs stunts for the roles of Spider-Man, and the villains Meeks and Kraven,” plunged into an orchestra pit towards the end of the show. Tierney was immediately taken to Bellevue hospital to be treated for his injuries; fortunately, he is reportedly in stable condition.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Tierney fell “between 20-30 feet.”
Broadway World explains what went wrong:
We’re told via a stagehand that this was NOT a flying sequence and that Spider-Man was NOT supposed to drop at all. He was supposed to run to top of the ramp as if to jump with the lights then set to go to black. The cable that snapped is what stops him from going over the edge, and that is what failed. He then fell approximately 30 feet.
The people behind the musical issued the following statement: “An actor sustained an injury at tonight’s performance of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. He fell several feet from a platform approximately seven minutes before the end of the performance, and the show was stopped. All signs were good as he was taken to the hospital for observation.”
This is the fourth injury an actor has sustained during a performance of the show: In October, actor Kevin Aubin slammed into the stage and broke both wrists.
The New York Times has video of Tierney’s fall, from which the above picture is taken. (While the text of the Times article says that “a performer playing the title hero [fell] about 8 to 10 feet,” it’s clear from the video that the fall was longer than that.)
(AP via Broadway World via ComicsAlliance, pic via NYT)
