While Spider-Man has been wildly popular on the big screen the same can’t be said for all forms of live action adaptations. The most notable example of a miss on the part of the iconic Marvel character may just be Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark, the disastrous Broadway musical which ran for just three years and was widely considered to be a major flop. But now, the ill-fated musical is making headlines again, this time due to Rep. George Santos. According to Bloomberg (via Rolling Stone), the Long Island congressman told campaign donors that he had been a producer on the musical — a claim that is not true.
According to the report, Santos claimed he was a producer on the 2011 musical, which ultimately closed in 2014, but the office of the musical’s lead producer, Michael Cohl, confirmed that Santos never worked as a producer on the show. Santos’ name also never appeared on playbills for the show.
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Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark debuted on Broadway in 2011 and featured music and lyrics by Bono and the Edge and a book by Julie Taymor, Glen Berger, and Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. The musical incorporated elements from 2002’s Spider-Man film as well as 2004’s Spider-Man 2, but never really got off to a very good start. The musical was plagued with actor injuries and negative reviews, going so far as to set the record for longest period of previews in Broadway history with 182 performances. When the musical did officially open, the reviews were somewhat better than during preview, but reception was still mixed. It ended up being the most expensive Broadway production in history and, when it closed three years later, it did so at a massive financial loss. After the show’s Broadway closure, it was announced that it would move to Las Vegas, but no such move materialized.
As for Santos, the congressman has made headlines himself recently over a number of claims he’s made about his education, work history, and details of his campaign financing. It’s not clear why he would reportedly claim the Spider-Man musical as part of his record as well, but a spokesperson for the show made it clear Santos was in no way involved.
“Of all the tribulations the producers of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark had to endure, we are very pleased, proud, and relieved to report working with George Santos was not one of them,” Rick Miramontez told Entertainment Weekly.
