‘Spider-Man’ Meets Its Rival

The Michael Cohl-produced Broadway spectacular “Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark” may have its turmoil but it might not have to be that way, if a similar show, with similar production and plot, is any indication.

The New York Times spent three months following the progress of “Zarkana,” the newest production of Cirque du Soleil. It has a lot of acrobatic flying, rock music and a villainous spider lady. The comparisons to the Bono / Edge musical are obvious. In fact, Guy Laliberte, owner of Cirque du Soleil, knows that all too well.

Laliberte told the Times Bono asked him to be an investor in “Spider-Man,” and Laliberte said he considered it. Then he looked at the books.

“I saw the figures – they’re crazy,” he said. Of the show’s $70 million budget, not enough of it wound up on stage, and Laliberte declined the offer. Bono’s representatives declined to comment for the story.

Meanwhile, “Zarkana” recently debuted at Radio City Music Hall, the same time that “Spider-Man” officially opened on Broadway. It was a fluke because of the latter’s postponed debut, but Cirque doesn’t shy away from noting the coincidence.

“At first we thought of acknowledging it and have Spider-Man show up on the stage as if he was on the wrong call,” “Zarkana” director Francois Girard told the Times. He had seen a preview of the Spider-Man play and, “I thought: ‘Where are the webs? It should be all about the webs.’ So look – we got webs.”

Unlike “Spider-Man,” which has seen unfortunate injuries to high-flying actors, the $50 million “Zarkana” uses world-class athletes and acrobats to perform its feats.

Most of the budget went into the staging, including an 8,000-pound high-wire apparatus that emerges from the stage and unfolds in 80 seconds without the help of a stagehand.

“The innovation for this show is the equipment,” Cirque’s Bernard Petiot told the paper. “We needed to avoid holes and lots of wires because you can’t alter the theatre. We did it with bolts and screws.”

What is different is the plot. Unlike “Spider-Man,” the Cirque show focuses more on spectacle and less on a storyline.

“No theatre,” Girard said. “No vaudeville. We want to be more Cirque than Cirque.”