"Spider-Man" limped back to Broadway Thursday night amid growing safety concerns over the death-defying production.
Just three days after a stunt man was severely injured in a plunge into the orchestra pit, the $65 million accident-prone show went off without a hitch.
"I was scared for them," Pia Fleming, 55, of midtown said after the show. "It makes you nervous every time they fly."
Ticket-holders sounded as if they weren't sure whether they were about to witness high art or more mayhem as they entered the Foxwoods Theater. No one dared utter the show biz idiom: "Break a leg."
"I thought they were great," said Heather Amabile, 23, of midtown. "Broadway is never going to be the same."
"I got whiplashed," she said, describing looking up at the flying actors.
Perry Kuehn, 39, of upstate Roscoe said the accidents were unfortunate.
"They're learning as they go along," he said.
He attended the performance with his 11-year-old daughter, Libby, who said she worried the show would be canceled following Monday night's debacle that left stunt man Christopher Tierney, 32, hospitalized.
"I'm really excited to see 'SpiderMan,'" Libby said.
The boyfriend of one of the main characters - Arachne - was thrilled the show went off without any problems.
"It's an amazing show," said the boyfriend of actress T.V. Carpio. He declined to give his name.
Texan Lori McDowell, 47, feared she and her 6-year-old son, Hunter, would have to leave the city without seeing the show, directed by Julie Taymor with the music of U2 rockers Bono and The Edge.
"We're from Houston, so we're glad it's going on," McDowell said.
Producers scrapped Wednesday's performance to implement safety measures ordered by the state Labor Department to prevent another show-stopping fall.
Tierney plunged 30 feet off a ramp and into the orchestra pit when his safety harness snapped. He underwent back surgery at Bellevue Hospital on Wednesday.
Producers said last night that Tierney came through the surgery "with flying colors" and is heading to rehab.
He was the fourth member of the cast to be hurt since previews began last month.
"Workplace safety can't be achieved by a process of trial and error," Assemblyman Rory Lancman (D-Queens) said at a press conference yesterday.
Lancman said he feared the show's producers were pushing the envelope with some of the most risky stunts in Broadway history.With Oren Yaniv
whutchinson@nydailynews.com
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