Tuesday, December 21, 2010

'Spider-Man' show trapped in web of investigators after latest accident leaves stuntman hurt

The star-crossed "Spider-Man" show will go on Wednesday - despite an accident that sent their top stuntman to the hospital.

The producers of the seemingly cursed Broadway spectacle agreed on Tuesday to "additional safety protocols" a day after a cable holding actor Christopher Tierney snapped and sent him plunging 30 feet from a platform into a pit below the stage.

The Wednesday matinee performance was postponed but the evening show will "proceed as scheduled," said Rick Miramontez, spokesman for "Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark."

The decision was reached after a lunchtime meeting of the producer, investigators for the state Labor Department and federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration and a union rep from the Actors' Equity Association.

Tierney, a 30-year-old New York-based actor and dancer who hails from Portsmouth, N.H., was in serious condition with cracked ribs and other injuries at Bellevue Hospital.

Meanwhile, state labor investigators were spotted at the Foxwoods Theater on W. 42nd St., where the accident happened about seven minutes before the close of the Tuesday night show.

Tierney got a shout-out of support from the star of the show, Reeve Carney, who plays Peter Parker.

"Chris Tierney, you are my hero," Carney said on Twitter. "Your fearlessness, inspiring talent, and shining spirit are lights to us all. We love you so much man."

Castmate Natalie Mendoza, who plays the spider-goddess Arachne, also weighed in on Twitter.

"Please pray with me for my friend Chris, my superhero who quietly inspires me everyday with his spirit," she wrote. "A light in my heart went dim tonight."

Mendoza suffered a concussion during the show's Dec. 2 performance.

Tierney is the show's main aerialist. In addition to doing Carney's stunts, he performs the stunts for the villains Meeks and Kraven.

An experienced hoofer, Tierney danced with the Hubbard Street Dance Company in Chicago from 1999 to 2006. He also danced in the 2007 movie "Across the Universe," according to IMDB.com.

Tierney took a tumble at the point in the preview performance when Spidey's love interest, Mary Jane, runs up a ramp followed by a stunt double in a Spider-Man costume.

Both jumped. But while Mary Jane's harness held, Tierney's didn't. And the audience was left gaping in stunned silence as the empty harness swung over the first few rows.

Then the screaming started as somebody under the stage began yelling, "Call 911!," witnesses said.

The $65 million production is the most expensive Broadway show in history and features complex aerial stunts and visual effects.

This was the fourth serious accident to hamper "Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark," due to officially open Jan. 11. One of the aerialists, Kevin Aubin, broke his wrists last month. Another actor injured his foot during rehearsals.

The musical also had to delay its first preview performance by two weeks and the opening was pushed back from Dec. 21.

With Oren Yaniv, Edgar Sandoval, Erin Einhorn, Lukas I. Alpert and Rocco Parascandola

csiemaszko@nydailynews.com

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