Have your Spidey senses been tingling this week? If so, you’re probably a personal-injury lawyer, excited by the news that Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark has reopened on Broadway. After a string of accidents among the performers and stinging reviews from the New York critics, the singing superhero took a three-week hiatus, during which the show has been overhauled by a new creative team. The early noise about take two of The World’s Most Expensive Musical Ever? Not as bad as it was, and no more hospitalisations Photograph: Jacob Cohl
From a New York media circus to the more traditional variety: the UK government has decided to allow circuses to continue using wild animals in their shows – to the fury of animal-welfare campaigners, who had expected an outright ban. A strict new licensing regime will be enforced to ensure that lions, tigers and elephants are kept safely. (Oh, how the Spider-Man cast must be jealous)
Photograph: Matt York / AP Photograph: Action images
In Bristol, meanwhile, plans are afoot to moor up a pirate ship outside the Old Vic theatre. The historic playhouse is currently undergoing redevelopment, so its team are planning to stage their summer show, Treasure Island, aboard a 500-seat, 50ft replica Jolly Roger. The galleon will be anchored near the Llandoger Trow pub, where Robert Louis Stevenson supposedly found inspiration for his novel over a few pints of West Country cider Photograph: Bristol Old Vic
Choppy waters ahead for the West End, however, with results for the first quarter of 2011 revealing that both attendances and revenue have fallen (10% and 6% respectively) compared with the same period last year. London theatre has so far proved impressively buoyant in the face of recession, so producers and theatre owners will be hoping that these latest figures aren’t signs that the sharks are finally circling. Optimists point to big new openings on the horizon such as Shrek: The Musical and Ghost, which should help boost takings in the coming months Photograph: David Levene
One such big opening is the Royal Shakespeare Company’s new musical version of Roald Dahl’s Matilda. The show, with songs by flame-haired Aussie comic Tim Minchin, was a huge hit when it debuted in Stratford-upon-Avon last year, and in October will be making its way to the West End’s Cambridge theatre (currently home to Chicago). The RSC will be hoping it can emulate the company’s greatest musical triumph, Les Misérables, rather than the ill-fated and short-lived Carrie: The Musical Photograph: Manuel Harlan
Pushing the RSC’s takings back up in Stratford is our second superhero of the week, Patrick Stewart. Having recently made up with his own arch-nemesis James Corden, Stewart takes on the role of Shylock in The Merchant of Venice for the third time in his career. The production – directed by hot director Rupert Goold, with the action shifted to casino paradise Las Vegas – opened to critics last night. Did they have their pound of flesh? Photograph: RSC/EPO Online
Yet another RSC connection with this week’s sad news that playwright Pam Gems has died aged 85. Her "play with music" Piaf – recently revived by the Donmar Warehouse with Elena Roger as the chanteuse – was premiered by the RSC in 1978. Gems later went on to write Stanley for the National theatre, which won both Evening Standard and Olivier awards. With her passing, the theatre world loses one of its most distinctive and successful feminist playwrights Photograph: Alastair Muir/Rex Features
