Is SPIDER-MAN Broadway's Secretariat?

When the race horse Secretariat made his racing debut in 1972, he lost.

But he won a lot of races after that, going on to be the ninth Triple Crown winner in the history of the sport.

Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark is not a race horse, granted, but are there parallels to the story? Consider Julie Taymor the show’s Penny Tweedy, and Bono as trainer Lucien Laurin. With all of the bad press the show’s been getting, it’s a wonder they don’t just close it down. It’s the most expensive show ever mounted on the Great White Way at $65 million, and many have turned their noses up at the sheer commercialism of it all, lamenting the lack of proper Broadway shows such as those of Andrew Lloyd Webber and his contemporaries.

But wait. Glenn Beck said it’s one of the best shows ever. NPR says it could work with a few nips and tucks.

But can the show’s technical problems (such as the star getting stuck in mid-air) and numerous delays be the albatross around its neck? Or will it set up one of the great comeback stories of the stage? Consider that the show’s been panned by so many critics. Audiences have complained that the preview shows weren’t up to snuff in the sound mixes and performances. One of the villains left the show after an injury. And the New York Department of Labor has hit the show with two safety violations.

Is this a cursed show? Is it so technically challenging that it will never hit its stride and get past the technical problems? Can the story be re-worked so it’s not an incoherent mess, as some have called it?

Given Taymor’s track record with The Lion King, one would expect the show to be (dare we say it?)… spectacular. IF everything finally comes together by the official opening March 15 (and yes, the Ides of March jokes have already been made…), then it could be a comeback story from the beginning.

And like Secretariat, the win will be the only thing anyone remembers.