Theater News

Natalie Mendoza Departs Broadway’s Spider-Man

Actress Natalie Mendoza, who originated the role of Arachne in the Broadway musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark at the Foxwoods Theatre, has officially departed the production.

The show, which began previews on Sunday, November 28, features music and lyrics by Bono and The Edge of the band U2, and a book by director Julie Taymor and Glen Berger. It is scheduled to open on February 7.

Mendoza suffered a concussion during the show in early December, after which she stopped performing for almost two weeks. She briefly returned to role on December 16, but left again after the December 20 performance.

Her role is currently being played at different performances by America Olivo and T.V. Caprio. No announcement was made about who would play the role permanently.

In a statement, Mendoza said: “It has been a difficult decision to make, but I regret that I am unable to continue on Spider-Man as I recover from my injury. I wish Julie and the cast and crew every success with this production.”

The show stars Reeve Carney as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Jennifer Damiano as Mary Jane Watson, and Patrick Page as Norman Osborn/The Green Goblin. It also features Michael Mulheren, Ken Marks, Isabel Keating, Jeb Brown, Mat Devine, , Gideon Glick, Jonathan Schwartz, Matthew James Thomas, Laura Beth Wells, Matt Caplan, Dwayne Clark, Luther Creek, Kevin Aubin, Gerald Avery, Collin Baja, Marcus Bellamy, Emmanuel Brown, Daniel Curry, Erin Elliott, Craig Henningsen, Dana Marie Ingraham, Ayo Janeen Jackson, Heather Lang, Ari Loeb, Natalie Lomonte, Kevin Loomis, Kristin Martin, Jodi McFadden, Kristen Oei, America Olivo, Jennifer Christine Perry, Kyle Post, Brandon Rubendall, Sean Samuels, Dollar Tan, and Christopher Tierney.

The creative team includes Daniel Ezralow (choreography), George Tsypin (scenic design), Eiko Ishioka (costume design), Donald Holder (lighting design), Jonathan Deans (sound design), Kyle Cooper (projection design), Julie Taymor (mask design), Campbell Young Associates (hair design), Judy Chin (makeup design), Scott Rogers (aerial design), Jaque Paquin (aerial rigging design), David Campbell (orchestrations & arrangements), Teese Gohl (musical supervision), and Kimberly Grigsby (music director).

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