Theater News

Actors Equity President Nick Wyman Releases Statement on Spider-Man Injuries

Nick Wyman, President of Actors Equity Association, has issued a lengthy statement concerning the injuries sustained in the new Broadway musical, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, playing at the Foxwoods Theatre, and specifically regarding actor Chris Tierney who was injured during the December 20 performance of the musical, and is currently recuperating following back surgery.

Wyman states, “It is very upsetting to think what effect this accident might have on Chris’s career. […] That Chris is not the first actor, nor the second, but rather the fourth to be injured on SPIDERMAN is frustrating and maddening and, to some, infuriating.”

He goes on to discuss the various efforts that Equity staff members have already put into the production, saying “Our staff brings decades of judgment and experience to bear in assessing potentially risky situations, and they use many different tactics to convince, cajole, pressure the producers, design team, director, etc. to make the changes necessary to protect the actor.”

Although Wyman acknowledges AEA members’ cries to shut the production down, he reiterates that Equity staff will be continuing to work with the musical and its producers. He states, “Part of the joy of live theatre – for both the audience and the performers – is its immediacy and its vitality. A “boy in the bubble” strategy of taking everything down to half speed, of wrapping everyone and everything in cotton wool, obviously will not work. Live theatre, exciting theatre involves risk. Mistakes will happen: a slip, a stumble, a hesitation, a moment’s inattention. Our staff is committed to doing whatever it possibly can to protect our members and to minimize the danger and the risk.”

For Wyman’s complete statement, click here.

For TheaterMania’s previous news story regarding Chris Tierney’s injuries, click here.

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