Entertainment

‘Spider-Man’ matinee is canceled

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The producers of the new Broadway musical “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” canceled its Wednesday matinee to add safety precautions after a lead stunt actor playing the superhero sustained serious injuries from falling more than 20 feet into a basement beneath the stage during Monday night’s show. He was the fourth performer to be hurt working on “Spider-Man” since September.

The accident prompted investigations by federal and state occupational safety inspectors, as well as by representatives from the Actors’ Equity union, who went to the Foxwoods Theater on Broadway on Tuesday, when no shows were scheduled, to examine equipment and meet with the production team.

A spokesman for the production, Rick Miramontez, said on Tuesday that the accident, which caused the performer, Christopher Tierney, to be hospitalized, was the result of human error, without offering specifics. An Actors’ Equity spokeswoman confirmed that explanation, but also said the union would “step up” monitoring of the show. A spokesman for the state safety inspectors, however, said that he had no details on Tuesday about the accident’s cause or the new safety measures, and that their investigation was not complete.

Mr. Miramontez said the show would be safe enough to perform on Wednesday night after the new measures were put in place. “The production knows exactly what happened at Monday’s performance, and it is being dealt with,” he wrote in an e-mail. “This is a maneuver that has been done hundreds, if not a thousand times, without incident, and additional redundancies are being put into place to ensure that will never happen again,” he wrote, referring to the accident.

Full story: ‘Spider-Man’ Matinee Is Canceled – NYTimes.com