The Empire State Building has refused requests to light up the iconic skyscraper in honor of the long delayed Broadway opening of “Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark” because producers won’t change the set to put it in place of the Chrysler Building in the skyline, reports The New York Post.
Broadway’s biggest blockbuster is set to unveil its revamped production next Tuesday. "Spider-Man" took a hiatus to give its editorial direction a face-lift following poor reviews and several onstage accidents involving cast remembers, one of whom ended up hospitalized with broken bones.
The Empire State Building famously lights up to commemorate certain events, but building executives said the only way the landmark would light up for the musical would be if the electrifying battle between Spider-Man and the Green Goblin happened on the Empire State Building instead of that other, shorter skyscraper in Manhattan.
Those who work on the $70 million production say the request is impossible.
“How ludicrous. We’re a week away from opening,” one miffed crew member told the Post. “We’re not going to be changing the set.”
Another staffer pointed out that the Chrysler building was a key element of the super-hero series and the show.
A spokesman for the musical told the Post that Spider-Man had “room in his heart for all of New York’s great skyscrapers,” but that wasn't enough to sell the Empire State Building on the lighting.
“We love Spider-Man, but the Empire State Building is the world’s most famous office building and the icon of the New York City skyline, and omitting it from the set isn’t the first misstep the ‘Spider-Man’ musical has made,” an Empire State Building source told the Post.
