Am I being a bit naive? Probably (though I prefer to call it idealistic). Am I hanging a whole lot of possibilities on a whole lot of unknowns? Certainly. Am I completely ignoring for the moment the ticket-selling tricks like bringing in big Hollywood names to headline (with mixed results) on Broadway? Yes. Will major, crowd-pleasing big-budget shows be the ones that inspire us and challenge us the most, creatively and artistically? Maybe not… but I’m sure I’m not the only one who remembers the take-your-breath-away moment when that elephant walked up the aisle in The Lion King. And it remains to be seen whether Spider-Man can or will do similarly, but I’m glad the team has been willing to take the balls-out risk to try it. They’ve stumbled, they’ve got safety issues, they’ve had a blinding and not very friendly spotlight shining on them the entire time, but they haven’t thrown it in yet, and I for one find a lot to admire in that.

I think complaints about producers not pursuing excellence lately are the result of years of Hollywood-ified productions, whether in their concepts or origins or casting (or all three), and it remains to be seen if the re-working efforts are moving toward Hollywood or toward something new and great.

Yes, I’m glad artists will continue to work because producers are sticking by a show that the press has not respected. Whether that show will be “better” or not… I guess it depends on your definition of improvement.

(full disclosure: I have not seen the show, and I have read most articles about it because I am rabidly curious. I also tend to like Julie Taymor’s work, but am also ready to believe the “bad” stories about the process, though I really wonder why more fingers aren’t pointing at key players other than Taymor – theatre is a collaborative process, last I experienced.)