Back in February, Spider-Man created some major waves in the insurance industry and then again in March due to their alleged unsafe working conditions. The Broadway Show costs approximately one million dollars a week to run and has been plagued by cast injuries. The most serious injury being Chris Tierney who fell 30 feet while performing an aerial stunt due to a "human error" involving the harness which propelled him across the stage.
Over five serious injuries later and replacing the shows director Julie Taymor (known for her work on the Lion King), Spider-Man is now set to open tomorrow on Broadway. Hopefully the Department Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration's surprise visits and short leash over the past 4 months has done the production some good. But it also got me thinking, who is paying for allllllllllll of these delays?
Contingency insurance such as event cancellation insurance or non-appearance insurance protects major productions, such as Spider-Man, in the event of cancellation due to unforeseen or uncontrollable events. Injuries to key performers delaying the opening of the production is, in fact, a covered loss.
However, if Spider-Man was to be shut down due to unsafe working conditions or violations against the law, this insurance would not respond. And the income that has been lost due to producer's decisions to delay the opening? Also not covered.
Let's hope that this cast and crew has seen it's last injury on set and all goes well for as long as the show runs. They are going to need as many safe sold out shows to repay the $65 million dollars worth in capitalization costs, according to The New York Times.
I once met Spiderman when I was rock climbing in SLO in 1989. Real nice fellow!
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