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As Spider-Man Swings Back Into Action, Lawmakers Call For New Safety Measures

By DNAinfo Staff on December 23, 2010 12:13pm  | Updated on December 23, 2010 8:07pm

By Jill Colvin

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MIDTOWN — As "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" swung back into action Thursday night, after an actor's near-fatal fall closed the show for a safety review, lawmakers called for tougher rules to keep actors safe.

Stunt man Christopher Tierney, who helps portray the friendly neighborhood wall-crawler in the beleaguered show that's seen four actors injured already, broke several ribs and sustained internal bleeding when he plunged into the orchestra pit during Monday evening’s performance.

During Monday's show, he leaped off a platform to save Spider-Man's beloved Mary Jane. Her harness held, his didn’t, and he plunged nearly 30 feet into the orchestra pit, witnesses said. Tierney underwent back surgery Wednesday, according to published reports.

Lawmakers gathered at the theater Thursday to push for stronger regulations to help prevent incidents like Monday's.
Lawmakers gathered at the theater Thursday to push for stronger regulations to help prevent incidents like Monday's.
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DNAinfo/Jill Colvin

"It is not acceptable that a show gets to the point of hazards that were involved here," said Midtown Assemblyman Dick Gottfried, who said it was "only luck" that the show had managed to avoid "much more serious catastrophes" to actors and audience members.

He joined other lawmakers Thursday calling for "substantially strengthened" rules to keep people safe on stunt-heavy, envelope-pushing productions like the $65 million spectacle.

The accident prompted producers to cancel two scheduled performances Wednesday as it implemented new safety procedures demanded by the Department of Labor.

Maureen Cox, the department's director of safety and health, blamed the injuries on a series of systematic failures.

Under the new rules for aerial stunts, one stagehand will now latch an actor's harness to the tether, and a second will verify that the harness is latched and give an "all clear" to a stage manager before an actor jumps.

Actors have also been encouraged to speak up whenever they feel uncomfortable with a stunt, she said.

Asked why nobody raised red flags before Monday night's accident, despite an earlier concussion, two broken wrists and a broken foot, Actors' Equity Association's First Vice President Paige Price said that each of the incidents was different.

"The problems were not apparent until they were apparent," she said.

Queens Assemblyman Rory Lancman, who chairs the Assembly's Subcommittee on Workplace Safety, met with producers and staff Thursday morning to discuss his concerns.

"While we appreciate that Spider-Man is pushing the envelope in terms of artistry and special effects... workplace safety is not something that can be achieved by a process of trial and error," he said.

While he said he was confident that the production was instituting  the Labor Department's recommendation, he said there were "still some issues" it had yet to address, including whether the show had enough stagehands on staff and when it would schedule more rehearsal time for understudies performing stunts.

Lancman said the Labor Department is set to verify that the show has made the promised changes and had the right to cancel Thursday night's show if it hadn't complied.

Lancman also revealed producers had agreed to additional measures, including hiring an independent safety expert and making changes to the show's final sequence, "the web," to make it less dangerous.

"If the show does what it has committed to do, it will be ready for tonight," he said.

Leo Rosales, a Labor Department spokesman, confirmed the show was expected to go ahead.

"They have told us that they are on track to implementing the safety and security measures we agreed to yesterday," he said.

As they prepared to re-start the show, Tierney's castmates said the injured Spidey was doing "great."

"Chris is doing great. He’s in really good spirits," Patrick Page, the actor who plays the show's villain, the Green Goblin, told DNAinfo.

Reeve Carney, who plays the role of Peter Parker, said the rest of the cast is also coping with the incident, which he described as "a shock to everyone."

"It’s a traumatic thing, but we’re getting through it," he said as he signed autographs for fans Wednesday night outside the Foxwoods Theatre at West 42nd Street and Seventh Avenue.

Tierney’s brother, Patrick, who lives in Plaistow, N.H., told reporters his brother was expected to make a full recovery and is in "as good spirits as he can be," according to the AP.

"He's a dancer. He landed on his feet. If he didn't land on his feet, he wouldn't be with us," Patrick Tierney reportedly said. "He has a strong body and an amazing attitude."

Tierney, who was called a "hero" by his castmates, is recovering at Bellevue Hospital. 

Earlier, Patrick had raised alarms when he told a local online outlet, Seacoastonline.com, that his brother was "really hurt" and said he didn't "know when he'll be back on stage if at all."

Following the accident, several Broadway actors, including Tony Award-winner Alice Ripley, slammed the production on Twitter.

But Spider-Man actors tried to assure reporters that they weren't concerned.

"I’ve always felt safe,” Carney said.

Page, the Green Goblin, agreed.

"I see the stuff that other people don't see. I see the measures being taken to keep people safe," he said, adding that actors and other crew members are always in communication.

"We’re talking to each other," he said.

Director Julie Taymor said that safety on the production is paramount.

"An accident like this is obviously heartbreaking for our entire team and, of course, to me personally," Taymor said in a statement, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

"I am so thankful that Chris is going to be alright [sic] and is in great spirits. Nothing is more important than the safety of our Spider-Man family and we'll continue to do everything in our power to protect the cast and crew," she said.

In a statement issued Thursday, James J. Claffey, Jr., President of Local One IATSE, the stagehands' union, said he was "confident in the additional safety protocols that have been newly installed and implemented."