NU Online News Service, March 10, 2:28 p.m.EST

The Broadway production of Spider-Man has had starts and stops,cast and crew injuries, bad reviews prompting rewrites and now itsdirector is being replaced, putting off the already delayed openingnight, but in the end, who is paying for all this?

In December, the show was canceled after a lead stunt actorsustained serious injuries. He fell more than 20 feet into an areabeneath the stage—the fourth performer to be hurt on the set sinceSeptember, according to media reports.

Among other injuries, Christopher Tierney suffered broken ribsand internal bleeding because his security harness was not properlyattached to equipment designed to protect him.

The falls got the attention of the Department of Labor’sOccupational Safety and Health Administration, which said in a newsrelease dated March 4 that it has issued “three serious violationsof workplace safety standards,” following the four falls lastyear.

Roger A. Sandau, chief executive officer, Doodson InsuranceBrokerage, LLC in Baltimore, which specializes in large eventsinternationally, explained that contingency insurance—also known asnon-appearance or event cancellation insurance—was designed for shows where thereis a central talent that is part of the performance. In the case ofSpider-Man, the delays caused by injuries to key performers “is thetype of risk for which this insurance is designed.”

However, he added, “If the show is shut down for violations ofregulations or the law, that is not insurable. Cancellationinsurance is not designed to respond.”

In the latest chapter, following a spate of negative reviews ofits previews, Spider-Man’s lead producers Michael Cohl and JeremiahJ. Harris announced on March 8 they had rescheduled themuch-anticipated opening night, previously set for March 15, “to anevening in early summer, 2011.”

They said in a statement that the reason for the delay is thatSpider-Man Turn Off The Dark has a “newly expandedcreative team in place” that will be implementing “a new plan tomake significant and exciting revisions to the production.”

The amended schedule, the producers said, will allow the timenecessary to execute the plan, which will include revisions to thescript.

They also said they are replacing Julie Taymor, the show’sdirector, known for her work on Lion King. She has been involved inmany aspects of Spider-Man since the beginning, working on theproduction’s music with Bono and The Edge of the band U2.

Would the producer’s decisions to delay the opening and otherrelated events cover loss of income?

The answer again is no, Mr. Sandau said. “There is a specificexclusion in a contingency policy that relates to reducedattendance,” he explained. “So if you are looking to avoid reducedattendance, because of bad reviews for example, that is not acovered peril if you close the show to boost attendance.”

With a contingency policy, he said, insurers are not looking toinsure “the quality of the show or its commercial viability, theyare looking to insure cancellation due to unforeseen anduncontrollable events.”

Mr. Sandau added that some of the decisions being made “arelikely outside of the bounds of insurance and are creatingadditional costs for this production.”

The musical, which has been in the works since 2002, costs morethan $1 million to run each week, an amount thought to be thehighest in history. Any profits go to royalties and repayment ofthe $65 million capitalization cost, according to The New YorkTimes.