After being thrown under the bus and fired several months ago and not being paid for her work (she is now in arbitration with the show to get back pay), Julie Taymor was welcomed onstage following the long awaited opening night of Spiderman.

After all the insanity of the show where they fired Taymor in order to try and right the ship, it doesn’t look like it helped since the reviews were less than stellar. Most critics said that fanboys would like it, but can they afford the steep ticket to see it? Broadway is 10 times as expensive as a movie. It will probably be a great tourist show and Broadway needs those too.

It seemed that people were more interested in what Julie Taymor would do and how she would be received than the actual show. The show within the show seems way more interesting than what was going on onstage. Taymor had the guts to walk the red carpet and the NY Times reports that when she was asked by a reporter: “do you miss being a part of this”, she responded. “I am a part of this.” Damn straight. Nine years of work just does not disappear in a three month retooling.

After the show she took the stage for the bows with the rest of the creative team (including the director who replaced her) and reports are that she was greeted to chants of her name.

As ‘Spider-Man’ Opens, Its Former Director Shows Up. And a Former President. (NY Times)