Although the high-wire hubris act that is Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark seems to be enjoying an intermission between disasters—save the departure of concussed lead Natalie Mendoza and her subsequent replacement by understudy T.V. Carpio—there’s no denying that the show’s publicity team is likely feeling as scared and helpless as an actress dangling in the inky depths of an orchestra pit, screaming for someone to call an ambulance.
So, to counteract those groundswells of negativity, the Turn Off The Dark cast has been making the rounds—and if you think a fractured skull, four broken ribs, three cracked vertebrae, and weeks in physical therapy would have sullied the attitude of injured aerialist Christopher Tierney, think again. The “Spider-Man Survivor,” as he was identified, appeared on today’s Good Morning America to let everyone know that he feels “fantastic” and have a couple of good laughs about the whole incident with his castmates, who are touched by everyone’s concerns for their safety, but want everyone to know that things are fine, really, how are you? What’s more, the moment that Tierney’s doctors give him the okay and remove the screws from his back, he “can’t wait” to return to the show again and help turn it into “the greatest comeback in theater history,” which is pretty brave, openly tempting fate like that.
Tierney is even more animated in this second interview with a local CBS affiliate, where he apparently took a break from playing bass for Collective Soul to talk about his immediate reaction to the 30-foot fall (“'Ohhhhh Gawwwd,' then I just passed out”), aver that “not a single actor in this show has said, ‘Someone’s gonna die, you need to stop,’” and get touchingly emotional about the “outpouring of love” he’s had since his injury. Tierney seems like a genuinely positive guy; here’s hoping his Spider-Man back brace doesn’t end up being his sole souvenir of this experience.