Break a leg
Former Houston Ballet Academy performer returns to Spider-Man musical fourmonths after injury
Four months after suffering a terrible accident after plunging 30 feet into the orchestra pit during a performance of the star-crossed Broadway musical, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, Christopher Tierney returned to the show.
Tierney, a former Houston Ballet Academy student, met with the New York media outside of the theater where the accident occurred Dec. 20 and declared himself "85-90" percent recovered from the accident, according to an account in The New York Times.
Tierney had fractured his skull and shoulder blade, breaking four ribs and fracturing three vertebrae when his safety harness didn't hold while performing gravity-defying stunts in Spider-Man mask and costume.
“I can’t wait — I’m ready to put on the harness right now and fly around,” he told reporters.
On Monday Tierney rejoined the show, which is on a brief hiatus after director Julie Taymor was ousted following terrible reviews even though it was still in previews and hadn't yet officially opened on Broadway. Previews of the revamped show begin May 12 with a planned opening on June 14.
Asked if he were nuts to rejoin the show, he replied, “Yes, slightly." But he earlier said that he "wouldn't be here right now if there was a problem."
His return should come as no surprise to those who know him. In a CultureMap interview soon after the accident, Houston Ballet soloist Kelly Myernick, who was a classmate with Tierney at the Houston Ballet Academy in 1998-99, said that "Chris is definitely one of the most fearless performers you'll ever come across. He was always daring in dance, trying things that no one else would even attempt. This production was perfect for him. It just fit his personality."
