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Former Naperville resident amazed to be a 'Spider-Man' on Broadway

Waubonsie Valley High School graduate Craig Henningsen was one of 11 performers portraying the web-slinging Marvel Comics' superhero in Julie Taymor's controversial Broadway musical "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark."

Henningsen battled the dreaded Green Goblin in the show's surrealistic fight sequence set on the tops of moving New York skyscrapers. In another scene, he jumped into the balcony and performed gasp-inducing aerial tricks.

"I'm still pinching myself because they could have hired much better performers than me at the time," Henningsen said. "But as they say, there's no such thing as luck. Just preparation and opportunity."

Henningsen has had plenty of opportunity lately as a martial arts performer. He just wrapped doing stunts for the Netflix series "Daredevil," which comes out in the spring. Previous credits include stunt work and acting in a variety of TV shows.

Just how did the 27-year-old Henningsen, born in Winfield and raised mostly in Naperville, wind up battling the Green Goblin on Broadway?

"As a kid, I watched a lot of action films," Henningsen said. "I became fascinated with all that movement, how they did those fight scenes. They all empowered me. I spent a lot of time alone as a kid, particularly after my parents divorced. I had an older brother, but he was out with his friends a lot. So, I spent a lot of time alone watching these sequences, being motivated and inspired by them."

Then there was his baby sitter.

The karate-chopping baby sitter in Naperville. She was in her 40s. Henningsen was 6.

"I was just a very energetic kid," he explained. "She couldn't tame me. She was like, 'This kid needs to be in martial arts. He could use the discipline.' So she started to teach me the punches, the kicks."

At 6, Henningsen enrolled at John Sharkey's Karate School in Naperville. (Incidentally, this is the same place where Naperville's Matt Mullins, five-time martial arts world championship winner, started training at the age of 13. Mullins and Henningsen are friends.)

"There weren't a lot of kids enrolled at Sharkey's at the time," Henningsen said. "I was just a young kid among adults, practicing martial arts. I got beat up pretty good."

Martial arts became Henningsen's obsession. He trained after school and on weekends. By the time he made it to his senior year at Waubonsie in Aurora, officials threw the (grade) book at him.

"I was doing competitive martial arts matches in L.A. every other week. I was never in school. They threatened to kick me out for delinquency."

Henningsen rearranged his senior year workload so he could graduate with his class. He piled on the classes during the first semester. He didn't have time for lunch. He had to drop gym class.

"It was a lot of work. Not much time for a social life and friends," he admitted. "From the moment I started my senior year, I was working just to get it out of the way."

He worked so hard that he wound up graduating a semester early.

Nowadays, the martial arts kid continues to hone his physical edge while working on his acting career. He'll be seen next in "Daredevil."

"To date, this is my proudest work experience, to be on that show," Henningsen said. "We just wrapped the show three weeks ago."

He has amassed a lot of credits in the past few years, appearing on TV shows "Teen Wolf," "Glee," "The Bridge," "Gossip Girl" and "Smash."

"I was inspired as a kid by the Power Rangers, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and James Bond," he said. "These made-up characters motivated me to stay active, to have a goal, to dream a dream. And this is a dream come true for me, to work the show business world to create magic and imaginary places."

For now, Henningsen lives the simple life of a nomadic performer. Not married. No kids. No pets. Nothing to tie him down.

"I live very simply. Maybe I'll get a dog in the future. In this job, I could get a call any minute and I'm gone to Bulgaria for three months. I've lived out of a suitcase for the last couple of years."

- Dann Gire

Dann Gire and Jamie Sotonoff are looking for Northwest suburbanites in showbiz who would make interesting subjects for this column. If you know someone, contact them at dgire@dailyherald.com and jsotonoff@dailyherald.com.

Naperville native Craig Henningsen credits a karate-chopping baby sitter for sparking his interest in a martial arts career.
Naperville native Craig Henningsen met broadcast journalist Anderson Cooper during the Broadway run of “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.”
Naperville native Craig Henningsen played one of the many Spider-men in “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.”

Spinning Spider-Man

Suburban native Craig Henningsen said the greatest challenge of his showbiz career so far has been the grueling, eight-shows-a-week schedule he maintained as one of the many stunt Spider-Men in the Broadway musical “Turn Off the Dark.”

“I was a martial arts actor, not a dancer,” he said. “I had to pick up dancing during the show. I was taking dance classes eight days a week! And I was still battling claustrophobia.

“I blame my older brother for locking me into closets when I was a kid. I don't like tight spaces I can't get myself out of. And I was trapped in this Spider-Man suit and performing these high-energy, straining movements while breathing heavy in that suit.

“That was very challenging for me. I had to be very strong mentally to pull off doing that role onstage eight times a week for three years.

“Every show was a very mentally and physically draining experience. I loved every minute of it.”

— Dann Gire

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