U2’s Spider-Man Musical Gets Back on Track
After months of financial woes and casting changes, rehearsals for Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, the Broadway musical featuring songs by U2‘s Bono and the Edge, will finally begin on August 18th, a spokesperson for the musical told the New York Times . The $50 million production has yet to announce details about its new premiere date, but actor/singer Reeve Carney, who will play hero Peter Parker, confirmed on his Twitter that choreography rehearsals were already underway. “I can’t wait for the world to see this thing — It’s finally happening,” he tweeted.
As Rolling Stone previously reported, both of the musical’s marquee names, actress Evan Rachel Wood and Broadway vet Alan Cumming (Mary Jane Watson and the Green Goblin) left the show when “cash flow problems” pushed Turn Off the Dark off schedule; its preview run was originally scheduled to start in February 2010. Cumming’s rep said at the time of his departure, “He’s disappointed. He’s been attached to Spider-Man for a year and he was hopeful that it would make it to the stage and he’d be a part of it.”
Bono and the Edge penned original music for Turn Off the Dark, which will be directed by Julie Taymor, who previously worked with the U2 frontman in Across the Universe. Wood also appeared in the Beatles-themed film, and earned rave reviews from Bono. “She’s the greatest actor of her generation, she’s the one to watch,” he said. “She happens to sing like a bird, it’s like a true voice. She’s a very pure spirit and a very bright mind and she brings the part of [Mary Jane] to life really.” No word yet who has replaced Wood and Cumming in the musical.
The Edge described Turn Off the Dark as a blend of genres. “It touches on opera, it touches on rock & roll,” he said. “There are some real character-driven songs as well, very unusual song types for us. It is much more like opera than a straight musical. We’re actually not calling it a musical for that reason because we don’t want to put people off.”