Spider-man's Newest Opening Date is June 14

A scene from “SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark” © Jacob Cohl

Spider-man Turn Off The Dark has rescheduled its opening night for Tuesday, June 14. In addition, to allow rehearsal time for the new changes being implemented in the show, performances from Tuesday, April 19 to Wednesday, May 11 have been cancelled with preview performances resuming on Thursday, May 12.

As a result of the new opening night, the performances on June 12, 14 and both performances on June 15 have been cancelled. Additional shows have been added on June 13 at 7:30 pm and June 17 at 2 pm. All ticketholders for the cancelled performances who purchased their tickets through Ticketmaster or at the box office will be offered the option of exchanging or returning their tickets. Ticketholders who purchased through other outlets should contact the point of purchase for further information.

As previously announced, Philip William McKinley (who directed Hugh Jackman in his Tony® Award-winning performance in The Boy From Oz) and Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa have joined the creative team to help implement new staging and book rewrites, respectively. The expanded creative team also includes musical consultant Paul Bogaev (Tarzan, Bombay Dreams, Aida, Sunset Boulevard) and sound designer Peter Hylenski (Elf, The Scottsboro Boys, Rock of Ages, Shrek), both of whom have already been working on improving the musical arrangements and sound quality (respectively) over the past few weeks. Due to the new schedule, director and co-book writer Julie Taymor will no longer continue in her day-to-day duties with the production.

Featuring direction by Tony- Award winner Taymor (The Tempest, Across The Universe, The Lion King), music and lyrics by 22-time Grammy-Award winners Bono and The Edge (pictured at left are Bono and Taymor © 2009)
and a book co-written by Taymor and Glen Berger (Underneath The Lintel) Spider-Man Turn Off The Dark is the most ambitious production ever undertaken on Broadway at some $65 million.

The musical plays at Broadway’s Foxwoods Theatre, 213 West 42nd St., NYC. For discounted tickets, visit http://www.givenik.com/show_info.php/Masterworks/178/individual.

Note: Because the show still is in previews, I haven't reviewed it. I did take in a recent matinee to get a sense of content. If you are going to one of the previews before the hiatus and retooling, you can contact me at masterworkproductions@yahoo.com if you are looking for a Christian perspective. For shows after the changes, I'll reserve opinion again until I can review the new version.

--Lauren Yarger