A presentation for group sales agents and ticket brokers by director Julie Taymor and composer Bono and the Edge reveals lots and lots of details on what sounds like a groundbreaking musical experience: Spider-Man Turn Off The Dark:

The NY Post’s Spidey senses were tingling:

WHAT do you call a $40 million theatrical extravaganza that features gigantic, perspective-skewing sets, 3-D projections, more aerial acrobatics than Cirque du Soleil, a cast of heroes and villains from Marvel comic books and a rock score by Bono and The Edge?

The phrase “Broadway musical” doesn’t seem grand enough to convey the size and scope of “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark,” which is due to open in New York at the Hilton Theater in January 2010.

As Spider-Man, Peter clashes with a parade of Marvel villains — Green Goblin, Carnage, Electro, Rhino, Swarm and Lizard.

Berger and Taymor have invented a new baddie for the show — Swiss Miss, whose costume, designed by Oscar winner Eiko Ishioka (“Bram Stoker’s Dracula”), consists of rotating knives and swirling corkscrews.

Five young singers performed six songs from the show, including the haunting “Rise Above,” which is as good as any rock ballad in “Rent.”

The kid who sang that song, Reeve Carney, fluttered the hearts of all ladies in the auditorium. He seemed to have impressed Bono as well, and is said to be the leading contender to play Peter Parker.

Modern Fabulosity has even more, including word on more songs:

My favorite songs included two beautiful ballads written for Peter Parker which bookended the presentation, “Rise Above” and “Boy Falls From The Sky.” Both were incredibly successful at marrying story to lyric; they also managed to simultaneously sound like U2 rock tracks AND Broadway classics. I also liked the title ballad, “Turn Off The Dark,” a minor-chord metaphor for heroism, and an uptempo rocker, “Bouncing Off The Walls,” which will have Peter taking the title literally…with walls that move to accomodate his bouncing!

This is gonna be a big deal…

12 COMMENTS

  1. What a waste…..a joke……a very sad thing.
    Get your tickets now, since it will probably close opening night, at least it should.

  2. I find it amusing that amongst the names:Green Goblin, Carnage, Electro, Rhino, Swarm and Lizard, people can still make fun of Swiss Miss. As if the rest aren’t equally silly without knowing the history behind those villians.

    I’m excited to see this Swiss Miss, I hope she has a sidekick: Saint Pauli Girl.

  3. While “Spider-Man” the musical sounds silly on the face of it, I’m eager to see it. Julie Taymor is no joke, folks. She’s the real deal as far as theatrical visionaries go. And Bono and The Edge have a pretty good resume too.

    I found this clip where she talks about the show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezI3doSLWm4 . Of course, she misstates the year Spider-Man was created, so I’m sure that will make lots of people livid.

  4. I appreciate Taymor, and I grudgingly acknowledge the success of U2 (mainly because I don’t like their music), but really, Swiss Miss? Was White Rabbit unavailable?

  5. I think the only Spider-Man show that would make a lot of fans happy is one that involved their being zapped with a ray that gave them Spider-Man’s powers, having the actress playing Mary Jane come down into the audience and make out with them for two hours, and then having all the people that ever made fun of their reading comic books come out on stage and sing apologies until the curtains closed.

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