By Scott Heller and Patrick Healy
THE much-hyped musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, directed by Julie Taymor and with music by Bono and the Edge of U2 (pictured), has delayed its opening for the fifth time, with a new opening night of March 15, the musical's lead producers announced late last week.
In a statement, the producers, Michael Cohl and Jeremiah Harris, said the opening was pushed back to allow for more time to fine-tune aspects of the show, including the new ending.
The Foxwoods Theatre on New York's 42nd Street.Credit: AP
Cohl said the preview schedule allowed for only 12 hours a week for technical rehearsals and that the show was ''10 times more complicated to tech than anything else. We simply need more time to fully execute the creative team's vision before freezing the show. I picked a date in March that allows me to ensure that this will be the final postponement.''
Along with the delayed opening, preview performances on January 18 and 25 were cancelled.
At $US65 million, already twice as expensive as any other show mounted on Broadway, Spider-Man began previews on November 28 and most recently had a February 7 opening night. Even without an official opening, the show has been selling out regularly. When it does open, Spider-Man will have been in previews longer than any show in Broadway history.
Several critics have begun to review the musical, arguing that audiences are paying full price and deserve to hear an independent assessment of the show's quality.
The decision to delay opening night came at a meeting of Taymor and other members of the creative team on Thursday as they discussed several changes they wanted to make to the show, sources said.
Taymor had been aware for some time that major changes and the creation of a spectacle-calibre ending would probably require working past the February 7 opening, and the members of her team confirmed that at the meeting, the sources said. Cohl and Taymor then notified the cast and crew about the new delay before the performance on Thursday night.
Rick Miramontez, a spokesman for the musical, said the changes did not include an overhaul of the music. He said Bono and the Edge were not writing new songs for the show.