Spider-Man delays opening again, this time by 5 weeks

The Broadway premiere of Spider-Man, Turn Off The Dark, currently in previews, has delayed its opening night once again - this time by five weeks. The show, which was scheduled to open at Broadway's Foxwoods Theatre on 7 Feb 2011, will now open on 15 Mar 2011.

This new opening date is to allow for more time to fine-tune aspects of the show, including the new ending. To that end, the scheduled performances on 18 Jan 2011 and 25 Jan 2011 have been cancelled, and all ticketholders for those performances will be offered refunds or exchanges. All other preview performances will go on as scheduled.

Producer Cohl commented, "Spider-Man, Turn Off The Dark is ten-times more complicated to tech than anything else, and the preview schedule allows for only very limited rehearsal time (twelve hours per week). 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."

In a statement, Ms. Taymor said, "We are so grateful for the enthusiastic audiences who have been coming to see Spider-Man, Turn Off The Dark and we are dedicated to giving them the very best show we can."

Bono and The Edge added, "Working on this show has been one of the great thrills of our lives, we'll continue working as long as they let us. We are looking for the extraordinary here and we are nearly there."

This is the fourth time Spider-Man, Turn Off The Dark's opening date has been delayed. The musical, which is estimated to cost $65 million, has suffered from delays since it was first announced in Feb 2009. The previously announced opening nights were 18 Feb 2010, 21 Dec 2010, 11 Jan 2011 and 7 Feb 2011.

Originally scheduled to open at the Hilton Theatre (now the Foxwoods) on 18 Feb 2010, difficulties in raising finance caused the show's arrival to be delayed, with previews finally beginning on 28 Nov 2010.

The show has been blighted by a series of injuries. During rehearsals two actors suffered serious injuries; one breaking both wrists, while another broke both feet. Actress Natalie Mendoza, who played 'Arachne.' was injured during the musical's first preview on 28 Nov 2010 when she was struck on the head by a piece of rope that was holding production equipment. Though the actor initially returned to the show, she later withdrew from the production.

During the preview performance on 20 Dec 2010, Christopher W. Tierney sustaining severe injuries after he "fell several feet from a platform approximately seven minutes before the end of the performance." The actor's injuries includeed an "hairline skull fracture, four broken ribs, a bruised lung, internal bleeding and cracks in three lumbar vertebrae." Though initially in intensive care, Tierney has since been released from hospital and is well on his way to a full recovery.

Drawing from more than 40 years of Marvel comic books for inspiration, Spider-Man, Turn Off The Dark follows the story of teenager Peter Parker, whose unremarkable life is turned upside-down—literally — when he's bitten by a genetically altered spider and wakes up the next morning clinging to his bedroom ceiling. This bullied science-geek—suddenly endowed with astonishing powers — soon learns, however, that with great power comes great responsibility as villains test not only his physical strength but also his strength of character.

Spider-Man, Turn Off The Dark features music and lyrics by 22-time Grammy Award-winners Bono and The Edge of U2 with direction by Tony Award-winner Julie Taymor ('The Tempest,' 'Across The Universe,' 'The Lion King') and a book by Julie Taymor and Glen Berger ('Underneath The Lintel').

A press release for the show reads "Spider-Man, Turn Off The Dark represents the consummate collaboration of cultures by joining the theatrical and cinematic vision of Julie Taymor with the thrilling musicality of Bono and The Edge, and the iconic Spider-Man brand. This project has allowed these artists to create a work specifically designed for a theater environment, one that can't be produced as a stadium show, and is the natural evolution of three remarkable careers. Spider-Man, Turn Off The Dark promises to be the most ambitious production ever undertaken on Broadway.

Currently in rehearsal, the complete cast of Spider-Man, Turn Off The Dark stars Reeve Carney as 'Peter Parker/Spider-Man,' Tony Award-nominee Jennifer Damiano as 'Mary Jane Watson' and Patrick Page as 'Norman Osborn/The Green Goblin.'

The cast also features T.V. Carpio, Michael Mulheren, Ken Marks, Isabel Keating, Jeb Brown, Mat Devine, Gideon Glick, Jonathan Schwartz, Matthew James Thomas, Laura Beth Wells, Matt Caplan, Dwayne Clark, Luther Creek, Gerald Avery, Collin Baja, Marcus Bellamy, Emmanuel Brown, Erin Elliott, Craig Henningsen, Dana Marie Ingraham, Ayo Janeen Jackson, Heather Lang, Ari Loeb, Natalie Lomonte, Kevin Loomis, Kristin Martin, Jodi McFadden, Kristen Oei, America Olivo, Jennifer Perry, Kyle Post, Brandon Rubendall, Sean Samuels and Dollar Tan.

The creative team includes Daniel Ezralow (Choreography), George Tsypin (Scenic Design), Academy Award-winner Eiko Ishioka (Costume Design), Tony Award-winner Donald Holder (Lighting Design), Jonathan Deans (Sound Design), Kyle Cooper (Projection Design) and Julie Taymor (Mask Design).

Spider-Man, Turn Off The Dark is being produced on Broadway by Michael Cohl, Jeremiah J. Harris, Land Line Productions, Hello Entertainment/David Garfinkle, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Billy and Fernando Rovzar Diez Barroso, Jeffrey B. Hecktman, Omneity Entertainment/Richard G. Weinberg, Nederlander Organization/James L. Nederlander, Terry Allen Kramer, S2BN Entertainment, Jam Theatricals, the Mayerson/Gould/Hauser/Tysoe Group, and Patricia Lambrecht, by association with Marvel Entertainment.