Broadway's Spider-Man Stuck in Sticky Situation

Broadway's "Spider-Man, Turn Off the Dark," a musical spin on the web-spinning comic book and movie superhero, is having trouble sticking to schedule. The musical, directed by Julie Taymor and scheduled to begin preview performances February 25 at the Hilton Theatre, has recently been suspended. The disruption in production is due to what Hello Entertainment, one of the show's producers, is calling an "unexpected cash flow problem," as reported by the Associated Press. The suspension in production is not indefinite, however, but does depend on the solution to the financial turmoil.

Taymor, whose directing credits include Broadway's "The Lion King" and cinema's "Across the Universe," has been able to work with a budget upwards of $40 million. Part of that figure is going towards the renovation of the Hilton Theatre to accommodate the web-swinging musical, and without a doubt some of that budget has been used to hire U2's The Edge and Bono, who are composing the musical's score. Although there has been no word on who will portray Spidey, the musical has cast Evan Rachel Wood as his love interest, Mary Jane Watson, and Alan Cumming as his nemesis, Green Goblin.