Photo Flash: SPIDER-MAN Rescues New Year's Eve!

SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark showcased an unprecedented event with Times Square Alliance when they dropped the New Year's Eve ball 30 feet before midnight last night, marking the first time in history the ball has descended before midnight. In an exciting segment shown live in Times Square and on CNN, Spider-Man came to the rescue when The Green Goblin took host Anderson Cooper captive. After the Goblin threatened to drop the ball early to ruin New Year's Eve, Spider-Man raised it back to its original position and stood triumphantly on top of One Times Square. The event featured SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark actors Matthew James Thomas, Patrick Page, Jeb Brown and Christopher Tierney alongside CNN hosts Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin.

SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark has been seen by more than 700,000 audience members from around the world. It features music and lyrics by 22-time Grammy® Award-winners Bono and The Edge, direction by Philip William McKinley (The Boy From Oz), original direction by Tony® Award-winner Julie Taymor (The Lion King, Across The Universe, Frida), and book co-written by Taymor, Glen Berger (Underneath The Lintel) and Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (Fantastic Four and Spider-Man comics, "Big Love"). The show currently stars Reeve Carney as "Peter Parker/Spider-Man," Patrick Page as "Norman Osborn/Green Goblin," Rebecca Faulkenberry as "Mary Jane Watson," and Christina Sajous as "Arachne."

In the past year of performances at The Foxwoods Theatre, SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark has been the most media covered show in Broadway history, from "Saturday Night Live" to "The Simpsons" to "Conan" to "South Park" to the cover of The New Yorker.

Inspired by nearly 50 years of Marvel comic books, SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark follows the story of teenager Peter Parker, whose unremarkable life is turned upside-down 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 incredible powers soon learns, however, that with great power comes great responsibility as villains put both his physical strength and strength of character to the test.

Tickets for SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark are priced from $69.50 - $149.50, and can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com or by calling (877) 250-2929. Tickets are also available at the Foxwoods Theatre box office (213 West 42nd Street), which is open Monday through Saturday, 10:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, 12:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. Tickets are now on sale through September 2, 2012.

SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark now plays the following performance schedule: Tuesday through Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday at 1:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8:00 p.m., Saturday at 2:00 p.m., and Sunday at 3:00 p.m.

Beginning the week of January 16, SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark will play the following schedule: Tuesday through Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8:00 p.m., Saturday at 2:00 p.m., and Sunday at 1:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.

Photos by Jacob Cohl, via SPIDER-MAN Turn Off the Dark