SPIDER-MAN Officially Begins Rehearsals 8/16

The New York Times has just announced that rehearsals for the much-delayed and much anticipated SPIDER-MAN: Turn Off the Dark, will officially begin on August 16, 2010. According to the report, some choreography and aerial flying lessons began on Monday for some of the cast, including Spidey himself, Reeve Carney.

SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark will begin preview performances on Broadway on Sunday, November 14, 2010, at 3 p.m., with Opening Night set for Tuesday evening, December 21. Directed by Julie Taymor and featuring a book by Julie Taymor and GLen berger, and new music and lyrics by Bono and The Edge, SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark will open at Broadway's Foxwoods Theatre (213 West 42nd Street). See below for a first look at the set!

Mr. Cohl also announced that joining the previously announced Reeve Carney as ‘Peter Parker/Spider-Man,' are Tony® Award nominee Jennifer Damiano as ‘Mary Jane Watson' and Patrick Page as ‘Norman Osborn/The Green Goblin.'

Drawing from more than 40 years of Marvel comic books for inspiration, SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark spins a new take on the mythic tale of Peter Parker, a teenager whose unremarkable life in Queens is turned upside-down-literally-when he's bitten by a genetically-altered spider and wakes up the next morning clinging to the ceiling. Bullied by his classmates and tortured by an unrelenting crush on next-door-neighbor Mary Jane Watson, this science geek discovers he has suddenly been endowed with astonishing powers. He ­soon learns, however, that "with great power comes great responsibility." Maligned by the media, buffeted by financial woes, and stretched thin by the expectations of the world-at-large, Peter now must struggle to navigate the perilous and peculiar demands of being a web-slinging superhero. With the characters in SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark ranging from old familiar favorites to supervillains never-before imagined, Spider-Man's battles will hurtle the audience through a story both recognizable and unexpected, culminating in an eye-popping, ultimate test for this iconic figure.

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). 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) and Teese Gohl (Musical Supervision). Casting is by Telsey + Co.

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