RIALTO CHATTER: Cumming Confirms: More Delays for SPIDER-MAN

Broadway vet Alan Cumming, who is set to star as The Green Goblin in Broadway's upcoming SPIDER-MAN: Turn off the Dark, told the New York Times on Saturday that the show will indeeed experience further delays.  Though the show's official website claims that previews are set to begin on February 25, Cumming tells the Times at a TimesTalk event this weekend (as part of the paper's annual Arts & Leisure Weekend), "No one's going to be there that day. We're just waiting."

The estimated $50 million production has been plagued with financial problems for some time. Yet, Michael Cohl, who took over as lead producer in November has said that the production will open sometime this year. 

Cummings additionally remarked that it is "a really weird, frustrating thing to be waiting," but that the production would be "a new, very exciting experience" for Broadway.  

The last SPIDER-MAN news hit in late November, when the The New York Times Arts Beat column reported that that Cohl had reached out to seasoned producers Kevin McCollum and Jeffrey Seller (WEST SIDE STORY, IN THE HEIGHTS, AVENUE Q, LA BOHEME, RAGTIME and more) about investing in the show. Cohl is said to have approached other seasoned producers as well for both expertise and for investments.

Back on November 6, it was reported that Michael Cohl had joined the production as lead producer on the show. Jeremiah J. Harris is now second producer on the show. The full producing team for SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark is Michael Cohl, Jeremiah J. Harris, HELLO Entertainment/David Garfinkle, Marvel Entertainment/David Maisel, and Sony Pictures Entertainment.

On November 6, the producers said that full financing for SPIDER-MAN is expected to be in place shortly. Once this happens the show will resume full production. The show will open in 2010 at the Hilton Theatre in New York.

Michael Cohl said, "Having started early on with SPIDER-MAN and now taking on the lead producing role is extremely exciting and a welcome challenge. Knowing the details and intricacies of this wildly ambitious project, I want to 'turn off the dark' on all the wild speculation about the show -- it's moving forward!"

SPIDER-MAN director Julie Taymor said, "With a team that includes Bono, Edge and Glen Berger, there was never a question in my mind that SPIDER-MAN would happen - it was just a matter of when. I am delighted that Michael Cohl is making this a reality."

After an exhaustive search that included a casting call tour spanning six cities and thousands of candidates, the producers and creative team selected Reeve Carney to play the role of Peter Parker, The Amazing Spider-Man. Carney joins previously announced cast members Evan Rachel Wood as Mary Jane Watson, Peter Parker's girlfriend and Alan Cumming as Norman Osborn (aka Green Goblin).

Reeve is the lead singer of CARNEY, the hot up and coming rock band whose newest single "Love Me Chase Me" was just released. The band's first full length album, entitled Mr. Green, will be released in early 2010 on Interscope Records. Reeve's acting credits include Julie Taymor's upcoming film version of The Tempest and the film version of the acclaimed novel Snow Falling on Cedars.

Bono and The Edge, who have written the music and lyrics for the production said, "Our ambition was to find a Peter Parker who could really act and sing, but who still brings a kind of performance that could be new to Broadway audiences. We wanted something a little more authentically rock and roll. Reeve is everything we could have hoped for: an amazing voice and a truly charismatic presence."

Drawing from over 40 years of Marvel comic books for inspiration, SPIDER-MAN spins a new take on the mythic tale of a young man propelled from a modest rowhouse in Queens to the sky-scraping spire of the Chrysler Building, the bustling offices of the Daily Bugle, through the dizzying canyons of Manhattan, to new vistas never before seen. The musical 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's battles will hurtle the audience through an origin story both recognizable and unexpected yielding new characters as well as familiar faces until a final surprising confrontation casts a startling new light on this hero's journey.

SPIDER-MAN 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). SPIDER-MAN is written by Julie Taymor and Glen Berger (Underneath The Lintel). The principal creative and design team for SPIDER-MAN includes Daniel Ezralow, Choreographer (Across the Universe, The Green Bird); George Tsypin, Sets (The Magic Flute, The Little Mermaid); Eiko Ishioka, Costumes (Academy Award® for Bram Stoker's Dracula, Tony Award® nomination for M. Butterfly, the opening ceremonies for the Beijing Olympics); Donald Holder, Lighting (Tony® Awards for The Lion King, South Pacific); Jonathan Deans, Sound (Fosse, The Beatles LOVE by Cirque du Soleil, Young Frankenstein); and Teese Gohl, Musical Supervisor (Across the Universe, Frida). Additional members of the SPIDER-MAN creative team will be announced at a later date.

TICKET INFORMATION:
Tickets for SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark are now on sale exclusively for American Express® Cardmembers at Ticketmaster.com, by calling 1-800-745-3000, or at all Ticketmaster outlets.