Julie Taymor Begins Arbitration Next Week with SPIDER-MAN Producers

According to the NY Times, former SPIDER-MAN: TURN OFF THE DARK director Julie Taymor and the producers of the show will enter arbitration next week over the $500,000 in royalties that Taymor claims is owed to her. 

Taymor, who was let go as director of the show in March 2011, filed a claim in June that she never received royalties from the production and was only paid $125,000 when the project was launching five years ago. 

Producers Michael Cohl and Jeremiah J. Harris, 'plan to argue that they are not under any obligation to pay royalties to Ms. Taymor' and that 'she was dismissed for breach of contract, and will contend that she was inefficient - the monthslong preview performance period, when rehearsals were also continuing, was unprecedented - as well as inflexible about rewriting the "Spider-Man" script and overhauling elements of the production as they wanted.'

Taymor, on the other hand claims that 'she led the development of "Spider-Man" for nine years - along with the composers of the show's songs, U2's Bono and The Edge - and that the union's collective bargaining agreement required the producers to pay her royalties.'

Click here to read the full New York Times article.

SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark (Michael Cohl and Jeremiah J. Harris, Producers) features direction by Philip William McKinley (The Boy From Oz), original direction by Tony® Award-winner Julie Taymor (The Lion King, Across The Universe, Frida), music and lyrics by 22-time Grammy® Award-winners Bono and The Edge, and book co-written by Taymor, Glen Berger (Underneath The Lintel) and Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (Fantastic Four and Spider-Man comics, "Big Love"). The cast is led by Reeve Carney as ‘Peter Parker/Spider-Man,' Tony® Award nominee Jennifer Damiano as ‘Mary Jane Watson,' T.V. Carpio as ‘Arachne,' Patrick Page as ‘Norman Osborn/Green Goblin.'

Inspired by over 40 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 $67.50 - $147.50, 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 April 29, 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.