Mayor Bloomberg to Spoof SPIDER-MAN?

According to the NY Times, Mayor Michael Bloomberg might soon join the ranks of the many comedians who have spoofed SPIDER-MAN in recent months. Bloomberg will reportedly work Spidey skits into the Inner Cirlce charity dinner that will take place on Saturday, March 26. Details on the performance are being kept confidential. 

Spidey spokesman, Rick Miramontez responded to the news: "The Mayor's office keeps his Inner Circle Dinner plans very much under wraps, so we're in the dark. If he were to don the Spidey outfit, everyone at ‘Spider-Man' would be delighted, of course. And we know he'd look good in tights."

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In other news, the behind the scenes drama with SPIDER-MAN: Turn Off the Dark appears to be never-ending with news this week that Julie Taymor's deal has not yet been completed, cast member, T.V. Carpio (Arachne) suffered a whiplash injury, additional stoppages, and rumors that choreographer Chase Brock is being brought in to replace Daniel Ezralow.

BroadwayWorld.com has now confirmed via a production source that the deal to bring Chase Brock on board has been completed and that he will meet the company for the first time this evening, at a scheduled meeting to discuss changes to the show.

We're told that Brock will primarily be working on choreographing and staging the new material which will be added to the show during their hiatus. SPIDER-MAN is scheduled to go on hiatus from April 17 through May 11 for heavy reworking. Amongst the changes expected will be the making of The Green Goblin (played by Patrick Page) into SPIDER-MAN's chief villain, and the removal of much of the character of Arachne, and heavy re-working, with the most changes coming to Act 2.

As previously announced, Philip William McKinley (who directed Hugh Jackman in his Tony® Award-winning performance in The Boy From Oz) and Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa have joined the creative team to help implement new staging and book rewrites, respectively. The expanded creative team also includes musical consultant Paul Bogaev (Tarzan, Bombay Dreams, Aida, Sunset Boulevard) and sound designer Peter Hylenski (Elf, The Scottsboro Boys, Rock of Ages, Shrek), both of whom have already been working on improving the musical arrangements and sound quality (respectively) over the past few weeks, thereby vastly enhancing the audience experience. Due to the new schedule, director and co-book writer Julie Taymor will no longer continue in her day-to-day duties with the production.

SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark is now in previews at Broadway's Foxwoods Theatre (213 West 42nd Street).

Photo Credit: Peter James Zielinski