RIALTO CHATTER: Riedel Reveals Cumming Sought as SPIDER-MAN's 'Green Goblin'

The New York Post's Michael Riedel reports in his column today that Tony winner Alan Cumming is being sought for the role of the villianous 'Green Goblin' in the upcoming SPIDER-MAN musical by Julie Taymor, the tuners director.

Cumming has worked with Taymor before, having starred in Titus, her 1999 adaptation of Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus. The acclaimed actor is in negotiations to play the Goblin, but there has been no official casting statements as of yet.

To read the Post article, click here.

It became official when, SPIDER-MAN, Turn Off the Dark, was announced to open on Thursday, February 18, 2010 at Broadway's Hilton Theatre, 213 West 42nd Street (preview performances will begin Saturday, January 16, 2010). 

Directed by Tony Award-winner Julie Taymor with 22-time Grammy® Award-winning Bono and The Edge creating new music and lyrics, SPIDER-MAN will be written by Julie Taymor and Glen Berger. 

Taymor, Bono, The Edge as well as the entire team who are bringing the famed comic hero to the Broadway stage, gave a sneak peek at The Times Center this week of Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark.

SPIDER-MAN is produced by HELLO Entertainment/David Garfinkle, Martin McCallum, Marvel Entertainment/David Maisel, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Jeremiah Harris.

SPIDER-MAN is produced in association with Omneity Entertainment/Richard Weinberg, the Mayerson/Gould/Hauser/Tysoe Group, Patricia Lambrecht and Jam Theatricals/S2BN Entertainment.

Julie Taymor is best known as director of one of the most successful musicals in Broadway history, Disney's The Lion King and the film Across The Universe. Bono and The Edge are half of one of the most popular rock bands of all time, U2, who will be making their Broadway debut with SPIDER-MAN.

Drawing from over forty 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.

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, Ragtime); and Teese Gohl, Musical Supervisor (Across the Universe, Frida). Additional members of the SPIDER-MAN creative team will be announced at a later date.

Group tickets now on sale. Single tickets will go on sale June, 2009. For more information about group tickets, visit the Spider-Man website at www.SpidermanOnBroadway.com or by calling 1-800-Broadway.

With a library of over 5,000 characters, Marvel Entertainment, Inc. is one of the world's most prominent character-based entertainment companies. Marvel's operations are focused on utilizing its character franchises in licensing, entertainment, publishing and toys. Areas of emphasis include feature films, DVD/home video, consumer products, video games, action figures and role-playing toys, television and promotions. For more information visit www.marvel.com

Alan Cumming trained at the RoyAl Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. He made his West End debut in Manfred Karge's Conquest of the South Pole at the Royal Court for which he received a Most Promising Newcomer Olivier award nomination. He gained further Olivier award nominations for La Bete and Cabaret and won for Accidental Death of An Anarchist at the Royal National Theatre, where he also played Romeo in Romeo and Juliet and directed Michel Tremblay's Bonjour la, Bonjour at the RNT studio. He played Hamlet on tour and at the Donmar Warehouse to great acclaim, winning the TMA award and a Shakespeare Globe nomination.

In 1998 he made his sensational Broadway debut in Cabaret and won the Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics' Circle, Theatre World, NY Press, FANY and New York Public Advocate's awards. He has since appeared on Broadway in Design For Living and The Threepenny Opera. Off-Broadway he appeared in Jean Genet's Elle (which he also adapted) and The Seagull. He returned to the British Stage in 2006 to play Max in Martin Sherman's Bent and for the National Theatre of Scotland he played Dionysus in The Bacchae, which was seen last summer in NYC as part of the Lincoln Center Festival.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.