RIALTO CHATTER: Riedel - Will Bono Swing In To Rescue SPIDER-MAN?

Michael Riedel reports in his Broadway Matinee column in the The New York Post today that while 'SPIDER-MAN, Turn Off The Dark' may have hit a snag on the road to Broadway, a friendly "superhero" is trying to "swing" in to get things rolling again.

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.

Riedel reveals that Bono is hoping to gather up some of his creative and well-heeled friends to give the musical "webslinger" a lift and help him back on the road to production.

He reports that, "the help -- or, more accurately, the cash -- is said to be coming by way of Bono, who, with The Edge, has written the score to "Spider-Man."

Bono's too smart to put his own money in the show, but word on the street is that he's tapped into his vast network of rich friends and business associates to restart production.

Designers and some stagehands go back to work today." To read Michael Riedel's column on the latest 'SPIDER-MAN' updates click here.

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.

Julie Taymor (Co-Book Writer, Director). Julie Taymor's latest film, Across The Universe, received a Golden Globe® nomination for Best Musical/Comedy in 2008. Her first film Fool's Fire, an adaptation of an Edgar Allan Poe short story, aired on PBS in 1992. She directed her first feature, Titus, starring Anthony Hopkins and Jessica Lange in 1999. Frida, about the Mexican painter, starring Salma Hayek and Alfred Molina, received five Academy Award® nominations including a nomination for Taymor for Best Original Song for "Burn it Blue," and two Oscars® in 2002. Taymor's next film is The Tempest staring Dame Helen Mirren, Djimon Honsou and Russell Brand. Taymor has received numerous awards for The Lion King, which opened on Broadway in 1997, including two Tony® Awards-one for best direction and one for her original costume designs. The Lion King has been seen on eleven stages worldwide. She also earned a Tony Award ® nomination for Best Direction and Best Scenic Design of a Musical for Juan Darien. Recent opera productions include an original opera, Grendel, composed by Elliot Goldenthal, which premiered at the Los Angeles Opera and subsequently at the Lincoln Center Festival (2006). Her direction of Mozart's Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) premiered at the Metropolitan Opera in 2004 and is now in repertoire there. Taymor has received a MacArthur "genius" grant, a Guggenheim Fellowship, two OBIE Awards, the first Annual Dorothy B. Chandler Award in Theater, and the 1990 Brandeis Creative Arts Award among many others. A book spanning her career, Julie Taymor: Playing With Fire, is in its third edition from Abrams.

BONO (Music & Lyrics). The lead singer of U2, Bono was born Paul David Hewson in Dublin. He met The Edge, Larry Mullen and Adam Clayton at school, and in 1978 U2 was formed. Acknowledged as one of the best live acts in the world, U2 have sold over 170 million albums and won numerous awards, including 22 Grammys.® Bono and The Edge have also received 4 Golden Globe® nominations including a win for "The Hands that Built America" from Gangs of New York, which was also nominated for an Academy Award, Best Original Song. In their first year of eligibility, U2 was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Their latest album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, has sold more than 3 million copies in the United States and close to 10 million worldwide and it won all 3 Grammy Awards for which it was nominated in 2005 and all 5 Grammy Awards for which it was nominated in 2006. A new album, No Line On The Horizon, is due for release in March, 2009. Bono is a long-time activist in the fight against AIDS and extreme poverty in Africa. He is the cofounder of ONE, an advocacy and campaigning organization with 2 million members dedicated to fighting extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa. As part of his work with ONE, Bono has lobbied U.S. Presidents and Congressional leaders, along with the heads of many other G8 nations. In 2006, Bono and Bobby Shriver launched Product (RED). Product (RED) has an ongoing relationship with global brands that sell (RED) products, a percentage of profits from which are donated directly to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in Africa. Bono has received a number of awards, including the Legion D'Honneur in 2003, Time Magazine's Person of the Year in 2005 (alongside Bill & MeLinda Gates), and an honorary British knighthood in 2007. Bono lives in Dublin with his wife and children.

The Edge (Music & Lyrics). Guitarist with U2, The Edge was born David Howell Evans in east London. A year later, he and his family moved to Malahide, Co. Dublin, where he attended Mount Temple School and met Larry Mullen, Bono, and Adam Clayton. In 1978 U2 was formed. Described as one of the most influential guitar players of his generation, Edge's crystalline minimalist guitar playing is the hallmark of U2's music, and one of the most original and distinctive guitar styles in rock and roll history. Acknowledged as one of the best live acts in the world, U2 have toured the globe countless times, have released 14 studio albums and won numerous awards, including 22 Grammys®. One of the principle songwriters of U2, The Edge has also written extensively for other projects, often in collaboration with Bono, including music for movies (Captive, Gangs of New York and GoldenEye); for animation (The "Batman" TV series); and for the stage (A Clockwork Orange by the Royal Shakespeare Company). Marked out by their politics from the beginning, U2 were awarded Amnesty International's Ambassador of Conscience Award in 2006. In 2005, The Edge co-founded Music Rising, a charity initiative which provides musical instruments for the musicians, schools and churches of the Gulf Region. The Edge lives in Dublin with his wife and children.

SPIDER-MAN is produced by HELLO Entertainment/David Garfinkle, Martin McCallum, Marvel Entertainment/David Maisel, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Jeremiah Harris, in association with Omneity Entertainment/Richard Weinberg, Jeffrey B. Hecktman, the Mayerson/Gould/Hauser/Tysoe Group, Patricia Lambrecht and Jam Theatricals/S2BN Entertainment.

SPIDER-MAN will now begin preview performances Thursday, February 25, 2010 at the Hilton Theatre with a new official opening date to be announced shortly. (The opening date was previously February 18, 2010). Tickets for the eagerly anticipated 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.