SPIDER-Man Launches 'Everyday Heroes' Initiative; Diane Pagen Named First Honoree

At a press conference today at the Foxwoods Theatre, Reeve Carney, star of SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark, Broadway's most popular new show, announced a new initiative to honor "Everyday Heroes." Flanked by the show's Spider-Men, Carney explained the details of the "Everyday Heroes" program (outlined below), before introducing the program's first honoree: Nurse Practitioner Diane Pagan.

"Every night I have the pleasure of pretending to be a hero on stage for a couple hours, but there are people everywhere who embody heroism in their daily lives," Carney said. "These amazing real-life heroes rarely get the recognition they deserve, and we are delighted to get to shine a spotlight on them."

The "Everyday Heroes" program will be conducted entirely online on SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark's official Facebook page. The nomination process is open to the general public, and those who wish to nominate a Hero are encouraged to visit www.facebook.com/TurnOffTheDark and complete the nomination form. Each month, a special committee made up of SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark company members will choose an honoree from the pool of nominees. The honoree will be invited (with a guest) to a performance of SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark, receive a special public acknowledgement and be invited backstage for a meet-and-greet with the cast. In addition, SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark will make a donation to the charity of the honoree's choosing. Please visit www.facebook.com/TurnOffTheDark for complete rules and additional information.

About our first "Everyday Hero": Diane Pagan is a Nurse Practitioner who has been working for the Medical House Call Program at Montefiore Medical Center for six years. She travels to different areas throughout the Bronx and visits very sick homebound patients to provide care. Her goal is to keep them well and prevent them from having to be hospitalized. She is a certified geriatric care manager, who sees a mix of elderly patients and younger patients. Always willing to go the extra step for her patients, her capacity for compassion and empathy is seemingly limitless. Despite her tireless efforts on behalf of her patients, Diane also finds the time to care for her three young children, ages 4, 7 and 9.

"As Uncle Ben says, ‘With great power comes great responsibility,' and our very first ‘Everyday Hero' completely embodies that idea," Carney said of Pagan.

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.

Syfy, the premier cable destination for imagination-based entertainment, is a lead media partner for SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark.