Wood Woos Sturgess for SPIDER-MAN Role

WENN New service is reporting that Actress Evan Rachel Wood is "begging" her Across The Universe co-star Jim Sturgess to join her in the highly anticipated SPIDER-MAN musical - because she thinks he is the perfect choice to play a webslinging and showtune singing Peter Parker.

Wood, who is all but confirmed for the leading lady role of 'Mary Jane', is hoping to reteam with her Across The Universe director Julie Taymor for the upcoming hero tuner - and both want Sturgess to sign up reports WENN.

Wood told the news site that, "It's a year commitment... I did the workshop with Jim Sturgess, but he's not sure if he can make that year commitment but we're trying to get him to do it. I want him to do it so bad."

SPIDER-MAN will not be played for camp describes Wood and won't be the joke some critics think it is destined to be, "They're taking stuff from the first and second films and some stuff from the comic book and how Spider-Man came to be so there's gonna be a new villain", exclaimed the actress.

"When you first hear the title, Spider-Man, The Musical, you think, 'Oh what's that gonna be like?' The deal was that a man would never sing in spandex on stage, so, rest assured, Spider-Man will never sing in tights, only as Peter Parker. Only Julie Taymor can bring it to that place. She's bringing it to the next level like she did with The Lion King. There's all new flying technology.

She reveals thay she, "learned all the songs by Bono and The Edge. I didn't know how they were going to write for the stage but I think it's the best work they've done."

The UK Times Online reported earlier this month that SPIDER-MAN the upcoming musical based on the Marvel comic book hero and written by Bono and the Edge from U2, will indeed take residency in the Hilton Theatre early next year as the "chilly wind of a US recession" blows through the theatre district of New York City.

The article gave many new details regarding the production including comments from well regarded press maestro Adrian Bryan-Brown and Hilton Theatre manager Micah Hollingsworth. 

Film and fantasy site IESB.net reported a number of weeks ago that Evan Rachel Wood had been cast as "Mary Jane" in the upcoming superhero musical, it states that rehearsals will begin in June 2009. The website revealed that her 'Across The Universe' co-star Jim Sturgess, long rumored to play Peter Parker/Spiderman is still a possibility, but has to be "convinced". 

Marvel Comic executive Peter Cuneo recently confirmed that the musical version of the popular comic and film Spider-Man is "definitely a go". IESB.net reports that Marvel's Peter Cuneo says they are, "very pleased with our Broadway show.

According to recent reports Julie Taymor is confirmed to direct and Bono and The Edge are writing the lyrics and score. Rumor has it that the musical could open as early as early 2009. Cuneo went on to state that the creative direction and execution of the show is already in progress and very solid.

"Spider-Man (Peter Benjamin Parker) is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics superhero, created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko. The character first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15 (Aug. 1962), and has since gone on to become one of the most popular, enduring and commercially successful superheroes worldwide, and is arguably Marvel's most famous character. When Spider-Man first appeared in the early 1960s, teenagers in superhero comic books were usually relegated to the role of sidekick to the series' main character. The Spider-Man series broke ground by featuring Peter Parker, a teenage high school student to whose "self-obsessions with rejection, inadequacy, and loneliness" young readers could relate. Spider-Man has since appeared in various media, including several animated and live-action television series, syndicated newspaper comic strips and a successful series of films starring actor Tobey Maguire as the character.

Marvel has featured Spider-Man in several comic book series, the first titled The Amazing Spider-Man. Over the years, the Peter Parker character has developed from shy high school student to troubled college student to a married teacher and a member of the superhero team the New Avengers," state press notes.

Taymor, who won a Tony Award for directing the Broadway musical The Lion King and who is also known for equally visually imaginative films such as Titus and Frida, helmed the recent Metropolitan Opera production of The Magic Flute, as well as productions such as Juan Darien, The Tempest, and Oedipus Rex.

Photo by Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.