Michael Cohl News

On Twitter Watch, Nikki Hayden wrote 'iam_nikkihayden At Spiderman on B'way and Spiderman is stuck at 30 feet. Show is delayed - not impressed. 19 minutes ago iam_nikkihayden @BroadwaySpotted I'm at Spidey right now and Peter is stuck 30 feet and the show is stopped. 20 minutes ago '

Proceeds from tickets purchased for SPIDER-MAN: TURN OFF THE DARK's February 3 performance were donated to The Actor's Fund. Before the show, the cast, along with director Julie Taymor and the show's producers were feted as a Sardi's reception.

Adam Feldman, head of the New York Drama Critics' Circle, an organization comprised of many, but not all New York critics has just blogged about the result of their meeting tonight. On the agenda was whether they'd be able to reach a consensus about whether to wait for SPIDER-MAN's opening night to review the show. The end result? No consensus.

Well, the major critics haven't gone in (yet) but now the Toronto Star is the latest paper to break the gentleman's agreement of holding reviews until after the official opening, an agreement which generally assumes a typical amount of previews. Critic Richard Ouzounian writes that 'The only truly amazing thing about Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, is how unequivocally awful it is...'

A recent article from Variety asks the question: When will SPIDER-MAN: Turn Off the Dark rehearse the changes to the show that have been promised? By the time she show is set to open on March 15, the musical will have set the record for most preview performances. And after returning to a full eight-preview weekly schedule, there isn't much time to do more than perform the show as it is.

Lead producers Michael Cohl and Jeremiah J. Harris announced today that tickets have gone on sale for the 8:00 p.m. preview performance on Monday, February 7th. The performance was previously reserved for the show's opening night. In addition, as of today, tickets are now on sale for performances of SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark through Sunday, May 8th. Directed by Julie Taymor and featuring a book by Julie Taymor and Glen Berger, and new music and lyrics by U2's Bono and The Edge, SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark is now in previews at Broadway's Foxwoods Theatre (213 West 42nd Street).

With the media and the public eyes still firmly looking toward SPIDER-MAN Turn Off the Dark, director and co-writer Julie Taymor spoke to the LA Times, addressing the widespread negativity leveled toward the book and safety of the show.

According to Ew.com, T.V. Carpio has revealed that SPIDER-MAN director Julie Taymor is making 'major changes in the second act, which will make things more clear and better.' One of those 'major changes' includes the fight between her character, Arachne and Peter Parker.

Many critics still haven't decided (or announced) if they'll review SPIDER-MAN, but now New York Magazine's Scott Brown says that he will review the show on February 7th and then return to see the 'final product' on March 15th.

The attention of the world is still lasered in on SPIDER-MAN as is the New York Times, who reports that the long talked about new finale for the show has finally gone in today.

The attention of the world is still lasered in on SPIDER-MAN, and Fox News at 10 reported tonight that 'the curse of SPIDER-MAN seems to be continuing with another stunt mishap stopping today's matinee. The TV network is reporting that SPIDER-MAN was left hanging in the air for several minutes during Wednesday's matinee performance. Witnesses say that he was left hanging in mid-air while the show was stopped, but that thankfully no one was hurt.

Now, the New Jersey Star-Ledger's music critic, Jay Lustig has gone in, noting that they considerer the number of previews that SPIDER-MAN has had to be 'an unreasonably long period of time' and also cite the fact that the audience is paying non-discounted ticket prices and therefore to wait would be 'absurd'.

Well, the major critics haven't gone in (yet) but MTV has now posted their review of SPIDER-MAN: Turn Off the Dark, in two parts. The first, entitled 'Five Things We Liked' includes the Set Design, The Costumes, The Aerial Work, It's Family Friendly and 'Splash Page' the show's opening number.

According to the NY Times, SPIDER-MAN producers have been quick to defend their recent decision to again delay the show's official opening, postponing it until March 15. Producer Michael Cohl told NYT, 'The best idea to market the show would be to open.'

Just in from Rick Miramontez, Spokesman for SPIDER-MAN Turn Off the Dark 'The official position of the Spider-Man team is that critics should not review the production until invited by the production. We deem critics to be theater lovers, and to review the show before it is frozen is not, in any way, in the spirit of Broadway and all it represents.' BroadwayWorld.com reached out to multiple major critics after last night's announcement that the opening was being delayed (again) who have told us that they were talking to their editors and expect that given that the show will now have been seen by potentially 200,000 audience members before its opening night, that they will NOT wait until opening night to review the show and were instead looking at seeing the show near to the February 7th previously scheduled opening night.

Lead producers Michael Cohl and Jeremiah J. Harris announced tonight that SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark has delayed its opening night (previously set for February 7, 2011) to Tuesday, March 15th to allow for more time to fine-tune aspects of the show, including the new ending. Also to that end, the scheduled performances on Tuesday, January 18 and Tuesday, January 25 have been cancelled, and all ticketholders for those performances will be offered refunds or exchanges. All other preview performances will go on as scheduled. Directed by Julie Taymor and featuring a book by Julie Taymor and Glen Berger, and new music and lyrics by U2's Bono and The Edge, SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark is now in previews at Broadway's Foxwoods Theatre (213 West 42nd Street). Last week, SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark was the number one box office grossing show on Broadway.

Andrew Garfield, who will star in the upcoming 'Spider-Man' film - the fourth in the series - has admitted that he can certainly relate to his future onscreen role. The actor told the Daily Mail that he and 'Peter Parker' (the secret identity of the web-slinging hero) share a common experience; they were both bullied in school.

While some have criticized Bono for not being around for SPIDER-MAN's early previews, due to previous touring commitments in New Zealand, he is now back in town and fully involved with the production that features his music and lyrics.

Lead producer Michael Cohl announced today that cast member T.V. Carpio has officially assumed the role of 'Arachne' in SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark, replacing Natalie Mendoza who departed the production last week after suffering a concussion at an early preview. Directed by Julie Taymor and featuring a book by Julie Taymor and Glen Berger, and new music and lyrics by U2's Bono and The Edge, SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark is now in previews at Broadway's Foxwoods Theatre (213 West 42nd Street). Opening night is set for Monday, February 7, 2011.

Bono and The Edge will be attending all future previews of SPIDER-MAN Turn Off the Dark, according to production spokesman Rick Miramontez. '[They] will be in the theater next week and for all of the preview performances leading up to the opening night working on the show,' added Miramontez.