Michael Mulheren News

SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark, has played to over five-hundred-thousand audience members, as of yesterday's matinee performance. The 500,000th ticketholder, Australian youngster Jordan Muir, was surprised during the curtain call when Patrick Page (Green Goblin) invited the boy and his parents, Michelle and Rob Muir, onstage for a special recognition. Jordan was handed a gigantic bouquet of balloons, in Spidey's signature colors, as the crowd cheered. As they exited the theater, through the stage doors, photographers were waiting to snap pictures of the family. JorDan Held up a stage prop he had been given backstage: a copy of The Daily Bugle. BroadwayWorld was on hand for the celebration and brings you complete photo coverage below!

After years of delay, 70M+ in spending, casting and creative team do-overs, injuries and a Media Blitz unlike Broadway has ever seen before, SPIDER-MAN Turn Off the Dark opened at the Foxwoods Theatre on June 14, 2011. Click below to go behind the scenes of the making of the 'Rise Above' music video!

SPIDER-MAN's own Reeve Carney recently chatted with Time Out New York about how how he keeps himself in top Spidey shape. Carney revealed, 'For me, the show is my workout. [Spider-Man] is a really great cardiovascular workout. The biggest change I've noticed is that my reflexes have improved dramatically. But I never wanted to get any bigger. I'm onstage with a band, and I like to wear sleeveless shirts. The only rock star I can think of who really makes that work, with muscles, is Bruce Springsteen, and I'm not really like him. I love his music, but I wouldn't put myself in that category. It helps to be a little more slight-of-build.'

Welcome to the kick-off of BroadwayWorld's newest feature, and first-ever talk show, BACKSTAGE WITH RICHARD RIDGE. Follow Richard as he visits Broadway's best and brightest in their Broadway dressing rooms to talk about their lives, careers and all of the things you don't know, but want to know. The season begins with a unique joint chat with the lovebirds of SPIDER-MAN, Reeve Carney, who plays Peter Parker (aka Spider-Man) and Jennifer Diamiano who plays his object of his affection, Mary Jane Watson. Crammed into Carney's cozy dressing room (selected small, intentionally), Richard gets the scoop from the pair on the SPIDER-MAN journey from inside the room, how the company dealt personally with the media circus, working with artistic icons Bono, Edge and Julie Taymor, and that kiss.

On Saturday, July 9, 2011, Mary Tyler Moore and Bernadette Peters hosted the 13th annual BROADWAY BARKS!, a star-studded dog and cat adopt-a-thon benefiting New York City animal shelters and adoption agencies. The event, produced by Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is sponsored by official charity partners, the ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®), Newman's Own® Organics: The Second Generation®, with additional sponsorship by the New York Times. In the video below, Peters chats with the ladies of NY Live about the big event!

On Saturday, July 9, 2011, Mary Tyler Moore and Bernadette Peters hosted the 13th annual BROADWAY BARKS!, a star-studded dog and cat adopt-a-thon benefiting New York City animal shelters and adoption agencies. The event, produced by Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is sponsored by official charity partners, the ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®), Newman's Own® Organics: The Second Generation®, with additional sponsorship by the New York Times. The event will take place in Shubert Alley (located between 44th and 45th Streets, between Broadway and Eighth Avenue).

On Saturday, July 9, 2011, Mary Tyler Moore and Bernadette Peters hosted the 13th annual BROADWAY BARKS!, a star-studded dog and cat adopt-a-thon benefiting New York City animal shelters and adoption agencies. The event, produced by Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is sponsored by official charity partners, the ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®), Newman's Own® Organics: The Second Generation®, with additional sponsorship by the New York Times. The event will take place in Shubert Alley (located between 44th and 45th Streets, between Broadway and Eighth Avenue).

On Saturday, July 9, 2011, Mary Tyler Moore and Bernadette Peters hosted the 13th annual BROADWAY BARKS!, a star-studded dog and cat adopt-a-thon benefiting New York City animal shelters and adoption agencies. The event, produced by Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is sponsored by official charity partners, the ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®), Newman's Own® Organics: The Second Generation®, with additional sponsorship by the New York Times. The event will take place in Shubert Alley (located between 44th and 45th Streets, between Broadway and Eighth Avenue).

Norbert Leo Butz, Bobby Cannavale, Reeve Carney, Jennifer Damiano, Paige Davis, Sutton Foster, Joel Grey, John Larroquette, Joe Mantello, Patrick Page, Annabella Sciorra, Aaron Tveit and more join Bernadette Peters and Mary Tyler Moore for Broadway Barks, 2011.

Broadway?s biggest show SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark officially opens Tuesday, June 14th at the Foxwoods Theatre (213 West 42nd Street). The show features creative consultation 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 funny thing about 70 million dollar musicals is that the paper used to write them costs no more than the paper used to write church basement showcases budgeted on the limit of someone's maxed-out credit card.  And twenty thousand years from now, when intergalactic societies consider our generation's artistic ambitions based on which words and music written on that paper we chose to support with extravagantly-financed productions viewed by over ten thousand purchasers of high-priced tickets every week, let's hope we don't have to sheepishly shield our faces in our afterlife abodes as they flabbergastedly wonder, 'What the hell were they thinking?'

Although SPIDER-MAN: TURN OFF THE DARK has seldom stopped making headlines in the past year, the team behind the musical has been all but mum on details regarding their tumultous journey. From recasting, to previews, to delays, and finally opening night - which took place just this Tuesday - there has been more attention focused on the show than any in recent memory.

A long-standing opening night tradition on the Great White Way, the fabled Gypsy Robe is bestowed upon a veteran Broadway chorus member for each opening production. In what has now become a theatrical ritual, originating on Broadway 60 years ago, SPIDER-MAN cast member Luther Creek was the recipient at the Foxwoods Theatre in New York City.

Mary Tyler Moore and Bernadette Peters will host the 13th annual BROADWAY BARKS!, a star-studded dog and cat adopt-a-thon benefiting New York City animal shelters and adoption agencies. The event, produced by Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is sponsored by official charity partner, the ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) with additional sponsorship by the New York Times. The event will take place on Saturday, July 9 in Shubert Alley (located between 44th and 45th Streets, between Broadway and Eighth Avenue). The festivities begin at 3:30 p.m.; celebrity presentations of pets from citywide animal shelters will take place between 5:30-6:30 p.m.

While the Broadway world is still abuzz from Sunday's Tony Awards, all eyes turned last night to another star-studded red carpet event: the much-delayed opening of SPIDER-MAN: TURN OFF THE DARK. BroadwayWorld.com was there to capture all of the excitement of the night, including the arrivals for the cast and creative team for the show's opening night party.

While the Broadway world is still abuzz from Sunday's Tony Awards, all eyes turned last night to another star-studded red carpet event: the much-delayed opening of SPIDER-MAN: TURN OFF THE DARK. BroadwayWorld.com was there to capture all of the excitement of the night, including the opening night curtain call at which Julie Taymor made a surprise appearance!

On the subject of breaking the 10:00 p.m. embargo on reviews, -Rick Miramontez, Spokesperson, SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark released a statement noting that 'For The Hollywood Reporter to break the embargo and run its review before opening night curtain goes up is the epitome of bad taste. Everyone in this production has waited a very long time to get to this point, and it is incredibly disrespectful that certain members of the media won't wait a few more hours to post their reviews. We trust that no other outlets will stoop so low.'

After more than 185 previews, onstage and offstage drama, and the critics descending long before the opening, the official opening of SPIDER-MAN TURN OFF THE DARK is - at last - here tonight. The New York Times has just cleared up the speculation has whether original Spider-Man creator Julie Taymor would attend the opening, having been replaced by Philip William McKinley back in March.

According to Showbiz411.com who has been fairly accurate with Julie Taymor related news, they report that 'I'm told that the show's masterful creator, Julie Taymor, is likely to attend the premiere. She should, and she should take a big bow at curtain call. Tonight closes almost nine years worth of hard work.'

After more than 185 previews, onstage and offstage drama, and the critics descending long before the opening, the official opening of SPIDER-MAN TURN OFF THE DARK is at last here! We'll be bringing you our usual full coverage of the opening tonight starting with our live review roundup this evening, with pictures, videos and more to come!