Peter Hylenski News

After a breif hiatus, ROCK OF AGES reopens at the Helen Hayes Theatre on Broadway tonight, March 24. The five-time Tony Award nominated musical played its final performance at The Brooks Atkinson Theatre on Sunday, January 9, 2011. The production moved houses to make way for RAIN, which had to vacate it's home at the Neil Simon Theatre to accommodate Catch Me If You Can.

Last night on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, they unveiled a new spoof commercial for SPIDER-MAN: Turn Off the Dark.

We're now told by two production sources that these negotiations are still continuing, and that her exit deal has not yet been finalized. Issues surrounding royalties, copywrites, billing and a non-disclosure have not yet been settled upon. Both sides are still hoping to reach an amicable departure and to avoid litigation, but that possibility is not off the table as they've now dragged on longer than both sides thought they were.

Now, BroadwayWorld.com has learned that lead actress, T.V. Carpio, who plays the role of Arachne has been sidelined from the production with what we're told is 'whiplash' and is expected to be out for 2-3 weeks under doctor's orders. We've now been told that the injury occured on stage during one of the show's many battle scenes.

SPIDER-MAN is well past its unprecedented hundredth preview on Broadway, but the backstage drama isn't over yet. A couple of weeks ago, SPIDER-MAN: Turn Off The Dark made their latest in a long line of announcements, that they now have rescheduled their opening night for the sixth time, for Tuesday, June 14, 2011.

This morning, Bloomberg News is reporting that producers are now in talks to replace the show's choreographer, Daniel Ezralow with Chase Brock. Ezralow, who helped to create many of the show's mid-air battles is a longtime collaborator of Julie Taymor's, having worked with her on Across the Universe, and the Green Bird, along with also staging shows for David Bowie, Sting and U2. Chase Brock most recently choreographed Lost in the Stars at Encores!, was assistant choreographer to Kathleen Marshall on Wonderful Town and recently helped create the (fantastic) Nintendo Wii game, Dance on Broadway.

Performances of Broadway's WONDERLAND - A New Alice. A New Musical begin this Monday, March 21 at the Marquis Theatre, 1535 Broadway (46th Street & Broadway). The official opening is Sunday, April 17.

In this week's SPIDER-MAN: TURN OFF THE DARK Weekly Web-Mail, music director and conductor Kim Grisby answers a fans questions. To watch the video, click below.

Performances of Broadway's WONDERLAND - A New Alice. A New Musical begin this Monday, March 21 at the Marquis Theatre, 1535 Broadway (46th Street & Broadway). The official opening is Sunday, April 17.

Broadway's WONDERLAND - A New Alice. A New Musical announces a student rush ticket policy. A limited number of $30 tickets (plus a $2 facility fee) will be available at the box office only, on the day of the performance, beginning when the box office opens for the day. Tickets subject to availability and a limit of 2 tickets can be purchased per valid college student ID. WONDERLAND - A New Alice. A New Musical begins performances this Monday, March 21 and opens April 17 at the Marquis Theatre, 1535 Broadway (46th Street & Broadway).

A few weeks ago the cast of SPIDER-MAN TURN OFF THE DARK Performed 'Rise Above' on The Late Show. Below, catch a glimpse of the song in full performance!

DreamWorks Theatricals and Neal Street Productions, Ltd. are pleased to announce that SHREK THE MUSICAL with book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire and music by Jeanine Tesori, directed by Jason Moore and Rob Ashford, will play Benedum Center, for one week only, Tuesday, March 15, through Sunday, March 20, 2011. Tickets ($22-$68) and are available at the Box Office at Theater Square, online at pgharts.org and charge by phone at 412-456-6666. Groups of 10+ may call 412-471-6930. SHREK THE MUSICAL is a presentation of the PNC Broadway Across America - Pittsburgh series, presented by The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Pittsburgh Symphony and Broadway Across America.

In a New York Times feature out this morning, The New York Times' Patrick Healey takes a look at what might be next for the trouble SPIDER-MAN musical, and reveals how those at the top have not yet lost faith. 'SPIDER-MAN will succeed...because we're thinking outside the box,' lead producer Michael Cohl famously said last August. Indeed they are, as 101 preview performances in - the longest in Broadway history - they have revamped the creative team.

On Sunday, BroadwayWorld.com has confirmed that Glen Berger, co-writer of the book who has been left out of much other press coverage and speculation is very much still on board and is at work with comic book writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa on making heavy revisions to the book. These changes are said to include much cutting of Julie Taymor's additions to the already rich SPIDER-MAN mythology including both the Geek Chorus, and Arachne. Other changes will include the Green Goblin remaining SPIDER-MAN's chief rival for the entire show which will involve changing both the ending of Act 1 and the beginning of Act 2 (with a new opener by Bono and the Edge) along with many other changes in Act 2.

BroadwayWorld.com first checked with a member of the show's cast, who told us that they felt that this was surely simply a negotiating ploy by Taymor (if it was indeed true), and that her torpedo-ing the show as a whole was highly unlikely, and presumably a last resort. They did tell us that if the script was pulled, that they believed that the production would face an immediate shutdown, as opposed to the one already planned for mid-April. We checked in with a legal expert, not affiliated with the production, for their take on reports that a Dramatists Guild Contract had not be signed and if Taymor could indeed pull her script from the production.

In today's New York Post, Michael Riedel is reporting that talks have 'turned testy' between Taymor and the producers, and that she is now threading to take the entire script of the show with her, which is said to have the production in 'chaos' with producers quickly scrambling a new script. There's no word on what this might due to the production in terms of additional rehearsal time if a deal is not able to be worked out.

Lead producers Michael Cohl and Jeremiah J. Harris announced today that SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark has rescheduled its opening night for Tuesday, June 14, 2011. In addition, to allow rehearsal time for the new changes being implemented in the show, performances from Tuesday, April 19th to Wednesday, May 11th have been cancelled with preview performances resuming on Thursday, May 12th. This amended schedule will allow the time necessary to execute the plan, which will include revisions to the script.

Talking to Don Imus this morning, legendary New York Times writer (and soon to be New York Magazine writer) Frank Rich said 'There is no way to fix a show this far into previews, according to Broadway history... it's a fool's errand at this point, if you know, follow history.' That said however, he also revealed that he has not seen the show, which has been in previews for months, because 'life is too short.'

The Wall Street Journal reports today that despite going public with the news that Julie Taymor will no longer move forward with SPIDER-MAN, her exit deal has not yet been finalized. Issues surrounding royalties, copywrites, and a non-disclosure have not yet been settled upon. Tamor's camp declined to comment on the separation negotiations. Litigation is not out of the question. Taymor will officially step down as head creative on March 15, 2011.

We're told that the cast today will be meeting with Actors Equity to explore their options and union protection. Many of the cast are up in arms since they've been rehearsing the show now since August of 2010 (or earlier) with much exhaustion and no end in site. Jeremy Gerard at Bloomberg News is the first with more details on what will be cut from the show, and what changes will occur during the show's as of yet unannounced shutdown. He reports that the Julie Taymor creation of Arachne will be heavily cut down, with her scenes being minimized and cut entirely, along with the song 'Deeply Furious' in which she and her minions go shopping for shoes, also said to be a Taymor favorite. Also on the chopping block? The Green Goblin's Act I death scene, which will make his Act II appearance more logical. We're told that he'll be getting a big new Act II opening number as well.