Philip William McKinley News

Producers Michael Cohl and Jeremiah J. Harris announced today that Katrina Lenk will be joining the cast of Broadway's SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark, in the role of "Arachne". Christina Sajous, who currently plays the role of "Arachne", will play her final performance on Sunday, May 27thwith Lenk assuming the role on Tuesday, May 29th. Reeve Carney, Patrick Page, and Rebecca Faulkenberry will continue on in their roles as "Peter Parker/Spider-Man", "Norman Osborn/Green Goblin", and "Mary Jane Watson" respectively.

On Friday, May 4th, members of the cast and creative team of SPIDER-MAN: Turn Off The Dark visited Bronx Middle School 343 to conduct a special Master Class for the students. See below for photos from the event, which included the SPIDER-MAN cast and creatives sharing their stories, as well as a performance by Matthew James Thomas of 'Rise Above,' to which the children sang along.

Reeve Carney and the cast of SPIDER-MAN TURN OFF THE DARK celebrated Green Goblin Patrick Page's birthday onstage at the Foxwoods Theatre at the curtain call, with a surprise appearance by Paige Davis (Mrs. Patrick Page, 'Trading Spaces'), yesterday, April 27. BroadwayWorld brings you photos of the event below!

Yesterday, April 18, Reeve Carney celebrated his 29th birthday at the Foxwoods Theatre. As a gift, the Spider-Man Turn Off The Dark house crew compiled a video retrospective of the star's journey with the show from rehearsal through opening and BroadwayWorld shares it with you below!

According to the Associated Press, a stuntman from Broadway's SPIDER-MAN: TURN OFF THE DARK is considering suing the production over injuries suffered in 2010-11. Richard Kobak (Joshua Kobak according to cast lists for the show), claims not only that he suffered knee injuries while filling in for another cast member in 2010, but that 'a computer program controlling one of his jumps from a balcony sent him flying into a wall on April 5, 2011.'

Julie Taymor's SPIDER-MAN legal battle continues to press on, as producers 8 Legged Productions, LLC have filed a dismissal of her lawsuit, which claims that much of her work was used unrightfully by the new team. According to a report in The Hollywood Reporter, Taymor has responded by filing a dismissal of this dismissal.

The producers of SPIDER-MAN TURN OFF THE DARK are planning to take the show on an arena tour to London and Hamburg, according to Michael Riedel of nypost.com.

According to the Associated Press, ex-Spidey director Julie Taymor claimed in court today that she was a 'victim of a conspiracy to unfairly push her out of the production.' Tayor's lawyers argued that the SPIDER-MAN producers 'were secretly conspiring to oust Taymor and use and change her work without pay.'

SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark, Broadway's record breaking new show, today announced that it is launching a brand new app for both Apple and Android devices. The app, which is available for free, gives users earliest access to exclusive video content and special offers, music and photos from the show, and easy ticket purchase. Those with the app can integrate their social media accounts and engage with a 'fan wall' where users can post comments and photos in real time for all to see. Additionally, people can compete to be among the top users of the app in order to unlock special rewards.

SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark has been seen by more than 700,000 audience members from around the world. It features music and lyrics by 22-time Grammy Award-winners Bono and The Edge, direction by Philip William McKinley (The Boy From Oz), original direction by Tony Award-winner Julie Taymor (The Lion King, Across The Universe, Frida), 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 recently visited Imus on Broadway, where they performed 'Bouncing Off the Walls' and 'Boy Falls From the Sky.' Check out photos fromt he performance below!

Newest to the cast of SPIDER-MAN are Rebecca Faulkenberry (Rock of Ages) and Christina Sajous (Baby It's You, American Idiot), who play 'Mary Jane Watson' and 'Arachne,' respectively. Check out photos of the duo in action below!

Michael Riedel writes today in the NY Post that filmmaker Jacob Cohl is currently working on creating a documentary on the making of SPIDER-MAN: TURN OFF THE DARK. Jacob, whose father Michael is a producer for the show, was 'given almost unlimited access to everything that went on from the first day of rehearsals to the June 2011 Broadway opening.'

Yesterday, January 15, SPIDER-MAN TURN OFF THE DARK welcomed 200 middle school students from MS 343 in the Bronxto the matinee. Afterwards, Spideys Craig Henningsen, Matthew James Thomas and Chris Tierney participated in a special talk back for the kids, and you can check out photos from the event below.

SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark rang in the New Year as the highest grossing show on Broadway, shattering the record for the highest single-week gross of any show in Broadway history. The total gross for the record-breaking week ending Sunday, January 1 was $2,941,790.20, besting the previous record of $2,228,235 set by Wicked in 2011. Playing to 17,375 audience members (100.02% capacity of The Foxwoods Theatre), SPIDER-MAN also enjoyed the highest single-week attendance by any show in Broadway history (playing a standard 9-show holiday schedule).

SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark showcased an unprecedented event with Times Square Alliance when they dropped the New Year's Eve ball 30 feet before midnight on New Year's Eve, marking the first time in history the ball has descended before midnight. In an exciting segment shown live in Times Square and on CNN, Spider-Man came to the rescue when The Green Goblin took host Anderson Cooper captive. After the Goblin threatened to drop the ball early to ruin New Year's Eve, Spider-Man raised it back to its original position and stood triumphantly on top of One Times Square. The event featured SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark actors Matthew James Thomas, Patrick Page, Jeb Brown and Christopher Tierney alongside CNN hosts Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin. Check out some photos from the event below!

After the Goblin threatened to drop the ball early to ruin New Year's Eve, Spider-Man raised it back to its original position and stood triumphantly on top of One Times Square. The event featured SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark actors Matthew James Thomas, Patrick Page, Jeb Brown and Christopher Tierney alongside CNN hosts Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin. Check it out below!

SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark showcased an unprecedented event with Times Square Alliance when they dropped the New Year's Eve ball 30 feet before midnight last night, marking the first time in history the ball has descended before midnight. In an exciting segment shown live in Times Square and on CNN, Spider-Man came to the rescue when The Green Goblin took host Anderson Cooper captive. After the Goblin threatened to drop the ball early to ruin New Year's Eve, Spider-Man raised it back to its original position and stood triumphantly on top of One Times Square. The event featured SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark actors Matthew James Thomas, Patrick Page, Jeb Brown and Christopher Tierney alongside CNN hosts Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin.

In the video below, SPIDER-MAN's Reeve Carney teams with his brother Zane to perform a special acoustic version of 'Amelie.' Click below to check it out!

Christmas 2011 hascome anf gone, but in the video below, Bono will put you back in the holiday spirit with his own rendition of 'Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).' Click below to check out the impromtu performance at Grafton Street Christmas Eve.

2012 is quickly approaching, and in celebration of the new year, BroadwayWorld will celebrate 2011 with lists of our biggest features of the year! Below are BroadwayWorld.com's most popular videos from 2011 (in no particular order)! Catch up below on anything that you might have missed from the past year on BroadwayWorld.com!