Spider-Man: The Musical Begins Casting

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Three years ago, when Variety carried a brief mention of a Spider-Man musical in July of 2004, the news went under the waves without much of a ripple, thanks to either nothing much coming of it at the time, or the combined disbelief of fans.

Turns out, it wasn’t a joke.

According to Playbill, a reading of the Spider-Man musical will take place in New York City on July 12th and 13th. According to the trade, rehearsals will begin on July 2nd.

As reported in 2004, the production has major muscle attached: Tony Award winner Julie (director and costume designer of The Lion King musical, Titus) Taymor will direct; Taymor and Glen (The Wooden Breeks) Berger will write the book (i.e., script); U2’s Bono and The Edge will write the music; and Matthias “Teese” Gohl will serve as musical supervisor. Marvel will produce, along with Hello Entertainment/David Garfinkle and Martin McCallum.

A “reading” means that the musical is still in its earliest stages – a test balloon of sorts to attract attention, money, and theater owners to see both if its worth staging, and where – either on or off Broadway.

From Playbill:

Among the roles being sought to fill are the young-man-turned-hero Peter Parker/Spider-Man ("male, late teens to early 20's...[with a] great pop/rock voice") and love-interest Mary Jane ("female, late teens to early 20's...[with a] great pop/rock voice") as well as villain Norman Osborn/Green Goblin and Daily Bugle publisher J. Jonah Jameson (both call for "male, 50s.")

The character breakdowns provide some insight to plot points as the character Arachne ("female, 20-35 years old, any ethnicity") is described as "a beautiful, boastful young woman turned into a spider for her hubris and lack of respect for the gods. She subsequently appears to Peter Parker and the audience as in turn a powerful spider-woman who comes from another time to inspire Peter; an otherworldly lover; a bride; a terrifying (and sexy) dark goddess of vengeance; a dance partner in a charged and violent spiders dance of death; and, finally, a lonely, fragile young woman." Casting is seeking a "strong Celtic, Balkan style, e.g., Sinead O'Connor," noting, "outside the box ideas are welcomed. Could be someone from the music industry."

Also, a "Geek Chorus" consisting of "three teenage boys and one girl" are described to "meet to ritualistically retell the greatest Spider-Man stories.

In moving forward, Spider-Man joins other comic characters who've taken steps towards to musical theater: the never-produced Batman (by Jim Steinman, David Ives, and Tim Burton, songs can be found here, and one was even covered by Meatloaf); and Superman, which actually happened.
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I...I'm speechless.
 
*giggles*

I can see this either being unexpectedly brilliant (the less likely option), or the most spectacular and therefore fascinating trainwreck imaginable.
 
At least, since it's Spider-Man, if it's a complete and utter horrible flop, at least it'll be among enough friends for it to not really matter.
 
New details. Looks like Bono and the Edge of U2 fame are going to be doing the composing.

Marvel Studios has confirmed that plans are underway to produce a Broadway musical based on Marvel’s ever popular Super Hero, Spider-Man. Produced by Hello Entertainment/David Garfinkle, Martin McCallum, Marvel Entertainment, and SONY Pictures Entertainment (billing in formation), the musical will be directed by Tony Award-winner Julie Taymor with U2’s Bono and The Edge creating new music and lyrics for the project. A reading is scheduled to take place this summer. No dates for a Broadway opening have been confirmed at this time.

The Spider-Man musical will mark the first time a Marvel character has been the subject of a show on Broadway. In addition to co-producing the show, Hello Entertainment is arranging all financing for the project.

"Marvel continues to look to every entertainment medium to support the enduring popularity of our Super Heroes, and we are thrilled with the talent on board. The all star creative team -- led by Julie Taymor, Bono and The Edge -- is second to none and we are certain this project will delight fans of Spider-Man and new audiences alike," said David Maisel, Chairman, Marvel Studios, whose previous Broadway credits include spearheading the 1999 Tony Award-winning Best Musical Fosse.
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In case anyone thought this was just a late April Fool's day joke...it's very real, and very much moving forward. Be wary, for a Spider stalks Broadway.
 
If this is actually any good, I'd be annoyed. I mean, seriously who's going to see it?

Hell, it'll probably bomb solely on the fact that the target audience - a bunch of geeks - are not the people that go to a fifty quid west end musical/play. And the actual audience, the critics that will make or break it on reviews, wont have the foggiest about it.

Seems about as smart as making Spider-man branded walking canes for OAPs.
 
You'd be surprised by how many people would be willing to see this. The biggest Spidey fans will see it because it's Spidey, big U2 fans will see it because they're associated with it, and musical fans will see it because, well...it's a musical.

As for reviews, almost anyone who does comic book movie reviews will review this because...it's just another interpretation of the material. They'll review it from the same perspective as reviewing a movie. And musical critics will review it as they would any musical.

I think it's got a shot at success. Imagine it as the Blade of the theatre genre. No one thought Blade would do as well as it did, but it ended up opening an entirely new type of medium. Imagine it: Hulk...THE MUSICAL (well, an opera would be more appropriate). It could happen.
 
The Spiderman films are pretty mainstream, so I wouldn't say the core audience is only comprised of nerds. All my friends watch the movies, for instance, and we're more geeks than nerds. ;)
 
This will be the most phenomenal mistake ever made...if it gets made. Which it now HAS to, it just HAS to!
 
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