I heard this argument made on another board- it's merely theoretical.

If there were a musical about to open on Broadway entitled "Growing Up Gay: My Life In The Closet," no one would say "More of the same," or "It's been done before," or "Niche market- won't sell." Whereas, someone makes Shrek or Spiderman, and there's a public outcry against it of "Been there, done that" or "Bad for the art form."

So it's okay to tread the same, tired boards, as long as it's the same, tired boards we agree on?

(PS: I don't mean that to sound homophobic- it's just that "gay identity struggles" is the only stock musical plot left that i could think of. If it were movies, I'd say "one man vs. terrorist conspiracy" or "wacky boy-meets-girl-with-issues romance.")

Last week, production crews... were put on "hiatus" because the producers ran out of money.... Now comes word that the actors have been released from their contracts, with no incentive (i.e., money) to hang around waiting for the production to get back on track.... Spider-Man has been in trouble from the beginning, done in by the inexperience of its producers... who, sources say, had almost no Broadway experience....

Artistically, it's impossible to tell if "Spider-Man" is any good. The designs for the sets and costumes that I saw were impressive, and some of U2's songs weren't bad - moody and melodic, if not all that theatrical - but even people working on the show weren't quite sure what it was going to be like.

HELLO Entertainment is aware of the speculation about the future of Spider-Man on Broadway and is RE-CONFIRMING that the plan is to resume production shortly and preview on February 25th, 2010 at the Hilton Theatre when cash flow issues have been resolved.

Drawing from over forty years of Marvel comic books for inspiration, Spider-Man spins a new take on the mythic tale of a young man propelled from a modest rowhouse in Queens to the sky-scraping spire of the Chrysler Building, the bustling offices of the Daily Bugle, through the dizzying canyons of Manhattan, to new vistas never before seen. The musical follows the story of teenager Peter Parker, whose unremarkable life is turned upside-down-literally-when he's bitten by a genetically altered spider and wakes up the next morning clinging to his bedroom ceiling. This bullied science-geek-suddenly endowed with astonishing powers-soon learns, however, that with great power comes great responsibility as villains test not only his physical strength but also his strength of character. Spider-Man's battles will hurtle the audience through an origin story both recognizable and unexpected - yielding new characters as well as familiar faces - until a final surprising confrontation casts a startling new light on this hero's journey.

Evan Rachel Wood, who's playing Peter Parker's girlfriend, Mary Jane... turned down a couple of movie roles to do the show. This week, her agents have been scrambling to get those offers back on the table. "As far as they're concerned, it's over," says a source. "She's available for other work."

[The producers] may soon have some other headaches as well. First of all, Julie Taymor, who's directing the show, is said to be steaming that she's being blamed for driving the production budget higher... Her defenders point out that an artist of her caliber can't worry about pesky little things like "cash flow." That, they say, is Garfinkle's job, and if the show is over budget, blame him....

Meanwhile, Bono and The Edge, who've written the score, are, according to a source, "embarrassed" by the turn of events, although the source adds that at least they have something of value: their songs, which they can recycle as singles should "Spider-Man" vanish.

"You have a very unhappy and a very angry creative team," another source says. "Even if you can get the show going again, are they going to have any faith in the producers?"

Three people involved in the eagerly awaited production told the New York daily that although modest construction would continue at the Hilton, the fate of the musical was still unknown. In fact, the Times states "that there [is] only enough new money to have a handful of workers return to the Hilton on Wednesday; actors have yet to be reassured that the musical is on, and full-scale work on the multimillion-dollar scenery is still on hold".... A spokesperson reiterated to the Times Sept. 1 that previews are still expected to begin on schedule.

Today in The New York Daily News, her personal rep is reported as saying that the actress is "100% committed - she didn't pull out." The News also reports that Alan Cumming is still set to play the Green Goblin, and that sources say that the webslinger himself has finally been cast with newcomer Reeve Carney nabbing the role.

We've got a new villain, it's a girl. It's a very extraordinary role. We've taken it to a much more dizzy place than you'd expect. We've got big tunes. We're very proud of it. Our Peter Parker is much more… not Kurt Cobain, but a kind of slacker, a more kind of shy sort of guy.

[Evan Rachel Wood is] the greatest actor of her generation, she's the one to watch. She happens to sing like a bird, it's like a true voice. She's a very pure spirit and a very bright mind and she brings the part of MJ to life really.

It touches on opera, it touches on rock 'n' roll. There are some real character driven songs as well, very unusual song types for us. It is a new challenge. The thing is we don't really like musicals. Most musicals are really pants. They're really not very cool. It is much more like opera than a straight musical. We're actually not calling it a musical for that reason because we don't want to put people off. We just thought, 'Well if we're going to do this we should do something that knocks it out of the park and hits on every level with great tunes'.

We made one rule for ourselves though that we would never have Spider-Man singing. A guy singing in tights can't happen.

Shame about Spider-Man though. It had SOME potential.