New York City -
Broadway history was made Tuesday evening, June 14, as "Spider-Man Turn Off The Dark" officially opened at the Foxwoods Theatre.
A slew of celebrity guests turned out to cheer the long-awaited event, including
President Bill Clinton,
Matt Damon,
Robert DeNiro,
Barbara Walters,
Lesley Stahl,
Helena Christensen,
Steve Martin,
Jimmy Fallon,
Seth Meyers,
Liam Neeson,
Spike Lee,
Julian Lennon,
Diane von Furstenberg and
Barry Diller,
Lou Reed,
Cindy Crawford,
Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber,
The Strokes,
John McEnroe,
Hannah Storm,
Salman Rushdie,
Fran Lebowitz,
Gayle King, and
Harry Belafonte, and the glittery first night crowd gave the production a rousing ovation that lasted nearly 11 minutes.
During the curtain call,
Bono and
The Edge were brought onstage to a thunderous audience reaction, followed by the entire backstage crew, along with producers
Michael Cohl and
Jere Harris, taking a bow, before original director
Julie Taymor was dramatically brought onto the stage by co-director
Philip William McKinley.
Critical praise, from the reviews of this new version of "Spider-Man Turn Off The Dark," has already started pouring in from outlets including
USA Today,
The Associated Press,
New York Daily News, MTV, WOR Radio, NY1 News,
Back Stage, and a particularly glowing endorsement from President Clinton.
"Spider-Man Turn Off The Dark" features creative consultation by
William McKinley ("The Boy From Oz"), original direction by Tony Award-winner 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").
"Music from Spider-Man Turn Off The Dark" was released on June 14 by Interscope Records. It features 14 original songs co-written by Bono and The Edge for the Broadway production "Spider-Man Turn Off The Dark." The album is produced by
Steve Lillywhite. Inspired by over 40 years of Marvel comic books, "Spider-Man Turn Off The Dark" follows the story of teenager Peter Parker, whose unremarkable life is turned upside-down 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 incredible powers soon learns, however, that with great power comes great responsibility as villains put both his physical strength and strength of character to the test.
Tickets are now on sale through October 2, 2011, with group tickets on sale through January 8, 2012. Tickets for "Spider-Man Turn Off The Dark" are priced from $67.50 to $135 for weekday performances and $67.50 to $140 for weekend performances. "Spider-Man Turn Off The Dark" now plays the following performance schedule: Tuesday through Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday at 1:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m., and Sunday at 3 p.m.
The complete cast includes
Reeve Carney as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Tony Award nominee
Jennifer Damiano as
Mary Jane Watson,
T.V. Carpio as Arachne,
Patrick Page as Norman Osborn/Green Goblin,
Michael Mulheren,
Ken Marks,
Isabel Keating,
Jeb Brown,
Matthew James Thomas,
Laura Beth Wells,
Matt Caplan,
Dwayne Clark,
Luther Creek,
Kevin Aubin,
Gerald Avery,
Collin Baja,
Marcus Bellamy,
Emmanuel Brown,
Jessica Leigh Brown,
Daniel Curry,
Erin Elliott,
Craig Henningsen,
Dana Marie Ingraham,
Ayo Jackson,
Joshua Kobak,
Megan Lewis,
Ari Loeb,
Natalie Lomonte,
Kevin Loomis,
Kristin Martin,
Jodi McFadden,
Bethany Moore,
Kristen Faith Oei,
Jennifer Christine Perry,
Kyle Post,
Brandon Rubendall,
Sean Samuels,
Dollar Tan,
Joey Taranto, and
Christopher W. Tierney.
While New York celebrated its favorite onstage superhero, "Spider-man Turn Off The Dark" celebrated the kind of heroism that only happens off-stage by inviting a group of real-life heroes to last night's star-studded opening performance of the Broadway spectacular. Before entering the Foxwoods Theatre (213 West 42nd Street), the heroes walked the red carpet, as a group, and posed for a phalanx of photographers alongside "Spider-man Turn Off The Dark composers Bono and The Edge.
Among the heroes in attendance were Capt.
Bryan Bouchard (U.S. Air Force),
Capt. Tara Dawe (New York Army National Guard), Sgt.
Owen Eichenlaub (U.S. Marine Corps), MK2 Petty Officer 2nd Class
Michael Franco (United States Coast Guard Reserve),
Terrance Holliday (Commissioner of the Mayor's Office of Veterans' Affairs and retired U.S. Air Force Colonel), Lt.
Carlos Linomontes (U.S. Navy), Spc.
George Lippi (U.S. Army),
Lance Orton (civilian), Spc.
Christopher Ramos (U.S. Army), Sgt.
Ricardo Rosado (U.S. Marine Corps), Spc.
Joshua Thiele (U.S. Army), and EN2
Andy Torres (U.S. Navy).
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