Saving Spiderman

As Bono and the Edge return to New York to work on re-inventing their $70m musical Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark, Vincent Murphy talks exclusively to the leading cast members of the biggest show in Broadway history

Only a rescue effort that Spiderman himself would be proud of can save this show now.

The $70m monster that is Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark went on hiatus this week until the middle of next month, as producers try to salvage a future for the most expensive musical in Broadway history.

Its troubled history does not need re-telling here.

Delays, technical glitches, the loss of cast members, serious injuries and scathing reviews have kept the production firmly in the media's spotlight for the past several months.

But despite more than 140 preview performances seen by 285,000 people, the show never officially opened.

Instead, the show that has raked-in more than $25m at the box office since last November is hitting "Ctrl+Alt+Del".

The original director has been replaced, new writers have been drafted in, and Bono and the Edge have written at least two new songs to insert into the production.

Both men are back working at the Foxwoods Theater off Times Square while the show has gone dark.

The new version is expected to have a lighter touch, be more mainstream and easier to understand.

At last week's final performance of the original vision, cast members held up a sign reading "Back May 12", and there was an extra ovation during curtain call for four young cast members who comprised the so-called "Geek Chorus", who will not be returning next month.

"It's a little sad because they are all so young and talented," said Patrick Page, who plays Green Goblin, "But the future for these four is going to be so bright, so I don't think it's a problem."

The revamped show is dispensing with the Geek chorus, which narrated the original production and also significantly scaling back the role of Arachne, a mythological character created by original director Julie Taymor.

Under new director Phil McKinley, there will be more emphasis on the love story between Peter Parker and Mary Jane, and on the battle between Spiderman and the Green Goblin.

"I'm really excited to get to work on all the great changes. I think it will improve the show," says Page.

"It's gonna certainly make it very enjoyable and gripping for the audience, which is not to take anything away from the first version which was playing to capacity audiences.

But I do think that, well it's going to be a lot of fun for me. It's gonna be a lot of fun for the Green Goblin, let me tell ya."

Page says the new version will please fans of the comic books more.

Original director Julie Taymor had a more abstract, arty vision for the project but it failed to connect with audiences or critics.

"It's not erasing what she's done," said Reeve Carney, the handsome 28-year-old lead actor who was plucked by Taymor from obscurity to play Spiderman/Peter Parker.

"It's still true to Julie Taymor's vision and that's something that's very important to me. Because she sort of created me, I mean I wouldn't be here without her. It's just having a little extra help. It's great to be able to work with two directors. It's never happened before on the same project."

While the show is closing for a few weeks, the cast remain had at work.

"No, we don't get a break," says Carney, "My friends keep saying 'yeah, can you come back to LA?' and I have to say, No, the show has shut down but I'm still working.

For the past few weeks Carney and other cast members have been juggling the two versions of the show.

"We've been rehearsing the new show while performing the old show at night, and that's been a little bipolar in some ways" he says, "I think it's going to be great to be able to focus on one thing again."

He says he's excited by the changes, but admits that the cast have not had the chance to run through the new version fully enough times for him to fully appreciate the differences.

He's reluctant to compare them.

"I think the changes are going to make everything more cohesive. People are going to be able to follow things maybe more than they were able to," he says,

"Although I love abstract art - not that this was totally abstract at all.

"There is no sense in really comparing. It's like comparing girlfriends or something... there's no reason to do it."

"It was frustrating for a while being in state of limbo and not knowing what was happening," he says about the constant delays to the opening.

"But now that we have a clear vision of where we're headed, I feel very confident. I wake up in the morning and I want to come to work so that says a lot I guess."

He has no regrets about getting involved or devoting so much of his life to it over the past few years.

"No, I'm actually starting to... there was a period of frustration, certainly, with all of the exhausting work... but I feel like I'm finally opening up and realizing what this has done for my life."

Even if the show doesn't become the blockbuster its creators are hoping, it will have made a star of Carney, who was struggling with a rock band before being propelled into the Broadway spotlight.

Asked about the fact that a new show means new reviews, he laughs.

Most critics have branded the musical "Broadway's biggest ever flop", and "beyond repair".

"New reviews? Yeah. That is good!" he smiles, looking for the nearby poster, "hopefully we can put up something else other than 'thrillingly staged' - which it is - but I'm hoping there will be some positive reviews relating to the acting or singing!"

Jennifer Damiano, who plays Mary Jane, says they can only hope that critics "will be able to refresh their minds if they are willing to".

Damiano is excited that her role is to be expanded.

"If I can say anything, it's that there is maybe a lighter spin on things," she said,

"It's just a completely different way of telling the story. And I love the first version, and respect it and I'll miss it. But I'm excited to go in another direction."

She said the break is to allow producers to mix things up a bit away from the glare of publicity.

"At this point, they have their reasons for wanting to change things, and my job is just to make that work."

It's a roll-up-your-sleeves attitude that is apparent everywhere in the cast.

For the beautiful TV Caprio, who plays Arachne, the new version will see her involvement scaled back significantly.

But she's happy that at least the show is not closing.

"We're so lucky to have this chance to do what we love. And to have another chance to do what we love," she says.

When asked if she found it tough to have her role changed dramatically, she is stoical.

"Tough? What's tough? Hey, it's this or bartending, right? This is not rocket science."

"We get to do something we love. I can only speak for myself. But I get to sing, I get to dance, I get to be on Broadway, it's not really that tough."

She said it was unfair to try to judge the changes being made, while producers themselves had not locked down the final version.

"It's not fair for me to judge either way. The key thing to know here is that we all want the best show that it can be. So whatever that means, at least we have an opportunity to still improve."

One boost for the cast during their "close season" is the expected return of Chris Tierney, who was seriously injured after falling more than 20 feet into the orchestra pit, during a performance in December.

He underwent surgery for a litany of injuries, including a hairline skull fracture, four broken ribs, a bruised lung, internal bleeding and three cracked vertebrae.

But the young actor has now had all of the screws removed from his back and is due back within weeks.

"He's a miracle man," said TV Caprio, "He was meant to be out way longer so we're waiting with welcoming arms."

"I always say 'Can I give you a hard hug?'" says Reeve Carney, "and he's like, 'Yeah, man. Come on!' He's lifted me up which is really funny, so he's totally back to himself."

Carney says he believes safety issues relating to the show were over-hyped in the media.

"No-one's ever been injured during a flying stunt in the performance. The flying stunts have always been safe. It was another malfunction that happened when Chris got injured.

"Every day we work on the show it becomes safer because people are very conscious of it.

"I feel very safe. I've always felt safe flying. I mean the first time you fly, it's a little scary, but once you get used to it's fine."

Carney says there are new elements in the show that all of the cast are excited about - for him, it's the two new songs.

"I don't want to spoil the surprise by giving any details. All I'll say is that one of the new songs is one of my favorites and I'm really excited about it.

"I think it's something that's gonna be, dare I say it, international. It feels like something they could take all around the world."

"I think the whole cast is excited. Obviously, it's been exhausting this whole process.

But you can see that I'm still standing, so that's good!"

Spiderman version 2.0 begins previews on May 12 and is due to officially open on June 14th.