Thursday 5 January 2012

Spider-Man musical makes Broadway history...


Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, written by U2's Bono and The Edge, has taken the highest single-week takings of any show in Broadway history.

The musical, which was plagued with problems from its inception, took $2.9m (£1.8m) over nine performances last week, according to The Broadway League.

The Edge said it was a "proud day" for everyone who has been involved.

The show, which cost $75m (£48m) to make, is the most expensive Broadway show to be produced.

Initially the production was beset with problems, which included injuries to some of the cast members, opening night delays, poor reviews and unpaid royalty claims.

"For all the problems, there was magic on the stage," Bono said.

"Things did get chaotic and messy after our producer Tony Adams died. But this week's news has us all giddy again and we are raising our glasses to Tony, to our indefatigable cast, crew, creative - and production team."

Co-producer Jeremiah Harris admitted he and his colleague, fellow producer Michael Cohl, "came into a very difficult situation" when they signed up.

"We've changed the team. We added players when we needed to. We've moved some players around to different positions. And the success we've had here is the culmination of all those people working hard to get done what we've gotten done," he said.

According to figures collected by Cohl and Harris, it is thought that half of all attendees to Spider-Man had never been to a Broadway show before.

They claim the production has been seen by more than 600,000 people during the past year.

'Longevity'

The musical has beaten the previous record set by Wicked in 2011, which took $2.2m (£1.4m) over an eight-show run in January last year.

Over Christmas and New Year many productions added a ninth show to their regular eight-show week, which helped boost total ticket takings this year.

Head-to-head last week, over nine shows, Wicked took $2.7m (£1.7m).

However, Wicked which is performed at the Gershwin Theatre, has about 100 seats less than the 1,930-seat Foxwoods Theatre, home of the superhero musical.

The Lion King recorded takings of $2.4m (£1.5m) and Hugh Jackman: Back On Broadway took a total of $2m (£1.2m)

Harris insisted they still had a long way to go.

"The time to crow is when we have sustained longevity and we've returned the money to our investors."

Not all shows enjoyed healthy ticket sales over the festive period, with producers of the musical Lysistrata Jones announcing the comedy will close on Sunday.

Top 5 Broadway takings last week

1. Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark - $2.9m (£1.8m)

2. Wicked - $2.7m (£1.7m)

3. The Lion King - $2.4m (£1.5m)

4. Hugh Jackman: Back On Broadway - $2m (£1.2m)

5. How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying - $1.9m (£1.2m)

Figures recorded over nine shows

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-16421826

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