'Spider-Man' Musical Now the Top Show on Broadway

Photograph by Jacob Cohl

Despite a seemingly never-ending run of bad publicity, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark became the highest-grossing show on Broadway last week. The production, which features music by U2's Bono and the Edge, outgrossed the blockbuster musical Wicked by a tiny margin: $58.

Photos: U2: Three Decades of the World's Biggest Band, Onstage and Backstage

That may seem like an almost negligible difference, but it should be noted that while Wicked was playing to sold-out shows in a smaller venue at full price for an average ticket price of $109.76, Spider-Man's grosses were diminished somewhat by slightly lower average ticket price of $102.86 and several discount and complimentary tickets.

Photos: U2 in Italy

This is good news for the production, which has come under harsh criticism for its poor safety record, numerous delays and sky-high budget. The musical, which is still being tinkered with by director Julie Taymor, Bono and the Edge while in previews, is scheduled to officially open on February 7th.

The Witch Is Dead? ‘Spider-Man’ Outgrosses ‘Wicked’ on Broadway [NY Times]

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Song Stories

“Piano Man”

Billy Joel | 1973

Billy Joel’s first hit, “Piano Man,” was – ironically – an autobiographical lament about how his first album wasn’t a hit. When Cold Spring Harbor didn’t take off, Joel briefly became a lounge pianist in Los Angeles, and this song, about that experience, expressed his frustrations and fears at the time: “And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar/And say, ‘Man, what are you doing here?’” “It was all right,” Joel said later, about the gig. “I got free drinks and union scale, which was the first steady money I’d made in a long time.”

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