"Spider-Man" Musical Suspended By "Cash Flow Problem"

Tickets for the musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, which features music by U2's Bono and the Edge, are supposed to go on sale starting a month from tomorrow. But the show's producers announced in a statement this weekend that work on the production has been temporarily suspended due to an "unexpected cash flow problem," the New York Times reports. "The plans necessary for this correction are in hand now, and it is expected that activities, including work in the theater, will resume within the immediate future and with no material impact upon the planned production schedule," the producers said in the statement.

As Rock Daily previously reported, the Spider-Man musical is scheduled to begin with preview performances on February 25th (the original start date was January 2010). Because of the scope of the blockbuster show — and the amount of talent involved, like U2 members and director Julie Taymor — the musical's budget is reportedly in the $40 million range, making it the most expensive musical in Broadway history, the NYT reports.

So far, Evan Rachel Wood and Alan Cumming have been cast in the roles of Mary Jane Watson and Norman Osborn/Green Goblin, respectively. Over at the Spider-Man official site, you can also hear a snippet of what sounds like the Edge performing what could be the song's main theme. "It's unlike any Spider-Man you've ever seen," Wood said.

Related Stories:
• Why Bono Subtitled "Spider-Man" Musical "Turn Off the Dark"
• U2's "Spider-Man" Musical to Star Evan Rachel Wood, Alan Cumming
• U2's Bono and the Edge Talk "Spider-Man" Musical

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Song Stories

“(We're Not) The Jet Set”

George Jones and Tammy Wynette | 1973

George Jones and Tammy Wynette were still married when they recorded the tongue-in-cheek "(We're Not) The Jet Set." The lyrics, written by Nashville songwriter Bobby Braddock, who also penned Wynette's "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" and Jones' "He Stopped Loving Her Today," make fun of the good life by declaring, "We're not the Jet Set/We're the old Chevrolet set." Braddock recalled that while writing the song, he needed the name of a city that evened out the rhyme he had with "Riviera" and "Missourah." “I got out a Rand McNally atlas," he said. "In the first part are the maps. The last part is an alphabetical listing of cities. I wanted a rustic, small-time sound. I went to the listing for Missouri. And I found 'Festus.' I loved the sound of it."

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