Hot on the heels of winning the award that is closest to the Nobel Peace Prize, U2's Bono and The Edge are scheduled to perform on American Idol's Wednesday finale with the cast of everyone's favorite Broadway musical, Spider- Man: Please Make The Pain Stop Turn Off the Dark. more ›

With a price tag of $70 million and counting, by far the most expensive musical ever, Spider-Man: Dead And Loving It Turn Off The Dark is on hiatus for an overhaul until May 12. But you wouldn't know it from the press the show has been pushing out the past few days. First came the announcement that injured actor/stuntman Christopher Tierney would be returning when the show reopens and now two of the shows producers have turned to the AP to flagellate themselves in public. more ›

As if the problems with a departing director and a new creative team weren't enough for Spider-Man: Legends of the Fall Turn Off the Dark, last night's performance included one of the show's patented technical hiccups when the Green Goblin got stuck in midair, causing the show to stop for five minutes at the end of the first act. Our spy on the scene gave us the full report: more ›

Just as we were starting to forget about all of those accidents that marred the early performances of Spider-Man: There Will Be Blood Turn Off the Dark along comes the U.S. Labor Department to bring it all back. The Department's office of Occupational Safety & Health Administration took a look at Julie Taymor's crucible and found it wanting. The Office today smacked the show's production company, 8 Legged Productions, with "three serious violations of workplace safety standards" worth $12,600 in fines. more ›

The blood-drenched publicity machine for Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark continues! Last night not only did T.V. Carpio have her first official performance playing the role of Arachne (though she'd been filling in off-and-on since the orignal villainess, Natalie Mendoza, was injured in December), but she also had a very special guest in the audience. Bono, the guy who wrote the music and lyrics to the show with The Edge, was there to see the carnage in all its gory glory for the very first time. more ›

Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, the beleaguered Julie Taymor/Bono/Edge musical about everyone's favorite webslinger, actually looks like it is going to make it to opening night—still set for January 11. So assuming nothing else goes wrong and the $65 million musical opens—how long does it have to run before it makes back its initial investment? The Times crunches the numbers and the rough answer is, oh, about four years. To be fair, that's not including the possibly incredibly lucrative merch (as they call it on their website). But worth noting? The second-most expensive musical of all time, Shrek, cost half as much and only managed to make it a year... more ›

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, the "most powerful nerd on the planet," was named as Time Magazine's Person of the Year 2009. For a magazine that has often savored picking controversial, argument-starters (Bono in 2005?, you in 2006?), Bernanke, "with his perpetually guilty, Eeyore-like expression," definitely seems like a particularly relevant pick. Time calls him, "the most important and least understood force shaping the American — and global — economy." You can find the full list of runner-ups and "people who mattered" here. more ›

The massive project is falling further behind schedule, it's millions of dollars in the hole, and will need a miracle to meet a looming make-or-break deadline. All we need now are a string of eminent-domain lawsuits, and Julie Taymor's wildly ambitious Broadway adaptation of Spider-Man might as well change its name to Atlantic Yards: The Musical. (Starring Harvey Fierstein as embattled developer Bruce Ratner!) Today Taymor is meeting with producers to decide whether to proceed or postpone the technically insane project, which is hemorrhaging money like Mr. Orange gushing blood in the back seat of Mr. White's car. Is it gonna be okaaay? more ›

As if Mayor Bloomberg didn't already have a lock on the election, now he's got U2 fans in his pocket. Bono, who's never been afraid to look like a tool to get on a politician's good side, took almost a minute out of last night's concert at Giants Stadium to praise Hizzoner. Bono told the crowd that because Bloomberg uses "his enormous wallet to research new treatments for malaria and stuff, he makes me very proud, he also makes me laugh out loud." Bono gave the mayor major props before performing "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For." more ›

This morning U2 headed up to Fordham University to wake up the faculty and students with a relatively small, and very early concert. CityRoom reports that security was tight, but five hairdressers from Michigan managed to smooth talk their way in. more ›

Bono & Co. kicked off their week long residency on Letterman last night, and because they are such a Big Deal, Mayor Bloomberg has declared that part of West 53rd Street (leading up to the Ed Sullivan Theater) is now temporarily renamed U2 Way. And, perhaps grasping how litigious New Yorkers can be when it comes to icy sidewalks, the supergroup was out there yesterday keeping their new street snow-free. (Letterman also addressed the white stuff in his Top Ten.) more ›

U2 frontman and political activist Bono has a new gig! Radar is reporting that the New York Times editorial page editor Andrew Rosenthal has hired him to write a handful of the paper's Op-Ed pages next year. He announced the news last night to students of Columbia's School of Journalism, following the "suspicious package" that was delivered to his office yesterday. Radar wonders if the news will off-set the recent right-leaning columns devoted to Sarah Palin, written by Bill Kristol (who Rosenthal dodged questions about last night), but a bigger question is whether Bono will be able to help keep the sinking Gray Lady afloat? more ›

Forget The Dark Knight – the hype is already giving way to disappointment. It’s time to start getting really, really excited about Spider-Man the Musical, which will feature a score by U2’s Bono and the Edge and direction from Julie Taymor of Lion King fame. In May, Marvel Executive Peter Cuneo announced that the show could open as soon as next year, with Jim Sturgess and Evan Rachel Wood – Taymor’s stars in Across the Universe – playing Peter Parker and Mary Jane. more ›