Spider-Man the Musical

What we want to know is this: What is Stan Lee saying about the whole thing? (Other than “Put the check right over there. Carefully.”) And since he already has a relationship with Spidey, will President Obama be inivted to opening night?

According to Gothamist, director Julie Taymor (The Lion King, Grendel) wants people to stop calling it a musical. We say: get over it, Julie. Even if Spider-Man himself is “not going to sing and dance in tights,” it’s still going to be “a circus rock-‘n’-roll drama.”

And there will be singing: to a score that’s being struck by Bono and The Edge of U2, no less. So you can see where some people might get the wrong idea. A play with music and singing? What would you call it?

At a presentation for ticket brokers yesterday, Gothamist says that “Actors sang six songs from the show, which has the irritatingly nonsensical title Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.”

Tickets will go on sale this coming June for a soft opening in January and the opening itself February 18th.

The Gothamist piece is here. The official Web site for Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark is here.