Spiderman: It's a hit?

The new Spiderman musical is already slinging its web all over the internet...and it doesn't start previews for another year.

My little brother is absolutely obsessed with Spiderman and has already marked his calendar for opening night. It was just announced today that Bono's "Spider-Man, Turn Off the Dark" has an official opening date. Playbill.com is telling me that it's opening at the Hilton Theatre on Feb. 18th (which is kind of exciting because that's my birthday).

I know my brother will be buying tickets the second they go on sale and planning his spring break around seeing his dream show. It seems that expectations have been set extremely high. Rarely do we hear so much buzz a year before a show opens. Is this the work of an extremely effective PR team, or simply our fascination with a story already so ingrained in pop culture? Perhaps a mix of both? My brother, and many like him, are already excited for this show, knowing they're going to love it while knowing very little about the actual production. Do we really need a Spiderman musical? REALLY? Oh course we do. Why? Because it's going to make money!

This musical really does seem to be pulling out all the stops to get word out there. Kids love Spiderman and know the story. Everyone has seen the movie. And, honestly, who doesn't love Bono? That's right, Spiderman has pulled a Spring Awakening and found a well known musician to create the music. Bono is household name all around the world, even more so than Duncan Sheik. And for us theatre geeks, we've also got Julie Taymor directing the whole spectacle. Theatre fans will know her from The Lion King. Like it or not, who can argue with the magnificence of that directing!

So, to calculate, we've got:
1.Like Shrek, Wicked, and most other current shows, a story that everyone is already familiar with.
2.Stunt Casting: Rachel Even Woods was all over the Oscars this year and in the news for her new film The Wrestler.
3.Big name musician: Forget Rodgers and Hammerstein – we've got BONO!
4.A Hot Director: For me, Julie Taymor is the biggest draw.

So there you have it, apparently throwing Katie Holmes into a show or serenading us with Under the Sea isn't enough of an audience guarantee. Truth be told, it's clear that shows are getting more and more expensive to produce and mount so getting seats filled is more important than ever. Stay tuned for Survivor The Musical coming out in 2012 (we're starting to push this one early). It will star Mel Gibson and Madonna, with music by Paris Hilton. Enough of a guarantee for you?