Coming Soon: Rocky, the Musical

Problem-plagued musical not worth your time, money: critics

(NEWSER) - Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark hasn’t officially opened yet, but people are already shelling out up to $275 a ticket to see it—and considering its opening has already been pushed back five times, many news organizations “skirted Broadway protocol” and reviewed the show today, since its last official opening date was last night (before it was postponed). The verdict: not good.

• The only way to make the money they spend worth it for theatergoers is to let them in on “the national joke that this problem-plagued show has become,” writes Ben Brantley in the New York Times . “Stock the Foxwoods gift shops with souvenir crash helmets and T-shirts that say 'I saw Spider-Man and lived.' Otherwise, a more appropriate slogan would be 'I saw Spider-Man and slept.'" Everything, from the music to the sets and the plot, is “sheer ineptitude.”

But wowed audience loved 'heart-racing' stunts

(NEWSER) - Previews of Broadway musicals are rarely perfect, but last night's debut of the long-plagued Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark was especially troubled. The start was delayed 24 minutes; the show was paused five times for technical problems; an actress hung upside down in the air for six minutes. Yet none of it was enough to dissuade many of the fans, who tweeted throughout expressing delight at the aerial stunts. Samples from the Wall Street Journal : "My heart was racing," said one audience member; "WOW on flying thru theater," said another. More»

And yes, there's a Sarah Palin character

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama's 2008 campaign is the subject of Hope!, a musical set to premiere Jan. 17 in Frankfurt. The production features musical-theater versions of the major players: Michelle, Hillary—looking quite young—John McCain and even Sarah Palin, who sings a solo surrounded by scantily clad dancers. Writer and composer Randall Hutchins, who is American, tells Der Spiegel he got the idea for the production "right at the start of Obama's electoral campaign. I found the atmosphere exciting and that was my inspiration." More»

Revival will be even more PC than high school productions

(NEWSER) - High school drama clubs have been putting on Bye Bye Birdie for nearly 50 years—apparently they didn’t realize they've been staging a certain scene so risque it makes Broadway blush. The upcoming Broadway revival will cut a dance sequence featuring Rose cavorting on and around a table with a group of fez-adorned men. Why? “It seemed a little too gang rape-y,” says Gina Gershon, who stars as Rose. More»

Sylvester Stallone talks about his plans for final film

(NEWSER) - Rambo isn't done fighting yet: The action hero will "go out in a blaze of glory" in Rambo 5, Sylvester Stallone revealed in a recent MTV interview getting picked up today. Stallone, 65, is working on a script revolving around John Rambo's final battle, and he implied that the Vietnam veteran could find himself fighting drug lords in Mexico, the Telegraph reports. (Quote that probably came out wrong: "I like the whole Mexican situation, what's going on down there.") More»