Bye, Bye Birdie Scene Too Risque for Broadway

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»

Production can be uneven, but still enjoyable

(NEWSER) - The highly anticipated revival of West Side Story on Broadway opened last night to solid reviews, with critics applauding an unusually tender interpretation in which the women rule. Highlights:

• “Even when they’re flashing switchblades and kicking people in the ribs, the teenage hoodlums who maraud through Arthur Laurents’s startlingly sweet new revival of West Side Story seem like really nice kids,” writes Ben Brantley in the New York Times.

Mike Myers in talks to write Broadway show

(NEWSER) - Austin Powers on Broadway? Yeah, baby! A source tells the New York Post that Mike Myers is in talks to turn the spy-spoof franchise into a "musical stage show." Though Myers will be "heavily involved" in writing it, he won't star in it, the source says—"even though he has quite a good singing voice." If that bums you out, perhaps this will help: Myers has also reached a deal for a fourth Austin Powers movie, which sources say he will star in as well as write and produce (expect a 2013 or 2014 release). The third and, so far, last Powers flick came out in 2002. More»

Sylvester Stallone says he always pictured it as a musical

(NEWSER) - Can you picture Sylvester Stallone’s famous Rocky character bursting into song after winning a boxing match? Because that might just happen when Rocky: The Musical becomes a reality. “I always had the idea of Rocky as a musical,” says Stallone, who has teamed up with boxers Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko to create the German stage show, opening next November. “At the end of the day, Rocky is a love story and he could never have reached the final bell without Adrian,” Stallone continues. More»

Official word is she's too busy, but friends say she was forced out

(NEWSER) - After days of rumors , the producers of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark made the official announcement last night: Director Julie Taymor is out. The problem-plagued musical has also been delayed yet again, this time until “early summer 2011,” according to the show’s blog . Taymor has been replaced with Philip William McKinley, who directed The Boy From Oz, and the script will be revised by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, who has written for the Spider-Man comic books. More»