From playbill.com:

Spider-Man, Turn Off the Dark — the eagerly awaited new musical about the Marvel comic books hero — will begin previews at Broadway's Hilton Theatre Jan. 16, 2010.

Directed by The Lion King's Julie Taymor, the musical will officially open Feb. 18, 2010. Casting will be revealed shortly. (Evan Rachel Wood, who can be seen in the film "The Wrestler," previously announced that she'll star in the musical, but no official casting has been announced.)

Spider-Man, Turn Off the Dark features music and lyrics by Bono and The Edge and a book by Taymor and Glen Berger.

Drawing from over 40 years of Marvel comic books, Spider-Man, according to press notes, "spins a new take on the mythic tale of a young man propelled from a modest rowhouse in Queens to the sky-scraping spire of the Chrysler Building, the bustling offices of the Daily Bugle, through the dizzying canyons of Manhattan, to new vistas never before seen. The musical follows the story of teenager Peter Parker, whose unremarkable life is turned upside-down — literally — when he's bitten by a genetically altered spider and wakes up the next morning clinging to his bedroom ceiling. This bullied science-geek — suddenly endowed with astonishing powers — soon learns, however, that with great power comes great responsibility as villains test not only his physical strength but also his strength of character. Spider-Man's battles will hurtle the audience through an origin story both recognizable and unexpected — yielding new characters as well as familiar faces — until a final surprising confrontation casts a startling new light on this hero's journey."


Spider-Man creators Julie Taymor, Bono and The Edge
photos by Brigitte Lacombe, Kevin Davies and Kevin Mazur
The creative team also includes choreographer Daniel Ezralow ("Across the Universe," The Green Bird), set designer George Tsypin (The Magic Flute, The Little Mermaid), costume designer Eiko Ishioka (Academy Award for "Bram Stoker's Dracula," Tony nomination for M. Butterfly), lighting designer Donald Holder (Tony Awards for The Lion King, South Pacific), sound designer Jonathan Deans (Fosse Young Frankenstein, Ragtime) and musical supervisor Teese Gohl ("Across the Universe," "Frida").

The musical will be produced on Broadway by Hello Entertainment/David Garfinkle, Martin McCallum, Marvel Entertainment/David Maisel, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Jeremiah Harris. It will be produced in association with Omneity Entertainment/Richard Weinberg, the Mayerson/Gould/Hauser/Tysoe Group, Patricia Lambrecht and Jam Theatricals/S2BN Entertainment.

Group tickets are now on sale by calling (800) Broadway. Single tickets will go on sale in June.

The Hilton Theatre is located in Manhattan at 213 West 42nd Street.

I typically prefer my superhero stories sans wretched Broadway scmaltz, thank you very much. But Bono and The Edge? Maybe, just maybe, they'll pull it off.