娱乐英语新闻:"Spider-Man" faces production overhaul, three-month delay

BEIJING, March 10(Xinhuanet) -- "Spider-Man", the most expensive show in Broadway history now is facing production delays. The lead producers Michael Cohl and Jeremiah J. Harris announced the opening night of "SPIDER-MAN: Turn Off the Dark" (previously set for March 15, 2011) will be postponed to early summer 2011.

According to the producers, they will have a newly expanded creative team in place. The team is going to carry out a new plan to "make significant and exciting revisions to the production", and director Julie Taymor will be stepping down from her daily duties on the production.

In Taymor's place, Philip William McKinley and Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa have joined the team to assist with new staging and rewrites.

However, it remains uncertain how the overhaul of the creative team will be credited or how Taymor's attachment to the production will be acknowledged going forward as Cohl and Harris stopped short of saying that Taymor is being dismissed from the show.

"Julie Taymor is not leaving the creative team. Her vision has been at the heart of this production since its inception and will continue to be so," the producers said. "Julie's previous commitments mean that past March 15, she cannot work the 24/7 necessary to make the changes in the production in order to be ready for our opening."

"Julie is a truly gifted and imaginative director. This is an epic ride, and the standing ovations we have seen from the preview audiences have confirmed our absolute faith in the project. We are listening and learning and, as a result, we have a couple of new songs we are very very excited about putting into the mix. All of us on the creative team are committed to taking SPIDER-MAN to the next level. We are confident it will reach its full potential and when it does, it will open," producers Bono and The Edge added.