Written by: Heyjude
11/16/2007 6:57 PM

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/showbiz/bazbamigboye.html?in_page_id=1794&in_article_id=494457

Julie Taymor is slowly untangling the web that is Spider-Man: The Musical.

First off, she wants handsome British actor Jim Sturgess to play the spandexed superhero and his alter-ego Peter Parker, with Hollywood beauty Evan Rachel Wood to play his main love interest Mary Jane Watson.


"There, I've said it. Now I have to go through a web to get them," Ms Taymor told me at a Lincoln Centre gala where she and others, including director Stephen Frears, were honoured for their work with the Rolex-funded mentor arts programme.


She added: "Jim's certainly interested, but his film career has taken off, so I have to nab him between movies. Same with Evan. They'd be my ideal pairing, though, if they're free."


The award-winning director worked with Jim and Evan on the movie Across The Universe, a film unfairly drubbed by UK critics, which was set in the Sixties and featured countless Beatles songs.


Both Jim and Evan have great rock voices and, with coaching, could manage eight performances a week.


Ms Taymor, who mixed puppets with stunning imagery to make The Lion King into a 20th-century theatrical extravaganza (the Disney show had its tenth anniversary on Broadway last Sunday), has been working with U2's Bono and the Edge on the score and lyrics.


Ms Taymor plans to weave her Spider-Man into a magical event, with trapeze artists, giant puppets and incredible costumes.


"I hope it will be a cross between a play, rock 'n' roll and circus. The movies with Tobey Maguire worked on their terms, but the show will be very different.


"In fact, it's based more on the original comic books than the movies," Ms Taymor explained.


"This notion that you can transplant movies onto the stage is absurd - a theatre show has to live in its own world."


There's no set date for the production yet. I suspect it won't hit Broadway (there's a slim chance it could come to the West End first) till late 2008 or early 2009.

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