
With all the time we spend talking about movies, we often forget about the cinema’s gay cousin, the theatah. The opening of Julie Taymor’s $60 million, U2-scored Broadway version of Spider-Man (“Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark”), was reportedly delayed again recently. Behind schedule or not, it’s most definitely still happening, and as proof, Vogue recently did a spread on it with photographs by Annie Leibovitz, the famous Jew photographer. The pictures are either really cool or really ridiculously stupid looking, depending on your perspective. They’re definitely very Cabinet of Dr. Caligari-esque. Personally, I prefer to focus on how this is a hilarious self-parody on the level of Waiting for Guffman meets Spinal Tap. Some excerpts from the article:
“In another, the choreographer Daniel Ezralow, a Momix founder and frequent Taymor collaborator, is working with a group of arachno–chorus girls, who, requiring eight stiletto heels each, could be described as unusually leggy.”
“Taymor and her cowriter, Glen Berger, have taken the basic contours of the familiar story and added elements of their own, including a geek chorus that comments on the action and a new supervillain drawn from Greek mythology.”
Carney, whose stunts are performed by a team of Spideys, says he strongly identifies with the role: “I’m a gentle, thoughtful person offstage—at least I try to be. But onstage, I turn into a bit of an animal. I guess that’s the Spider-Man in me.”
Anyone else imagine him singing that last part? “I gueeeesss that’s just, the spiiiiider-man…. iiiiinn mmeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…” I also like to imagine Anna Wintour storming through the Vogue offices demanding that the Spider-Man spread be more fabulous. “This is Spider-Man on Broadway, not Margaret Cho headlining some Chuck E. Cheese. Now fetch me a sugar-free vanilla latte, you fat cow! And change into something a hobo didn’t give birth in!”

[bigger pictures available at Vogue]