Evan Rachel Wood Is Mary Jane

You sly bastard. One photo and out go all thoughts of cast continuity.*




*how many people will be distracted by it and fail to see that she got cast in the musical?

Manson's EX-girlfriend. She finally woke up and got out of Dodge.

I kind of agree with your stance on musicals, Devin. When I see something, it either needs to be spectacular (visually or performance-wise) or have across-the-board good reviews.

I like this news, though -- Taymor's the crazy kind of talented that I'll see anything she does -- and Wood is better than Dunst. I doubt the music as well, but I'm a U2 fan.

Besides, any theater news on the main page makes me happy.

Ex? That didn't last long.

"Wow, that Spider-Man really swings!" *everybody starts doing the Charleston*

No, thanks.

Time for me to step up.

*sprays on the Axe*

Huh? Was there a story there? I got distracted.

But if Broadway needs a pick me up, Spiderman is it. This is the icing on the cake. Hell, I'll go and see this (willingly even!)

Is this a joke?

No. It's not. Julie Taymor really is doing a Spider-Man musical with Bono and The Edge writing music.

I can't imagine it'll make a fucking lick of sense, but it should be the most spectacularly dumb thing ever created.

Back in 2004, Universal Studios Hollywood had a Spider-Man musical showing. Having just seen Spider-Man 2 the night before, I figured I'd give it a try. Hilariously awful. I can't imagine this being any better, no matter who is calling the shots.

Between this and the Soderbergh Cleopatra rock musical, we could be looking at a really cool revolution . . . or the death of musicals.

I know someone who auditioned for this, and it's as spectacularly ill-concieved as it sounds.

Get ready for a revamp of Spidey's origins, and for a lot of "Way up in the sky/Up so very high/Feels like I could fly/Oh my/Spi-Der-Man-Yeah!" lyrics.

And given Devin's relentlessness in critiquing the vapidity of Hollywood blockbusters, I don't understand his theatre logic in the slightest.

Bigger almost never means better - most especially on a Broadway stage. The sky-high prices are a self-fulfilling prophecy. As the prices continue to go up, the only shows with a prayer of pulling profit are those shows designed to be big tickets, ala "Shrek the Musical" (Devin'll love that one).

Given that he's a film critic, not a stage junkie, the attitude's slightly more understandable. But still - the notion that for your money you want to recieve empty spectacle as opposed to a nourishing story, deeply-grounded acting, or the raw immediacy of live performance, is a complete 180 from embracing true artistic product.

For anyone interested in seeing real theater in NY, as opposed to a Disneyworld stageshow, there are plenty of outlets to do so, and for far less than the pants-gouging prices you'll be charged in Times Square.