SUPERHEROES

Building Broadway's Most Expensive Show

Spider-Man musical will open in November.

The Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark musical will finally open on Broadway in November, and it's all thanks to one man. Michael Cohl, a music industry man known for mounting large-scale rock tour spectaculars, was brought in by U2's Bono and the Edge to save the show that was dead in its tracks, as money had run out to finance the project. Since then Cohl has used his finesse with negotiating to ink a bunch of production deals and raised 70 percent of the show's massive budget—which has swelled to $60 million, making it the most expensive musical in history. Said Cohl: “I got involved because I believed deeply in three artists: Bono, Edge, Julie," referring to Julie Taymor, the show's director, adding, "But there have been a lot of moments over the last year when I said, ‘This isn’t doable,’ when I went home and thought: ‘What am I doing? I could be on a beach in Florida.’ ”