Theatre Thursday: Sticky Question

With the latest announcement that the cast of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark will begin rehearsals August 16th, it looks as though the potentially most expensive musical in Broadway history is going ahead more or less as planned. Whether this is a P.R. ploy to allay the concerns of current investors and attract new ones I can only speculate, though, the announcement also suggests that the Man-Who-Would-Be-Spidey, Reeve Carney has already begun aerial flying lessons.
I'm still not ready to amend my prediction of a few weeks ago that Spider-Man won't make it to Broadway but might swing into Vegas. Still, the show may not be as dead as many of us had thought.
I began reading Spider-Man comic books almost as soon as I could read, and my regard for the power of the musical stage to transport and transform an audience began when I was thirteen, sitting in the audience of Les Miserables on Broadway.
However, I am more than a little reluctant to believe that these two things for which I have such great affection have any business colliding. Will it be chocolate and peanut butter or oil and water?
Even with assurances that there will be no singing en masque for the wallcrawler, I cannot help but feel that a superhero musical will still be just a little bit hokey - even with music by Bono and the Edge. I'm still not completely sold on even the re-vamped It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman, and it could possibly be something even worse:

Nevertheless, it is hard to ignore director Julie Taymor's ability to create moving pictures on stage.

If she can manage elephants and gazelles, maybe a web-slinging wallcrawler isn't all that difficult.
My interest is piqued, but I remain reticent.
In the meantime, here's a peek at actor/rocker Carney performing one of his own songs earlier this year.