Bono and Glen Beck buddies, as Spiderman delayed for the FIFTH time

U2’s Spiderman musical on Broadway will not now open until March 15^th, after producers postponed the opening night for a fifth time.

The show, Spiderman: Turn off the Dark, had been due to finally open on February 7^th, but its creators, which includes Bono and the Edge, say they are still fine-tuning aspects of the show, including a new ending.

“We simply need more time to execute the creative team’s vision,” said producer Michael Cohl, adding that the show was “ten times more complicated” to technically rehearse than anything else.

He said the schedule of previews allowed just 12 hours a week for rehearsals.

“I picked a date in March that allows me to ensure this will be the final postponement,” said Mr Cohl.

The $65m production will have been in previews for longer than any other show in history by the time it 

opens.

Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark has become the biggest hit on Broadway since previews began in November.

Last week, it overtook the long-running Wicked as the highest grossing musical in New York, raking in more than $1.5m in ticket sales.

But there is controversy that this success has come without an opportunity for critics to give their verdicts.

There is a convention among New York theatre critics that shows are not reviewed during previews, but only 

after they officially open.

However, given the massive delays, some publications have already broken this rule, arguing that audiences are paying full price for tickets and deserve to get an independent critical assessment of the show’s quality.

It’s very likely that others will now be tempted to review the show too, given that there are two full months before it “officially” opens.

One positive review has come from an unusual source – conservative radio host and Fox News pundit Glenn Beck said it was “by far the best show I’ve ever seen”.

On his radio programme this week, he spent 30 minutes heaping praise on the show, predicting it would be the “Phantom of the 21^st Century”, and accusing early reviewers who panned the show of snobbery.

He describes hanging out backstage with Bono, and giving advice to the U2 man on how to improve the show.

The production has been bedeviled by problems – four actors have been injured in separate accidents, audiences have reported technical difficulties during its spectacular aerial stunts, and one of its lead actor’s Natalie Mendoza quit the show last month.

Nonetheless audiences are still flocking to previews, with some paying up to $292.50 for a ticket.

Bono and the Edge are not thought to be writing any more new music for the show, but they have drafted in album producer Steve Lillywhite, who worked with U2 on October, War and How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, to help with Spiderman.