U2 turns to Spider-Man
2010-09-11 08:59
New York - U2 frontman Bono said on Friday the songs composed for the most expensive show in Broadway history were simpler to write than the more personal songs he has written for the Irish rock band.
The songs for the eagerly anticipated $60 million production of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, turned out to be surprisingly less challenging than conjuring up melodies for U2, the singer told TV show "Good Morning America."
"The real question for us was, could we do it? Could we write songs that drove a story inspired by characters?" Bono told the TV show via satellite from U2's world tour. "It turns out it is actually harder to write songs about yourself than it is to write about other people."
The long-awaited musical inspired by the Marvel Comics hero with music by Bono and The Edge, will open on Broadway in December after being caught in financial problems and delayed from a February opening.
One of the songs played on the show, Boy Falls From The Sky, sounded similar to U2's rock sound, but Bono said there would be variety in the music.
"It swerves all over the road," Bono said about the sound. "That's the fun of it from a U2 perspective, you have got the big rock-n-roll tunes, melodrama, big melodies, there's orchestral stuff too."
Producers have promised a new take on the story of teenage science geek Peter Parker, who is bitten by a genetically-altered spider and wakes up the next morning clinging to the ceiling.
"We are interested in it because it is a really quintessential New York story and we are all kind of wannabe New Yorkers," said Bono. "It's not so serious, but post-9/11 this idea of everyone being capable of being a hero kind of caught our imaginations...he's a mythological character."
It was late Hollywood producer Tony Adams who approached The Edge and Bono with the idea for the Spider-Man musical.
"He didn't know that Bono and I had been talking about doing something on Broadway for a long time," The Edge said. Adams died on the day U2 signed the musical deal.
Director Julie Taymor said Broadway newcomer Reeve Carney, who will play the title character, had the acting and singing prowess to pull off the role in a production which promises to have elaborate costumes and actors flying over the audience on cables.
Carney will be backed up in the musical by his band of the same name, who will play live, which The Edge said would give the show an "authentic" sound. Tickets for the show go on sale on Sunday.
U2 resumed their tour last month following a two-month absence while Bono recovered from a back injury.