Las Vegas should think big for Spidey

Anyone who may have spotted acclaimed director Julie Taymor exploring Las Vegas theaters a year or so back probably figures now it related to "The Lion King."

But no. It was "Spider-Man."

Last week came the official news the Spidey Broadway musical, subtitled "Turn Off the Dark," opens next February at the Hilton Theatre on West 42nd Street.

But I was excited to learn Las Vegas was even considered. Those who regularly suffer this column have seen mentions of the developing musical. It's not just that I'm a U2 fan (Bono and The Edge are doing the songs), or part of the boomer wave finally seeing the superheroes we grew up with done right in movies.

Instead, I have been using "Spider-Man" as the perfect example of the big thinking Vegas entertainment needs to get out of its rut. With few exceptions, the big ideas stop at the door of Cirque du Soleil. And when Cirque lets us down (think Criss Angel), it shows just how many eggs are in one basket.

Broadway offers one answer to creative bankruptcy, but we're getting Taymor's "The Lion King" instead of "Spider-Man." The quibble is not over content, but the fact that "King" is 11 years old.

"The Producers" and other titles flopped here in part because they arrived too late. Producers of "Jersey Boys" and "Monty Python's Spamalot" were better at cutting the line, before tours saturated Las Vegas' feeder markets.

But we really need to break the model. Snag a show like this one first. Or open simultaneously with Broadway, which might fit tentative plans for a multiple-city opening of Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Phantom" sequel.

The good news, says a source close to the "Spider-Man" producers, is they "absolutely want to come here, and they will." But a couple of things worked against us scoring it first.

First, Marvel (keeper of Spider-Man) needs Broadway's stamp of approval. It needs to "legitimize" the title to brand it all over the world. While we all know Vegas has changed, Spidey on the Strip still might draw snickers or perceptions that it's more theme-park attraction.

In fact, it could be better. If you've seen "Ka," you know Spidey could be flying over the audience. The seats could even be bolted onto a motion simulator for action scenes like the Spider-Man ride at Universal's Islands of Adventure.

In fact, we could do such a kick-butt production compared to the landlocked, historic-preservation theaters on Broadway, that it becomes a problem in itself. Opening that kind of "Spider-Man" here first would make "a good-sized Broadway version look like summer stock," notes an insider.

Call it the price of being too good at something. But Las Vegas still has to wait in line.

Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at mweatherford@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288.