Spidey on stage, and singing

Reports are that "Spider-man: The Musical" is coming along fine, but so far there's no Spidey.

Director Julie Taymor and Evan Rachel Wood, who will play Mary Jane, workshopped the musical with their "Across the Universe" collaborator Jim Sturgess in the title role, but Wood is saying Sturgess won't make a commitment to the role.

"It's a year commitment. . . . I did the workshop with Jim Sturgess, but he's not sure if he can make that year commitment but we're trying to get him to do it. I want him to do it so bad."

Sturgess remained noncommital in an interview with cinematical.com: "Um, I don't know. I haven't spoken to Julie since [the read-through], and I don't know when she plans to do it. It's a timing thing, I guess. I don't know how long it's going to be before it comes to the surface."

Wood, meanwhile, is having a great time preparing. She advises that we suppress any instincts to laugh about a musical Spidey: "When you first hear the title, Spider-Man, The Musical, you think, 'Oh what's that gonna be like?' The deal was that a man would never sing in spandex on stage, so, rest assured, Spider-Man will never sing in tights, only as Peter Parker. Only Julie Taymor can bring it to that place. She's bringing it to the next level like she did with 'The Lion King.' There's all new flying technology.

"I learned all the songs by Bono and The Edge. I didn't know how they were going to write for the stage but I think it's the best work they've done."