'Spider-man' musical not hurt by poor reviews

[June 21, 2011]  NEW YORK (AP) -- The reboot of the "Spider-Man" musical hasn't been hurt by opening night reviews.

The show, which finally welcomed professional drama critics, grossed over $1 million last week and even beat the popular musical "The Book of Mormon." The reviews acknowledged improvement over the earlier version but were still poor.

"Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" opened Tuesday. It pulled in nearly $1.28 million for the week ending Sunday. That makes it the third-highest grossing show on Broadway after "Wicked" and "The Lion King."

The critically acclaimed and nine-time Tony winner "The Book of Mormon" earned over $1.19 million for the same eight-show period.

Both "Mormon" and "Spider-Man" are playing to full houses, but discounted tickets for the comic book hero means it is making about three-quarters of its box office potential.

[Associated Press]

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