U2 megastars on edge over success of megamusical

CREATING a megamusical is no easy feat, even in the hands of megastars U2.

“Easier than we could ever have imagined. Harder than we ever thought,” says Bono, resting on a Times Square hotel bed near where Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark is readying for its first preview.

“I mean, easier in the sense that the music came to us effortlessly. Dreaming up the show, the scale of it, the flying sequence, the pop art opera that it is — that was all pure joy,” he adds. “What we didn’t realise was how difficult it is to stage this stuff, both technically and financially.”

It’s been a long, strange trip for U2’s first attempt at a Broadway show. But the end is in sight. Years of delays and behind-the-scenes shake-ups will end this Sunday when the public finally gets to see the reported $60 million musical for the first time. The first preview is naturally sold out.

“Is there jeopardy?” asks Bono. “Yes. Because it’s technically very difficult. It has never been achieved before — the kind of scale of what we’re looking for. There may be very good reasons. We’re going to find out. The expense of it? A lot of it was the delays.”

He and guitarist The Edge signed on back in 2002 to write the score in partnership with co-writer and director Julie Taymor, the Tony Award-winning creator of the Broadway hit The Lion King.

The death of a key producer slowed the production for nearly two years while raising money, and the sheer size of the show — enormous sets and aerial stunts — needed time to perfect.

“If the rabbit comes out of the hat, we will be, I think, rewarded. If the rabbit comes out of the leg of the trousers, we could be figures of fun for a few days. Or worse. Maybe looking for a job,” he says.

The musical has 40 pieces of music in total, including 18 songs. Only one tune — the glam-rock A Boy Falls From the Sky — is widely known, but Bono and The Edge say the show’s music runs the gamut from garage rock to choral arrangements. Only four or five are rock songs and the musicians want to dispel the notion that they’ve created a rock opera similar to The Who’s Tommy.

“It’s much more varied than anything we would ever achieve or set out to do with U2,” says The Edge.

The music for the show will be performed live from an 18-member orchestra in two rooms backstage. Two musicians from the band Carney will be on stage alongside their lead singer, Reeve Carney, who plays Peter Parker/Spider-Man.

Both Bono and The Edge are happy with the final product, layering praise on Taymor, whom Bono calls “a great storyteller and she believes in magic”. He also calls Eiko Ishioka, who did the costumes, and George Tsypin, the set-maker, “two card-carrying geniuses”.

“If it’s just spectacle, we will have failed. But if you can be moved, and if you believe these characters, it’s a great American story.”