Saturday, Nov. 07, 2009

Rock singer lands Spider-Man role

New York -- Broadway has found its Spider-Man - rock singer Reeve Carney.

Carney will portray celebrated web-slinger Peter Parker in "Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark," producer Michael Cohl announced Friday.

The lavish musical is still scheduled to open sometime in 2010 at the Hilton Theatre. Dates will be announced. The show has had a troubled history, with work on the musical stopped last summer because of financial difficulties. New financing is expected to be in place shortly, according to its producers, and then full production on the musical, which reportedly has a budget of upward of $40 million, will begin.

Said Cohl: "Knowing the details and intricacies of this wildly ambitious project, I want to 'turn off the dark' on all the wild speculation about the show - it's moving forward!"

The Hilton, one of Broadway's largest theaters, has undergone extensive renovation to accommodate "Spider-Man," which will be directed by Julie Taymor and features a score by Bono and The Edge of U2.

Carney is lead of the rock band Carney, which has just released its first full-length album, "Mr. Green." The 26-year-old performer has appeared in several films including Taymor's upcoming adaptation of Shakespeare's "The Tempest," in which he plays Ferdinand.

The cast also includes Evan Rachel Wood as Mary Jane Watson, Parker's girlfriend, and Alan Cumming in the role of Norman Osborn, also known as the villainous Green Goblin.

Show founder sentenced

Los Angeles A judge sentenced "Girls Gone Wild" founder Joe Francis on Friday to 301 days already served and a year of probation for filing false income tax returns and bribing Nevada jail workers.

U.S. District Judge S. James Otero accepted the terms of a plea deal between Francis and prosecutors, who struck the agreement after learning on the eve of trial that a key witness had withheld information from them.

Elton John healthy

London Elton John has been released from a London hospital after being treated for flu and an E. coli bacterial infection.

The singer's spokesman, Gary Farrow, says John was at home Friday and was feeling fine. He left the hospital early Thursday.

He says John planned to resume his suspended tour and would play scheduled U.S. dates with Billy Joel starting in Oakland, Calif., on Nov. 14.

Duo sweeps Grammys

Las Vegas Puerto Rican duo Calle 13 won all five awards it was nominated for Thursday at the Latin Grammys in Las Vegas, including two of the top awards of the night and honors in both urban and alternative categories.

The awards show ran late because Mexico's "Divo of Juarez," Juan Gabriel, sang for 40 minutes straight while mariachis stomped on stage and the audience clapped and sang along.

Italian singer Laura Pausini, who won best female pop vocal album, performed "En Cambio No," to open the show, which was hosted by Mexican comedian Eugenio Derbez and Mexican singer and actress Lucero.

Birthdays today

Singer Joan Sutherland, 83

Actor Barry Newman, 71

Singer Johnny Rivers, 67

Singer Joni Mitchell, 66

Actor Christopher Knight, 52

Actor Jeremy London, 37

Actor Jason London, 37