There’s a new friendly, neighborhood web-spinner swinging around the Great White Way.
Justin Matthew Sargent, who has been starring in “Rock of Ages,” will take over the role of Spider-Man and his bookish alter-ego Peter Parker in “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.”
Sargent will assume the role in the Broadway production beginning on Monday. He replaces original star Reeve Carney, who played his final performance on Sunday and is leaving the show to begin shooting Showtime’s Victorian era horror series “Penny Dreadful.”
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Sargent previously served as an alternate for the play, so he’s familiar with acrobatics that come with the demanding production.
The show’s producers hosted open casting calls in New York and Los Angeles to find a replacement for Carney.
“We looked for our new lead in LA and New York. During Justin’s rehearsals as the alternate Peter Parker/Spider-Man, we realized this is the guy to take over for Reeve. He is one of Broadway’s great rockers,” Producers Michael Cohl and Jere Harris said in a statement.
“Spider-Man: Turn of the Dark” attracted a great deal of negative media attention when it debuted in 2011 for its reported $75 million budget, the most expensive in Broadway history; injuries to cast members; the firing of director Julie Taymor and scathing reviews.
Ticket sales have softened in recent weeks, dipping below $1 million for the first time in the show’s run.
“We looked for our new lead in LA and New York. During Justin’s rehearsals as the alternate Peter Parker/Spider-Man, we realized this is the guy to take over for Reeve. He is one of Broadway’s great rockers,” said producers Michael Cohl and Jere Harris.