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New York - Julie Taymor was welcomed back with open arms on Tuesday to the musical from which she was fired just three months ago, receiving a standing ovation and kisses from cast members, collaborators Bono and The Edge and the creative team after the curtain fell on opening night.
"I just want to thank everybody, especially the cast and crew, the musicians and this creative team that I got to work with for a long time," Taymor said from the stage.
Taymor got the biggest cheers of anyone on stage and chants of "Julie! Julie!" anticipated her emergence on the Foxwoods Theatre stage.
The Tony Award-winning co-writer and director was fired from the $70m Spider-Man in March after delays, accidents, poor audience reaction and money woes turned the musical into a punch line.
Earlier in the night, Taymor, Bono and The Edge were all smiles as they posed for photos on the red carpet, a very public reconciliation from the original creators who had separated as the show's problems mounted.
"We absolutely love Julie and always have. As artists, we've been very, very close. She poured her whole life into this project," Bono said outside the theatre. "Tonight she's here to host it."
The show, with music by the two members of U2, was reworked from top to bottom and officially opened after a record-setting preview period.
"We were trying to do something that's never been done. And that's very hard to do. And we were right in front of everybody," Taymor said on the red carpet. "That's difficult."
Among the celebrities on hand for opening night were former President Bill Clinton and daughter Chelsea, Matt Damon, Barbara Walters, Cindy Crawford, Jay-Z, Steve Martin, Liam Neeson, Vanessa Redgrave, Spike Lee, Andrew Lloyd Webber and John McEnroe.
Humbled
Bono said he felt humbled following in the footsteps of such iconic songwriters as Rodgers and Hammerstein, Rodgers and Hart and Irving Berlin. "We found out it's harder than you think," he said about writing a musical.
The show's planned opening was initially set for February 18 2010, but financial issues forced producers to suspend work. A new opening was set for December 21, but that was pushed back to January 2011, then again to February 7 and then to March 15. Spider-Man has broken the record for the longest preview period in Broadway history.
Injuries to several cast members - including an 11-metre fall by a stunt actor playing the web-slinger that left him with a skull fracture and cracked vertebrae - marred the production, as well as the defection of a lead actress after she suffered a concussion.
Producers finally intervened in March, firing Taymor and shutting down the show for four weeks to retool. Taymor was replaced by Philip William McKinley, who directed the Hugh Jackman musical The Boy From Oz, in 2003.
Bono was determined to move forward. "Things got chaotic. It's all in the past now," he said. "It's just one of the most wonderful things I've ever seen. Now you just forget about the past. I think it's going to have a very, very bright future."
"I just want to thank everybody, especially the cast and crew, the musicians and this creative team that I got to work with for a long time," Taymor said from the stage.
Taymor got the biggest cheers of anyone on stage and chants of "Julie! Julie!" anticipated her emergence on the Foxwoods Theatre stage.
The Tony Award-winning co-writer and director was fired from the $70m Spider-Man in March after delays, accidents, poor audience reaction and money woes turned the musical into a punch line.
Earlier in the night, Taymor, Bono and The Edge were all smiles as they posed for photos on the red carpet, a very public reconciliation from the original creators who had separated as the show's problems mounted.
"We absolutely love Julie and always have. As artists, we've been very, very close. She poured her whole life into this project," Bono said outside the theatre. "Tonight she's here to host it."
The show, with music by the two members of U2, was reworked from top to bottom and officially opened after a record-setting preview period.
"We were trying to do something that's never been done. And that's very hard to do. And we were right in front of everybody," Taymor said on the red carpet. "That's difficult."
Among the celebrities on hand for opening night were former President Bill Clinton and daughter Chelsea, Matt Damon, Barbara Walters, Cindy Crawford, Jay-Z, Steve Martin, Liam Neeson, Vanessa Redgrave, Spike Lee, Andrew Lloyd Webber and John McEnroe.
Humbled
Bono said he felt humbled following in the footsteps of such iconic songwriters as Rodgers and Hammerstein, Rodgers and Hart and Irving Berlin. "We found out it's harder than you think," he said about writing a musical.
The show's planned opening was initially set for February 18 2010, but financial issues forced producers to suspend work. A new opening was set for December 21, but that was pushed back to January 2011, then again to February 7 and then to March 15. Spider-Man has broken the record for the longest preview period in Broadway history.
Injuries to several cast members - including an 11-metre fall by a stunt actor playing the web-slinger that left him with a skull fracture and cracked vertebrae - marred the production, as well as the defection of a lead actress after she suffered a concussion.
Producers finally intervened in March, firing Taymor and shutting down the show for four weeks to retool. Taymor was replaced by Philip William McKinley, who directed the Hugh Jackman musical The Boy From Oz, in 2003.
Bono was determined to move forward. "Things got chaotic. It's all in the past now," he said. "It's just one of the most wonderful things I've ever seen. Now you just forget about the past. I think it's going to have a very, very bright future."
