Bono's Celeb Friends Out In Force For Spiderman Premiere

Former US president Bill Clinton turned out on Broadway last week to support Bono and the Edge at the official opening of their $75m Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark musical.

The long-delayed show finally opened its doors after a record-breaking seven months in previews, and the Irish Examiner was on the red carpet.

A host of stars attended the gala event in the Foxwoods Theatre off Times Square including Hollywood actors Matt Damon, Robert De Niro and Steve Martin.

Supermodels Helena Christensen, Cindy Crawford and Christy Turlington added some glamour to the red carpet.

TV stars Barbara Walters and Jimmy Fallon, tennis legend John McEnroe and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg were there.

And Bono's friends in the music business turned out in force too with rockers Lou Reed, rapper Jay-Z and The Strokes attending.

There were some familiar Irish faces in the shape of Liam Neeson, and Glen Hansard.

Director Julie Taymor, who was replaced after the original version of the show was savaged by critics, showed there were no hard feelings as she turned up, to see the changes that were made for the first time.

"I'm just very proud to be here. It's a long haul and difficult, but now it's up and running. I'm excited for the cast, crew, musicians and creative team I worked with," she said.

New director Phillip McKinley has turned the musical into a more straight-forward family-friendly tale.

But while critics agree that the new version is an improvement, they still they're still not convinced.

The Hollwood Reporter said the show was "still terminally clunky" and "third-rate entertainment".

And New York Times chief critic Ben Brantley said the show had gone from "jaw-dropping badness to mere mediocrity."

"This singing comic book is no longer the ungodly, indecipherable mess it was in February. It's just a bore," he wrote, adding that he would only recommend it if he knew a "less-than-precocious child of 10 or so, and had several hundred dollars to throw away."

However, Bono's celebrity pals were more impressed.

Former President Bill Clinton was enthusiastic in his response.

"What an amazing and historic night on Broadway. New York has never seen anything like Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark,"said Bill Clinton.

"And I am very proud of them for not giving up, it was fabulous," he added.

Despite the bad reviews, theatre-goers are flocking to see the show.

It made $1.2m last week - but many of the ticket sales are discounted and the venue has the potential to make up to $1.9m in a week if it was selling out at full price.

The musical is the most expensive production ever staged on Broadway.

It has been cursed with bad luck since its inception - running out of money, losing cast members, technical problems during its spectacular aerial stunts, serious injuries to actors and a mauling from critics.

Bono has not invested any of his own money in the show, but The Edge has revealed that he contributed an undisclosed sum as a sign of his commitment.

The U2 duo admitted that they would never have become involved in the musical if they had realized how much time it would take to bring to life.

But on the red carpet last Tuesday Bono was effusive.

"It's quite a moment for us to finally be able to stand behind this, stand proudly behind it. It is a wonderful, wild ride of a night out," he said.

"We knew that that show had the makings of something great," added the Edge, "so we felt that if we just pushed very hard and persuaded our producers to go again, we could get there. We feel we have."

Also see our review of Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark