Quick Takes: ‘Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark’ tops ‘Book of Mormon’

The reboot of the “Spider-Man” musical hasn’t been hurt by opening-night reviews.

The show, which finally welcomed professional drama critics, grossed more than $1 million last week and even beat the popular musical “The Book of Mormon.” The reviews acknowledged improvement over the earlier version but were still poor.

“Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” opened Tuesday. It pulled in nearly $1.28 million for the week ending Sunday. That makes it the third-highest-grossing show on Broadway after “Wicked” and “The Lion King.”

The critically acclaimed and nine-time Tony winner “The Book of Mormon” earned over $1.19 million for the same eight-show period.

Both “Mormon” and “Spider-Man” are playing to full houses, but discounted tickets for the comic book hero means it is making about three-quarters of its box-office potential.

— Associated Press

Clemons gets a U2 shout-out

U2 promptly paid homage Saturday to E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons after his death several hours earlier in Florida from complications of a stroke he suffered June 12.

At the second performance on the band’s two-night stand at Anaheim Stadium on its 360 Tour, Bono gave a solemn introduction to the song “Moment of Surrender,” asking for the lights to be dimmed and then urging concertgoers to turn their thoughts to Clemons and the members of the E Street Band.

“I want you to think about the beautiful symphonic sound that came out of one man’s saxophone,” Bono told the crowd. “I want you to think about Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band of brothers. I want you to think of Clarence Clemons. This man just carried music and music carried him until this day.”

— Randy Lewis

Woody Allen to star in next film

Woody Allen is going through a career resurgence of sorts, with his “Midnight in Paris” poised to attract a wider audience than any film he’s directed in the last 25 years.

On Monday morning, the 75-year-old director said he’d soon make himself visible in another way. Allen confirmed in a news release that he would have a role in his new movie “The Bop Decameron.” The film, which begins shooting in July, strings together several romantic vignettes in Rome, the filmmaker’s latest stop on his European tour.

It attracts the usual mix of top-tier cast members (Alec Baldwin, Ellen Page, Penélope Cruz, Jesse Eisenberg).

“Decameron” will mark the first time that Allen has starred in one of his own movies since “Scoop” five years ago, and it’s hard not to notice a parallel. Back when that movie was being made the director was also undergoing a career revival, his darkly psychological “Match Point” garnering what at the time was his biggest audience in nearly two decades.

— Steve Zeitchick

CNN’s Henry jumps to Fox

In a move akin to a baseball player leaving the Boston Red Sox for the New York Yankees, CNN senior White House correspondent Ed Henry is jumping to arch-rival Fox News.

Henry, who has been with CNN since 2004, will cover all facets of the White House for Fox. Previously, Wendell Goler and Mike Emanuel had been sharing coverage of the White House for Fox. Goler will now serve as senior White House and foreign affairs correspondent, while Emanuel has been named chief congressional correspondent.

Prior to joining CNN, Henry was an editor and columnist at the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call. He also served as a contributing editor at Washingtonian magazine and as an analyst for WMAL-AM, an all-news radio station in Washington.

CNN said a successor for Henry would be named “in the coming days.”

— Joe Flint

‘Itch’ dress sells for $4.6 million

The dress that famously billowed up around Marilyn Monroe as she stood over a subway vent while filming “The Seven-Year Itch” sold for $4.6 million on Saturday at an auction of memorabilia belonging to actress Debbie Reynolds.

The winning bid for the “subway grate” dress easily outstripped the $1 million to $2 million estimated value placed on the frock by dealer Profiles in History.

Reynolds, 79, had hoped to see the ivory-colored rayon-acetate halter dress with pleated skirt housed one day in a museum that would hold her massive collection of costumes, key props, movie posters, original costume sketches and more, assembled over the course of 50 years from studios including 20th Century Fox and MGM.

— Christie D’Zurilla

Finally

New TV awards: In what amounts to a reflection of last year’s Emmys and a bold prediction of this year’s ceremony, “Mad Men” and “Modern Family” won the top prizes at a new event organized by television critics. The two shows, both critical darlings, took the respective best drama and comedy prizes at the Critics’ Choice Television Awards during a luncheon in Beverly Hills on Monday.