Robert Cuccioli Replaces Patrick Page as Green Goblin in ‘Spiderman’

Patrick Page will play his final show as the Green Goblin in “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” on August 5, it was announced recently. He will be replaced by Tony-nominated actor Robert Cuccioli.

Page played the dual role of the Green Goblin and Norman Osborn since the musical opened in late 2010, staying with it as productions were delayed during the troubled beginnings of the show. He is leaving the production to prepare for his next role. He will be playing the villain Comte de Guiche in the Roundabout Theatre Company’s upcoming production of “Cyrano De Bergerac,” according to the Associated Press.

Cuccioli first became known on a widespread level when he originated the dual role of Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hide in “Jekyll & Hide” in 1997. He was nominated for a Tony Award for this role, and won the Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award and a Joseph Jefferson Award for the role. He had made his Broadway debut in 1987 in “Les Miserables,” and stayed with the production as a replacement until 1995.

“Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” has been a great success on Broadway since it opened last year, and earlier this year it earned the highest single-week gross of any show in Broadway history at the time. However, it has been fraught with trouble from the beginning.

Previews for the original production, which was directed by Julie Taymor, garnered particularly bad reviews. The production was shut down to be revamped, and the new version opened under the direction of Philip William McKinley.

Taymor and the producers of the show have essentially spent the intervening months suing each other, while the show has continued to be a hit on Broadway even though reviews of the new production weren’t all that much better than those of the original.

Page played the dual role of the Green Goblin and Norman Osborn since the musical opened in late 2010, staying with it as productions were delayed during the troubled beginnings of the show. He is leaving the production to prepare for his next role. He will be playing the villain Comte de Guiche in the Roundabout Theatre Company’s upcoming production of “Cyrano De Bergerac,” according to the Associated Press.

Cuccioli first became known on a widespread level when he originated the dual role of Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hide in “Jekyll & Hide” in 1997. He was nominated for a Tony Award for this role, and won the Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award and a Joseph Jefferson Award for the role. He had made his Broadway debut in 1987 in “Les Miserables,” and stayed with the production as a replacement until 1995.

“Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” has been a great success on Broadway since it opened last year, and earlier this year it earned the highest single-week gross of any show in Broadway history at the time. However, it has been fraught with trouble from the beginning.

Previews for the original production, which was directed by Julie Taymor, garnered particularly bad reviews. The production was shut down to be revamped, and the new version opened under the direction of Philip William McKinley.

Taymor and the producers of the show have essentially spent the intervening months suing each other, while the show has continued to be a hit on Broadway even though reviews of the new production weren’t all that much better than those of the original.