The Week in Review

Spider-Man Settlement Reached: You never thought it would happen, but it did. All parties involved in the long-running litigation surrounding the Broadway musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, have reached a settlement, thus averting a trial that was set to begin in May. As The New York Times reports, this frees up the producers, led by Michael Cohl and Jeremiah Harris, to move forward with other productions, which may include an arena tour and/or a sit-down version in Las Vegas. It also avoids days of embarrassing courtroom testimony about how the members of the show's creative team, including Julie Taymor, Bono, and The Edge, fell out. The Times summary, by the excellent Patrick Healy, can be found at http://plasa.me/20aid.

Peggy Eisenhauer to Get Ruth Morley Design Award: Cheers to Peggy Eisenhauer, who will be this year's winner of the Ruth Morley Design Award, administered by the League of Professional Theatre Women in New York. Previous winners include Ann Roth, Christine Jones, and Wendall K. Harrington. Eisenhauer, who is currently represented on Broadway with Lucky Guy, which she designed with her frequent artistic partner Jules Fisher, has an impressive resume that includes Angels in America; Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk; Ragtime; the 1998 revival of Cabaret; Elaine Stritch at Liberty; Assassins; and the Bernadette Peters version of Gypsy. Other credits include the film of Chicago; Neil Young's Chrome Dreams Tour; and the Las Vegas attraction Le Rêve. The award will be given at a luncheon at Sardi's on June 5. Judith Malina, of The Living Theatre, will also be honored. The event is open to the public. For more information, go to: www.TheatreWomen.org,

Nicholas Hytner to Step Down from National Theatre: The almost supernaturally successful run of Nicholas Hytner at London's National Theatre is coming to an end. Hytner has announced that he will step down from the position of artistic director in March 2015. Hytner's tenure as seen any number of productions with extraordinary designs, including Jerry Springer: The Opera; His Dark Materials; Jumpers; Coram Boy; Rafta, Rafta; War Horse; and Frankenstein. For the full story, go to: http://plasa.me/6r7vq.

Rebecca Almost Nearly Sort of Capitalized: The latest on Rebecca, the scandal -- and litigation plagued musical adaptation of the famous Daphne du Maurier, is once again in the news. Ben Sprecher is now telling Playbill.com that he is getting closer to capitalizing the $15 million the show apparently needs to get to Broadway. Actually, he has raised $8 million, meaning that he is only 50% there. Why this is news eludes us, but we're so riveted by the Rebecca saga, which tops anything you've seen on Smash, that we're just passing it on, for the record. For the latest details, go to: http://plasa.me/c1plm.

Toronto Casino Near Defeat: The casino industry is facing another setback in Toronto, where a plan to open a gaming venue downtown has proved hugely controversial. Now, The Toronto Star reports, despite the efforts of Mayor Rob Ford, the city council votes for approval are simply not there. Key quote: "Ford cannot even count on his usual allies to rally to the cause: seven members of his 13-member executive committee are among the undecideds. They include Ford's deputy mayor, Doug Holyday, who has said that he is not generally a supporter of casinos and is "reluctant" to put one downtown. The vote will take place sometime next month. To tally the votes yourself, go to: http://plasa.me/ifxkr.