U2 have paid tribute to the late theatre producer, Tony Adams, for the success of their musical 'Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark' on Broadway, writes Ken Sweeney.

Mr Adams bought the stage rights for the production from comic company Marvel and approached Bono and The Edge to write the musical's score back in September 2002.

However tragedy struck in October 2005, when, just as U2 were about to sign their contract, Mr Adams suffered a stroke and died.

Now, after poor reviews when opening prompted a revamp, the stage show has struck gold, taking almost $3m (?2.2m) over nine performances last week, making it the highest single-week gross of any show in Broadway history.

"For all the problems, there was magic on the stage. Things did get chaotic and messy after our producer Tony Adams died. But this week's news has us all giddy again and we are raising our glasses to Tony, to our indefatigable cast, crew, creative and production team," Bono said last night.

The most expensive musical in history, the $75m (?58m) production has been one of the most turbulent US theatre productions, including injuries to actors, poor reviews and a record-breaking preview period.