'American Idol's' Web sight

If things had gone as planned, "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" would now be tallying its potential wins on next Sunday's Tony Awards broadcast on CBS at 8 p.m. If the mega-musical had opened on any of its six previously canceled dates and turned out to be reasonably competent, "The Book of Mormon" might have felt some real heat in the musical categories, at least for scenic and technical trophies.

Instead, "Spider-Man" finally opens June 14 (probably), two days after the Tony show and more than six weeks late for Tony eligibility. The show that has spent more money and made more headlines than any in history may or may not be featured in a performance on the theater's biggest annual advertisement. Either way, the musical is destined to be a favorite punch line of the telecast.

So, boohoo for Spidey, right? If the show ends up not selling the goods to an estimated 7 million theater fans watching the Tonys, the poor producers will have to settle for getting a song from the show performed by its composers, U2's Bono and The Edge, and star Reeve Carney on the May 25 "American Idol" finale -- you know the little program, the one that reached more than 29 million viewers and also featured Beyoncé and Lady Gaga?

As Brad Adgate, media guru and a senior vice president at Horizon Media puts it, such exposure is second only to "half time for the Super Bowl."

"You absolutely can't get much better than 'American Idol,' " Adgate says. "The Tonys have a very interested niche audience, but it's small. Or you can throw this out to masses of people. Most of them are never going to go to a Broadway show, but some might. The finale had a huge amount of big stars. To be embedded with that group is pretty high living."

I wondered if there could be a downside in such a gargantuan commercial showcase. What if masses of people decide that the song, a U2 variation on the show's "Rise Above 1," was judged a dud by all those people? In a marketing strategy that feels worlds away from handcrafted Broadway, the "Spider-Man" producers made the song available digitally that same night. By the next day, it was No. 28 on iTunes, which, I'm told, is not good after such a blitz. By Memorial Day, it was down to No. 39. By Wednesday, it had plummeted to No. 75.

After the broadcast, Bono told Reuters that "American Idol" is like "being at the center of pop culture. This show is really like I remember as kids growing up and hearing about 'The Ed Sullivan Show.' Elvis would be on, and The Beatles. Since television is so fragmented and everybody watches something different, this is probably the only show that everyone watches. So it's a very interesting thing."

Julie Taymor, "Spider-Man's" visionary director who was replaced in March, used to say that the troubled show was not meant to be a Broadway musical. After almost a year of serious accidents, safety violations, endless previews, uninvited critics with nothing but bad news and an unprecedented hiatus for rewrites, how odd if the catastrophes end up proving her right.

Other Tony news

THE ROAD BLOC The theater community is marveling at the unusual number of new shows that have rushed to announce national tours -- some not starting until late next year.

The not-subtle explanation is that more than 200 of the approximately 700 Tony voters are road producers, known by insiders as the road bloc. These people are said to prefer mass-amusement shows that are likely to come to their cities.

Thus, "Sister Act" has promised to start a tour in the fall. "Catch Me If You Can" and "Priscilla Queen of the Desert" plan to go out a year later, in the fall of 2012. "The Scottsboro Boys," which shocked the system with 12 Tony nominations after folding early on Broadway, will start in San Diego next spring, with intimations for New York voters that the serious musical could give Broadway another chance.

"War Horse" starts in L.A. next June. Perhaps most remarkable is that the dirty-talking and irreverent frolic "The Book of Mormon" will start a tour in Denver around Christmas 2012. Love that.

TONY SWAG Let Hollywood give out spa weekends and high-end baubles. For Tony voters, snail mail has been busy with far more respectable graft.

I mean beautifully bound scripts, handsome volumes of critical raves and CDs are filling my mailbox these days, along with good wishes and reminders of each show's deserving qualities in this unusually rich season.

In the case of "The Merchant of Venice," the Al Pacino smash that ended its limited run months ago and has seven Tony nominations, the offering comes with an unspoken plea to keep this terrific production from being overshadowed by current attractions. And, by the way, Tony voters are invited to have a private viewing of the video at the Library for the Performing Arts.

Jeffrey Richards, a lead producer of "Merchant," says, "we consciously budget funds for this for when Tony time comes around." He tells me that the Broadway League tightened requirements a few years ago on what can be sent to voters.

In other words, I should stop waiting for my sparkly nun's habit from "Sister Act."