Bible Belting! Spider-Man's Philip William McKinley to Direct Musical Arena Spectacular The Bible

Spider-Man, Turn Off the Dark creative consultant Philip William McKinley is set to direct The Bible: The Beginning, a musical arena spectacular version of the Old Testament, according to Deadline.com. The production is expected to launch at a yet-to-be-determined venue in 2012 or 2013 before embarking on a national tour. Michael Levine, Matt Rollings and Ryan Beveridge are composing music, with lyrics by Maribeth Derry and a book by Shaun McKenna.

"The more I thought about it, I realized that we could take these stories that have big morality themes and put them in a style of contemporary performance," McKinley, who previously adapted The Ten Commandments and Ben-Hur for stage, said.

Narrated by Gabriel the Messenger, Raphael the Healer and Michael, Leader of God's armies, biblical stories (including the Creation, Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah's Ark, the parting of the Red Sea and the delivery of the Ten Commandments) will be told through music, jugglers, aerialists and more.

The Bible will feature set design by Mark Fisher and Ray Winkler and is produced by Spider-Man lead producer Michael Cohl's S2BN production company. No plans are expected for a Broadway run of the show.