RARELY does a Broadway show become one of the biggest cultural news stories of the year. But “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” had more offstage intrigue than any production in recent memory — as well as a record-setting budget of $75 million, six delays to its opening night and the gold-plated creative team of U2’s Bono and the Edge and the director Julie Taymor. So it’s no surprise that from beginning to end Spidey dominated the year in theater news. But his wasn’t the only story (just about a third of them, in this modest account):

LONGEST SLOG The unheard-of 183 preview performances for “Spider-Man” — to accommodate script, staging, cast and special-effects changes — before the show finally opened on June 14. (Most Broadway musicals hold about 25 preview performances to prepare for an opening.)

STRANGEST ENDORSEMENT Glenn Beck, the conservative radio host, who was such a fan of “Spider-Man” that he returned a dozen times, and went so far as to advise Ms. Taymor on ways to improve the show. (A stricken-looking Ms. Taymor posed with him for a backstage photograph, which will undoubtedly fetch a high price among “Spider-Man” memorabilia someday.)