The man who saved Spidey

Acouple of years ago, while in San Diego checking out a new musical, I decided to take a road trip down to Baja California with Rick Miramontez, a Broadway press agent, and two of his office underlings, Jon and Andy.

Andy was the designated driver, but he was nervous. He’d read about carjackings along the coastal highway and drug-related massacres. His hands were sweating on the steering wheel when we crossed the border and he refused to go faster than 55 mph for fear of being pulled over by a corrupt guardia and shaken down.

But Rick, in the passenger seat, sporting Ray-Bans and singing songs from the Tijuana Brass Band, was undisturbed.

“What if we get pulled over?” Andy asked, his voice cracking.

“An adventure!” said Rick.

“What if they plant drugs in the car and throw us in a Mexican jail?” Andy worried.

“We can only hope!” said Rick.

We had delicious lobsters in Puerto Nuevo and spent a night at the famed Rosarito Beach Hotel, where old Hollywood used to escape for romantic weekends — Liz and Dick, Rita Hayworth and Prince Aly Khan.

The principal topic of conversation was “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark,” which was still in pre-

production. Rick had just signed on as press agent, and I’d been hammering away at the show’s myriad financial problems.

“Whatever happens, it’s going to be a wild ride,” Rick said. “Boys, prepare to be part of the legend!”

Waiting to cross the border on the way back, Rick bought a plaster-of-Paris Spider-Man statuette from an impoverished Mexican kid for about two bucks.

“Let the fun begin!” he said as he examined his purchase.

I remember thinking that “Spider-Man,” despite its $85 million price tag, was just as fragile as that cheap statuette. I chuckled and thought, destroying this show is going to be as easy as smashing Rick’s new toy.

Well, two years later and despite my best efforts, “Spider-Man” is still here, attracting hordes of tourists and posting weekly grosses of more than $1 million.

And Rick’s Spider-Man statue remains intact, prominently on display in his office.

Who knew it was his — and the show’s — good luck charm?

Chalk up the durability of “Spider-Man” to several factors.

First, the brilliant p.r. spinning by Rick and his team at O&M Co. Rick’s been in this racket nearly 25 years. He’s a great believer in what he calls “old school” press agentry. In other words, as long as you’re in the papers, no matter how negative the story, somebody’s paying attention. And attention very often sells tickets.

He’s a whiz at putting a cheeky spin on a bad situation. For instance, when “Spider-Man” wasn’t nominated for the Tony for Best Musical, he cooked up the show’s own Tony campaign.