Written by Arya Ponto
Tuesday, twelve April 201one
batmanlive
Fear that the upcoming Batman Live stage tour will mirror the disastrous Spider-man: Turn Off the Dark Broadway show was addressed these days when the production unveiled the cast and costume in a media launch in London. At the terribly least, they are already doing three things right: the script is written by a comic book book writer, it has no newly created-up villain, and Bono is nowhere close to this issue.
Yes, as the producers keep stressing, this can not be a musical like Turn Off the Dark, despite being directed by Anthony Van Laast, who's famous for choreographing musicals like Mamma Mia!, Sister Act and Joseph and therefore the Technicolor Dreamcoat. Not that I have something against a Batman musical (Hey, The Brave and also the Bold did it brilliantly), but it's probably higher for this production to target stunts and awes instead of songs, and to draw as much distinction as attainable from one in every of the most important trainwrecks in Broadway history.
In the video below, watch as Joker introduces the opposite villains, before having his monologue interrupted by you-know-who.
The actor does a pretty good Joker. The body language of Cesar Romero combined with the deep, lip-smacking voice of Heath Ledger? As way as Joker actings go, abundant worse have come back and gone.
The media launch also showed the concept styles for what the sector will appear as if, together with this pretty badass miniature Gotham City. Alternative sets embody Arkham Asylum (naturally), Penguin's Iceberg Lounge, Wayne Manor, the Batcave, and the massive Prime circus scene where Dick Grayson's folks tragically die, pushing him to become Batman's sidekick Robin. On high of the sets, the show conjointly options a brand new design of the Batmobile, concocted by Formula One designer Gordon Murray.
All this, for less than 1/three of Turn Off the Dark's budget.
The hardest factor to stomach, and is seemingly to be the primary gripe individuals can fixate on, is the look of Batman and Robin's costumes, which are too close to Joel Schumacher for comfort. Do not let it shadow the full production, though, as a result of A) They do not have nipples, and B) No one has yet to pull off a satisfactory and convincing live-action Batman costume, anyway. Even in Batman Begins, it absolutely was additional like Fat and Cannot Breathe Leather Man Begins, that they then had to flip into a dirtbike get-up in The Dark Knight.
Speaking of—one amongst my initial worries when this was announced was that they would try to piggyback off of the Christopher Nolan movies, but it looks like they are going for a a lot of colourful, comic book look. Some Batman fans can insist that Batman will solely be portrayed in an exceedingly dark and edgy urban crime context, which is inquiring for a betrayal of the character's made history.
It's a sensible factor that, despite Nolan's insistence on Batman being a lone vigilante, the show is not sidelining Robin's existence. Far from it: the story truly centers on Dick Grayson's journey into changing into Robin. Sadly, for no matter reason, they'd to make him an older teen a la Batman Forever, instead of a 10-year-previous child.
The concentrate on Robin makes sense knowing the writer, Allan Heinberg. Heinberg has had success as a TV writer on shows like Sex & the City, The OC and Grey's Anatomy, however is better known to comic fans as a writer on Wonder Woman and, a lot of importantly, because the creator of Young Avengers. He's no stranger to the approaching-of-age stories of teenage superheroism.
It's a neat plan, really. Batman, Joker, and all the other villains can be iconic and set in place, but have the audience align with Dick, who sees these individuals because the mythic figures they're and has to enter that world.
The show premieres July 19 in Manchester.
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