REVIEW ROUNDUP: Batman Live Opens in the U.K.

Batman Live, a new stage spectacle based on the popular DC Comics character, officially opened at Manchester’s MEN Arena on July 20. Anthony Van Laast and James Powell have co-directed the production, which features a script from Allan Heinberg, based on an original story by Heinberg, Stan Berkowitz, and Alan Burnett.

The principal cast includes Nick Court and Sam Heughan (Batman / Bruce Wayne), Kamran Darabi-Ford and Michael Pickering (Robin / Dick Grayson), Mark Frost (The Joker), Alex Giannini (Commissioner Gordon/ The Penguin), Emma Clifford (Catwoman / Martha Wayne), John Conroy (Alfred Pennyworth), Poppy Tierney (Harley Quinn / Mary Grayson), Garry Lake (Two Face / Ringmaster), Jack Walker (Tony Zucco), and Darrell Brockis (Dr. Wayne).

Circus sequences for the production are created by Circus Space and aerialists Juliette Hardy-Donaldson and Bryan Donaldson serve as circus consultants. The creative team also includes Es Devlin (scenic design), James Brett (original music), Simon Baker (sound design), Patrick Woodroffe (lighting design), Sam Pattinson (video design), and Jack Galloway (costume design).

Following the Manchester run, the UK Tour of Batman Live will include stops in Newcastle, Glasgow, Sheffield, Birmingham, London, Liverpool, Nottingham, Dublin, and Belfast.

Many of the U.K. critics who evaluated the production found much to enjoy.

Among the reviews are:

The Stage
Batman Live
“Batman Live turns out to be every comic book fan’s dream of a show. From the minute you enter the arena – authenticity is the key, from Jack Galloway’s taut costumes to Patrick Woodroffe’s striking lighting design which includes the iconic Batman searchlight.”

“A variety of villains are squeezed into the narrative and their outfits – including the Joker, Poison Ivy, the Riddler, and Harvey Two-Face, which does leave many of them jostling for your attention like tiny tots in a school play. But, due to Allan Heinberg’s knowing writing, there is more to this show than zap, bang and pow.”

The Telegraph
Batman Live, Manchester MEN, review

“No doubt wary of the disastrous Broadway reception of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, the creators of Batman Live are keen to point out that this isn’t a musical. Instead, it’s a live-action drama stuffed with dazzling special effects, retina-popping visuals and improbable feats of highwire derring-do, all choreographed within a Catwoman’s whisker of perfection. Half the 40-odd-strong cast are actors and half are acrobats, which helps set the tone of the show as a kind of hyper-real, hi-tech pantomime.

“…it strikes a smart balance between the Technicolor campery of the Sixties TV series and Frank Miller’s darker comic book revival of the Eighties. Sam Heughan’s Batman/Bruce Wayne keeps a lantern jaw throughout, while Mark Frost as the Joker hams it up in wonderful style.”

The Guardian
Batman Live – review

“Fortunately for its young audience, Batman Live has more in common with the comics and Tim Burton films than graphic novels and Christopher Nolan movies. Despite a huge set that presents Gotham as a hellish metropolis, jagged and malevolent of skyline, and dirty and dark of street, the production has, for the most part, reined in the more unpalatable aspects of sociopathic vigilantism. And so the figure who strutted across the vast stage was a sanitised Batman, a crimefighter who prizes justice over revenge; a Dark Knight rendered a paler shade of black.”

City Life
Batman Live

“Writer, Allan Heinberg, sticks faithfully to the original comic characters and stories, here finding an emotional heart by focusing on young orphan, Dick Grayson’s journey of revenge which leads him to follow in the footsteps of his vigilante superhero, Batman to become his sidekick Robin, the Boy Wonder.”

“And it’s a big transformation too for former Werneth School pupil and Stockport Express distribution man, Kamran Darabi Ford, who brings Robin to life with passion.”

“Sam Hughes is an imposing presence as Batman making an impressive entrance swooping over the skyscrapers to save the day.”

The Independent
First Night: Batman Live, Manchster Evening News Arena

“The first half feels less like the ‘non-stop thrill ride across Gotham City’ as promised and more like a Las Vegas hotel show, surely leaving some of the wide-eyed young fans decked out in bat costumes feeling short-changed in the action stakes as it sketches out the dynamic duo’s back stories.

“…The second half gets better, with glimpses of humour and intelligence. The climax at the Arkham Asylum finally sees the fight scenes come alive.”

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