US Edition Holy Expectations, Batman! To say there’s a lot riding on this show is something of an understatement. Batman Live, a stage production of suitably heroic girth, has been two and a half years in the making at a reported cost of about £7.5 million. After its six-day run in Manchester (which hosted Tuesday night’s global premiere), it’ll tour the UK before lighting out for Europe and attempting, in true arch-villain style, to conquer the world.
So what exactly is it? 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.
Those anticipating some deeply existential tale along the lines of The Dark Knight or Batman Begins are advised to head elsewhere. The story here – Batman meets Robin; they set about ridding the city of all that pesky villainous trash like the Joker, the Penguin, Two Face and the Riddler – acts as a sturdy prop from which to hang all manner of candy-striped set-pieces.
As such, 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.
As befits the creatives who brought us Walking With Dinosaurs and U2’s 360 tour and the set designer for Lady Gaga and Take That, Batman Live delivers brilliantly. The fight scenes are genuinely breath-catching (not least when the dynamic duo are assailed by a 30-strong battery of kung fu henchmen with fluorescent orange sticks), while a terrific sense of Grand Guignol arrives in the form of the Joker’s various contraptions. There are flying jet-packs, hideous hot-air balloons and one particularly memorable scene in which a giant Joker head advances on the stage and – not wishing to spoil things here – reveals an ingenious set of working components.
Best of the lot, however, might just be the Batmobile. Invented by Formula One designer Gordon Murray, it’s a neat, sleek, flame-spitting wonder of carbon-fibre engineering.
My two boys, aged eight and 10, adored this show as much as I did. It’s family entertainment on a truly ambitious scale.
Tickets: 0844 875 9000