Batman Live!

Leo and I were lucky enough to get tickets to the open dress rehearsal of Batman Live. It opens in Manchester on Tuesday, and last night was the first time it had been done in front of a live audience.

Stage

I was skeptical at first how they would pull it off, but they managed it. The thing that made the show was the bat signal shaped LED screen that dominated the back wall of the stage. It changed with the scenes by backing out in to a comic, flipping a few pages then zooming back in on another scene. It was amazing to watch, and very well done.

Story

The Story revolves around Dick Grayson (Later Robin), the murder of his parents and the resulting hunt that takes the Caped Crusader around Gotham encountering among others Poison Ivy, The Scarecrow (Eeek, that was scary), The Penguin, The Joker, The Riddler, basically all the "baddies" you would expect from a Batman Show.

Effects

What can I say? The effects were tremendous. The aerial displays were spectacular (like really being at the circus), the backing screen was brilliant, but above all, The Huuuuge Jokers head, with the performers making the hair, eyes and teeth was something else. The jokers Balloon was very well done, and the batmobile was the thing of childhood dreams!
One bad part was the scene in the asylum. That was Way too dark, and really scared my lad. it was not the action part, but the bodies suspended on chains that worried him.

Acting

As you might expect, the acting was at times slightly below par, but when doing a show in front of people for the first time, that is to be expected. I fully expect that the actors will get this sorted as their confidence grows. Bruce Wayne will probably need to improve his fitness so that he is not so out of breath after the fight scene!! Harley Quin could "down ham" the acting slightly, and make it less "panto" like.

There were a few fluffed lines, but apart from that, it was very watchable.

Overall

This was a great show, and I think that it will be very successful. The cast were good, the fight choreography was well thought out, and the effects were spectacular.

THanks for ShowFilmFirst for giving us the chance to be two of the first 2000 or so people to see this show.

Final rating: EXCELLENT!!