Batman takes on the world with £12m stage extravaganza

There will be bats, lots of flying, huge sets and spectacular special effects. But not, the crew of the gigantic comics-based show said – with a nervous glance over their shoulders at another megabucks superhero whose reputation is hanging by a cobweb – songs. The comparison between Batman Live, which in July begins a world […]

There will be bats, lots of flying, huge sets and spectacular special effects. But not, the crew of the gigantic comics-based show said – with a nervous glance over their shoulders at another megabucks superhero whose reputation is hanging by a cobweb – songs.

The comparison between Batman Live, which in July begins a world tour at the MEN Arena in Manchester, and Spider-Man, still awaiting its official first night on Broadway after six months of “previews”, is inevitable and the Batman crew insists, wrongheaded.

Spider-Man has cost $65m (£40m), while Batman Live, which will be touring with 20 trucks carrying re-creations of Gotham City’s landmark buildings and a Batmobile created by legendary Formula One car designer Gordon Murray, is costing a relatively modest £12m.

Perhaps most important, as the director kept pointing out anxiously, Batman Live is not a musical. Starring Nick Court as Batman and Emma Clifford as Catwoman, the show reaches the 02 in London in August.

“What it is really is rock and roll,” Anthony Van Laast said at the launch. “Almost all of us come from a rock and roll background, we know we can fill an arena, we can do the whizz bangs and the special effects – all we needed was a really good yarn as the backbone of the show, and we’ve got that. It’s not a musical.”

Van Laast choreographed Mamma Mia! for stage and screen, and worked on films including Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and tours for musicians including Kate Bush and Mika.

Batman was born in issue 27 of Detective Comics in 1939 with original illustrations by Bob Kane, but the look of the show will be based on the more recent moody, grey style of illustrator Jim Lee – the definitive Batman, in the team’s view, and also usefully now co-publisher of DC Comics whose co-operation was essential.