BATMAN LIVE Worldwide Arena Tour

BATMAN LIVE Worldwide Arena Tour

Press Release from Warner Bros. Consumer Products

World Premiere & UK Tour Kicks off July 2011

Burbank, Calif., ( November 8, 2010) – Warner Bros. Consumer Products (WBCP), DC Entertainment and Nick Grace of Water Lane Productions Ltd (WLP) announced today that BATMAN LIVE – a unique action-packed live show - will tour arenas for the first time ever across the UK and Europe, beginning in summer 2011 and arriving in North America by summer 2012. 

Opening in Manchester on 20th July 2011 and visiting Newcastle, Glasgow, Sheffield, Birmingham, London, Liverpool, Nottingham, Dublin and Belfast, tickets for BATMAN LIVE go on sale on Friday 12th November 2010.  BATMAN LIVE is a visually stunning production, complete with a brand new original storyline.  The live show will feature Batman, his trusty counterpart Robin, tireless butler Alfred and a host of other favourite Batman characters, including Villains such as The Joker, The Riddler, Catwoman and The Penguin.  The story will take place in several settings from the famed DC Comics stories, including Gotham City, Wayne Manor, the Batcave and Arkham Asylum.

"With the touring BATMAN LIVE show, we're bringing Batman's adventures to live audiences for the very first time," said Geoff Johns, Chief Creative Officer, DC Entertainment.  "The idea that we're doing it with a production team this talented and with this much passion is thrilling."

"When a character has as wide an audience and as rich a history as Batman, it's truly exciting to see him introduced into an all-new storytelling medium," says Jim Lee, Co-Publisher, DC Comics.  "BATMAN LIVE will bring a completely new experience to fans of the character - it's great to be able to give them something they haven't seen before."

“Batman is one of the most iconic and recognizable brands in the world,” said Brad Globe, President, Warner Bros. Consumer Products.  “For the very first time, we are bringing the world of Batman to life in a live show.  And the fact that we are doing it within arena-sized venues is sure to be a thrill for audiences of all ages.”

BATMAN LIVE, produced by Nick Grace of Water Lane Productions, will feature impressive stunts, pyrotechnics, illusions and video screen sequences.  Totally authentic, bold and awe-inspiring, BATMAN LIVE will offer a completely new way to experience the world of Batman and will be a must-see for fans and families everywhere.

“BATMAN LIVE will be a totally unique experience.  This is not a musical but a high quality live show with a thrilling Batman story, filled with action, that will appeal to adults, teenagers and families,” said Nick Grace.  “Batman is more than a comic book character, he’s a cultural phenomenon and we are proud to have this opportunity to be involved with one of the most popular DC Super Heroes in the world today.”

BATMAN LIVE is based on an original story being created exclusively for the show.  Creative Director is Anthony van Laast and Co-Director, James Powell.  Set design by Es Devlin, music composed by James Brett, sound design by Simon Baker, lighting design by Patrick Woodroffe, video direction by Sam Pattinson, costume design by Jack Galloway.  Circus sequences created, produced and managed in association with Circus Space with Bryan Donaldson and Juliette Hardy-Donaldson as circus consultants.

The world premiere of BATMAN LIVE will take place in the UK in summer 2011.  Following the premiere, the show will then tour Europe, before opening in North America in summer 2012.  Full tour dates will be released in November 2010.

Tickets for UK and The Republic of Ireland will go on sale on Friday 12th November 2010.

For more information go to www.batmanlive.com

About Warner Bros. Consumer Products:

Warner Bros. Consumer Products, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, is one of the leading licensing and retail merchandising organizations in the world.

About DC Entertainment:

DC Entertainment, home to such iconic DC Comics properties as Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, The Flash, MAD Magazine, and Fables, is the creative division charged with strategically integrating across Warner Bros. and Time Warner.  DC Entertainment works in concert with many key Warner Bros. divisions to unleash its superheroic characters across all media, including but not limited to film, television, consumer products, home entertainment, and interactive games.  Publishing over 1,000 comic books, graphic novels and magazines each year, DC Comics is the largest English-language publisher of comics in the world. 

BATMAN and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and © DC Comics.

BATMAN LIVE – Creative Team

Anthony Van Laast – Creative Director

Choreographic credits for theatre include: Mamma Mia! (worldwide), Sister Act (London Palladium), Bombay Dreams (London and Broadway), Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (worldwide), Whistle Down The Wind (London), Jesus Christ Superstar (UK and US), My Fair Lady (US tour); and for film include: Who Dares Wins, Princess Carabou, Hope and Glory, Mamma Mia! and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Direction and staging: Grease (Scandinavia), Chess (UK and European tours), EFX starring Michael Crawford (Las Vegas) and Siegfried and Roy (Las Vegas).

James Powell – Co-Director

Credits include: The Witches of Eastwick (Resident Director - London, Director Australia), Les Miserables (Associate Director-London, Co Director UK Tour, Spain and USA, Director - Berlin), Mary Poppins (Director- UK Tour, Australia, Holland), Dirty Dancing (Director - London, Toronto, Utrecht, Chicago, USA tour, Berlin).

Es Devlin – Set Designer

Design credits for concert and stage include: Lady Gaga, MUSE, Pet Shop Boys, Kanye West, Take That  and stage/costume design for Royal Opera House,  English National Opera,  Glyndebourne, Royal Shakespeare Company, Sadlers Wells and major European opera houses including Barcelona, Hamburg, Vienna and Copenhagen.

James Brett – Music Composer

Composer, orchestrator and collaborator credits for stage and screen include:  Walking With Dinosaurs - The Live Arena Show, Planet 51, Disney Worldwide Re-branding, 2012, Crusoe, 10,000BC, X-Men The Movie, Queen's Golden Jubilee Celebrations, Metallica S&M and Band of Brothers.

Simon Baker – Sound Designer

Simon’s Sound Design credits for the Royal National Theatre include: Closer (RNT and Broadway), The Cripple Of Inishman, King Lear, Othello and Blue Remembered Hills, The Day I Stood Still and more recently The Duchess Of Malfi. For Autograph, Simon was Associate Sound Designer on the London Productions of The Witches of Eastwick, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (West End and Broadway) and Mary Poppins (all with Andrew Bruce). His Sound Design credits include: The Caretaker, Feelgood, Closer To Heaven, 125th Street, The Play What I Wrote (West End, UK Tours and Broadway), Cats (UK Tour), On Your Toes (with Terry Jardine), Jailhouse Rock, Rebecca, Heroes and the short-lived but much-loved Ducktastic! In 2002 he was the recipient of the International Sound Designer of The Year award from Entertainment Design Magazine.

Patrick Woodroffe – Lighting Designer

Design credits for music, classical, dance, opera and film include: ABBA, Phil Collins, Bob Dylan, Peter Gabriel, Michael Jackson, Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart, Stevie Wonder, Queen’s Jubilee Concerts, Ben Hur Live, Three Tenors, Quidam, Gypsy Passion, High School Musical 3 and This Is it.

Sam Pattinson – Video Director

Video content for concert and stage include: The Rolling Stones Licks Tour 2002 & Bigger Bang Tour 2005, U2 Vertigo Tour 2005 & 360 Tour 2009, Lady Gaga Monster Ball, George Michael 25 Live, Janet Jackson, AC/DC, The Chemical Brothers, Kasabian,  Kaiser Chiefs, The Pet Shop Boys Pandemonium Tour, Take That Beautiful World & Circus Tours, Little Britain Live and Robbie Williams.

Jack Galloway – Costume Designer

Costume Designer / Associate Costume Designer for the following productions Musicals: Dirty Dancing (Hamburg and Utrecht); Spamalot (London); Disney's Lion King (Europe); Beauty and the Beast (Europe); Hunchback of Notre Dame (Berlin); West Side Story (Bregenz); Thoroughly Modern Millie (London); Saturday Night Fever (London); Contact (London).  Dance & Opera: 5210 & Essence (Walker Dance Park Music); The Journey, Sour Milk, Candoco, Celebrated Soubrette, Rambert, Arthur I &II (Edward II Birmingham Royal Ballet); Mr Wordly Wise & Sleeping Beauty (Royal Ballet); Macbeth (Zurich Opera); Il Trovatore (Madrid); Ariadne auf Naxos (Scottish Opera); Cosi Fan Tutte, Magic Flute and Der Ring des Nibelungen (Royal Opera).  Theatre: Heros, Ducktastic, Up for Grabs (London’s West End); Aristocrats, Buried Child (RNT); Skin of our Teeth and Dr Faustus (Young Vic)

The Circus Space – Creative Partner/Circus Consultants

Circus Space is the UK’s National Centre for the Circus Arts.  Based in a magnificent former power station in London, they are a world-class hub for training, rehearsal, performance and professional development in the circus arts.  Juliette Hardy-Donaldson and Bryan Donaldson toured the world as aerial act, Duo Vertigo.  Today, Juliette passes her wealth of experience to the next generation as Circus Space’s Head of Aerial and Bryan is a highly regarded circus rigging practitioner and consultant

Jake Berry– Technical Manager

He is the founder of Fader Higher, with credits for arena productions including: Cher, U2, Tina Turner, Bob The Builder, The Rolling Stones’ Private Access Event in Paris, The Wiggles, U2 Vertigo Tour, The Rolling Stones Bigger Bang Tour, AC/DC, Metallica, Shakira the Oral Fixation Tour, Walking With Dinosaurs the Live Experience.

Nick Grace – Executive Producer

Nick Grace has more than 15 years experience of producing a variety of Arena shows.  Nick Grace Management are currently Associate Producers of the International Tour of Mamma Mia!, which has visited 29 countries and been seen by more than 3.5 million people across the world.  They are also the general managers and booking agents for Walking With Dinosaurs - The Arena Spectacular tour in UK, Europe and Asia, and which in the first year of touring has been seen by over 1.8 million people.  Nick Grace is also the Associate Producer for the South African production of Mamma Mia!, currently performing in Johannesburg.