| BATMAN: The Musical -
Posted on 08-03-2007 02:24 |
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cheady
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Greetings,
My name is Chris Heady. I am in the midst of producing and pulling off a serious rendition of a Batman musical.
Yes I am aware that a musical is being developed (it's also been delayed for nearly a decade and from the looks of things was going to be crappy and campy)
No Batman wouldn't be singing, but Bruce Wayne would. (Batman singing??? that's just silly.)
No Robin.
Our Batman story would focus more on Batman being a detective and the hardships of Bruce Wayne. The sacrifices of Gordon.
Joker would be the only individual who could be remotely campy when singing.
Serious musicals have been done in the past. Jekyll and Hyde, Sweeney Todd, The Phantom of the Opera. We hope to use these as inspiration along with pulling from the original Danny Elfman score/ the animated series.
Yes we would have a budget. The Directors would not put out anything less than perfection.
No we haven't sought rights from DC yet, we do not have a script yet that they can look at. We do however have an outline and will be using that. We would be pulling scenarios straight from the comic books.
We are proceeding ahead cautiously. We realize that this is a beloved franchise and every decision we make will be with a lot of love and care. I think that Batman is great material for the stage and will flourish if DC lets us proceed any further.
I want your thoughts and ideas. I want your concerns. It will all go toward a great cause.
I look forward to your responses.
Edited by cheady on 08-03-2007 02:25 |
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| RE: BATMAN: The Musical -
Posted on 08-03-2007 08:35 |
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Tim Drake
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Right off the top I would have thought that a batman musical would be a joke...As open minded as I try to be about everything I right away cant see how thats possible to satisfy both comic book fanatics like us and then the usual musical audiences. You seem very determined to try and interest us so thats whats initially getting me interested lol. Seem pretty confident that this could work...maybe as time goes by and you give out more news about the progress and what you wanna do I can see it happening...Its just that i never thought of the idea of batman going that way. Then again in order to keep anything alive you must have things go certain ways even places where one couldnt even imagine because it just doesnt seem fit. I mean part of me guesses go ahead and try...Oh and good point about Jekyll and Hyde and Phantom of the Opera
"Look, I never wanted this for myself...but I wanted Batman and Robin back together the way they should be. And if Dick won`t become Robin again...Someone else has to!" - Tim Drake, A LONELY PLACE OF DYING Chapter five: Rebirth |
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| RE: BATMAN: The Musical -
Posted on 08-03-2007 16:35 |
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Razhwurz
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Dude, I love the Theater; but I can't imagin a Batman musical that's good, it would be hard to pull off without bringing camp into the house. Dear God, flashback to Batman Beyond.
Well, if you keep the over the top effect's down, keep it serious, and make it dark as Hell; maybe you can pull it off.
Never start with the head; the victim gets all fuzzy!
R.I.P. Heath |
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| RE: BATMAN: The Musical -
Posted on 08-03-2007 17:24 |
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kpangilinan
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I'd watch it. Just make sure, its dark and moody. Good comparison to Jekyll and Hyde and Phantom of the Opera. You should almost make it kind of scary too. I mean Batman is supposed to be a fear inducing hero.
Edited by kpangilinan on 08-03-2007 17:26 |
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| RE: BATMAN: The Musical -
Posted on 08-03-2007 21:08 |
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Phil
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batman has sung before. remember in JLU? haha.
sounds cool though.
http://batmanytb.com/pictures/thumbnails.php?album=4 |
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| RE: BATMAN: The Musical -
Posted on 08-03-2007 22:30 |
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FlaBat
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I don?t see why not. Batman has all the elements of a good opera so a serious musical could work. Phantom Of The Opera is a good comparison, but I think Pink Floyd?s The Wall would be an even better one. No, The Wall was not a musical, in the true sense of the word, but the songs did weave together to form a story. I see no reason that a serious Batman musical could come about from elements from classic comic books.
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| RE: BATMAN: The Musical -
Posted on 11-03-2007 01:04 |
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Caleson
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Good to see you made it to the forum, Chris.  As I said in my initial email reply to this, most comic book readers probably aren't big on musicals, so I think such a concept would have to focus on interpreting the Batman character and story to an opera/theatre audience. It wouldn't be so much a matter of trying to avoid storylines that've already been used thoroughly in comic books, animated series, or films because a Batman musical would be the first of its kind and a vastly different entertainment medium than anything before. I picture it being very elemental and not so much literal - not focusing too much on Batman's detective skills but rather his omnimous character and dark atmosphere.
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| RE: BATMAN: The Musical -
Posted on 12-03-2007 18:21 |
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cheady
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Sorry, I've been away...
The musical aspect would be a way of enhancing the story that's already there. I'm thinking of keeping the songs to a minimum because they are very time consuming and tend to drag the story out more than is needed.
Thanks to this website I might consider timing the musical with the Dark Knight's 70th anniversary. I've also considered placing the musical in the 1930s.
But here's a rundown of what I want to cover...
Mayor of Gotham and Judge are corrupt, they dislike Gordon, Dent, and Batman because they do not follow the rules as a whole. They decide to disrupt Dent's reelection campaign by inviting the Joker. Bruce Wayne meanwhile starts up a romance with Selina Kyle. Dent is splashed with acid. Dent becomes Two Face. Gordon soon after is kidnapped by the Joker. Judge winds up dead, Batman is accused. Without Gordon, the mayor issues a warrant out for Batman's arrest soon after, Joker snatches the mayor away as well. Batman reveals that he's bruce wayne to selina, she is not supportive at first but then suits up. Batman and catwoman find their way to joker's lair, the carnival. There gordon is rescued, the mayor dies at the hands of Grace Dent who is the one who shot the Judge, and Bullock and his men show up. Because Gordon is still alive, Batman's arrest is dropped. And joker gets the crap beaten out of him. Harley Quinn would also be in it. |
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| RE: BATMAN: The Musical -
Posted on 12-03-2007 18:34 |
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Jokergurl
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Darn! And I wanted to be the first person to make Batman into a musical! Well I was just gonna make the 1989 movie into a musical. but go for it dude! expecially since ur using my most adored villain! you should so send me a copy when you make it. oh, i'm a batman writer so I can help ya out. Right now i'm writing a script for my own play of batman for next year's play at my school and I hope to make it into a movie then in the future...(if only I could contact Jack Nicholson!!!!! lol) but ya got my full support! good idea. ooooh! I wanna play Harley! lol.- Jokergurl (Shaina) :p 
Hahahahahahaha!-The Queen of Crime |
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| RE: BATMAN: The Musical -
Posted on 12-03-2007 20:43 |
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Razhwurz
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Sounds great... But I'm a little irritated by Catwoman. She just seems to be in there so that Bruce has something to hump. One of my favorite facts about the comics is how, unlike most heroes, Bruce seldom lets his personal life get in the way of his duty... But very few non comic stories have enbraced this idea, and they treat Batman like James Bond in the girl department.
I'd like it better if Bruca and Selina broke up... Like in Dark Victory.
So... Do Judge and Mayor have names?
Never start with the head; the victim gets all fuzzy!
R.I.P. Heath
Edited by Razhwurz on 12-03-2007 20:48 |
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| RE: BATMAN: The Musical -
Posted on 18-03-2007 11:33 |
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real-dark-knight
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cheady wrote:
Sorry, I've been away...
The musical aspect would be a way of enhancing the story that's already there. I'm thinking of keeping the songs to a minimum because they are very time consuming and tend to drag the story out more than is needed.
So that sounds like it's more of a play than a musical?? (with the odd song thrown in).
Speaking personally - I can't really make my mind up on it!! I'm inclined to agree with everything Tim Drake said. It's certainly difficult to imagine, and it's such an offbeat idea that It would probably be an outrageous success or a miserable failure. If you're serious I hope it's the former.
Batman is such dark and moody character (forgive me stating the obvious here) that I can't quite get my head round the musical aspect.
When you think "musical" you think of the happy, clappy catchy songs that go with that. I'm not a musicals buff - but I don't know of any dark and brooding stories/songs. Despite the fact I'm about 30 minutes from the West End of London, I've only ever been to 1 musical in my life, and that was purely because it was based on the songs of my favourite group (Madness).
Strangely, to me; the Pink Floyd/prog rock type thing that Flabat mentioned seems more likely to work. But that's difficult to imagine too - and you'd have to careful or it would become pretentious, arrogant nonsense. Sounds just llike Pink Floyd (sorry PF fans).
I've gotta ask Cheady - are you having a laugh? Are you making this up? Are you getting us all talking about only to say "only kidding guys!" ??
PS Jokergurl; I don't think I've ever seen a forum post from you before (with proper writing and everything), it's usually just a string of random stroppy text messages in the shoutbox! :p
Edited by real-dark-knight on 18-03-2007 14:09 |
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| RE: BATMAN: The Musical -
Posted on 04-04-2007 01:46 |
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cheady
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Hello everyone,
Sorry I have been away I’ve been working on this quarter but I’ve been working hard on the outline and it’s definitely improved a great deal. I don’t want to give out too much but basically here’s what’s been decided on.
It’s going to take place in Gotham City during the 1930s (so the depression).
The outline is finished and here are the main story archs
Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle
The Joker and the Mayor
Harvey Dent and Grace Dent
everyone's problems will mesh into one.
The storyline will basically deal with a downfall of power and Bruce having a moment of being able to leave Batman behind.
The outline earlier posted on here is relatively garbage now… but some of the main themes will still show up…
We hope to have a release for the spring of next year.
An insider at DC said that when finished we shouldn’t have any problem getting it passed by DC because we are non profit.
Harley Quinn is a main part of the downfall of Gotham
Joker will be based off of the original inspiration… the film The Man Who Laughs
For those of you who have Facebook I encourage you to join the official group. |
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| RE: BATMAN: The Musical -
Posted on 07-04-2007 03:04 |
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arkhaminmate
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I heard about the one Meatloaf wrote the music for & I was sceptical, then I saw this & I'm still sceptical. I like the way you're taking this seriously. As a film director I can kindof see where your goig with this, visualizing it in my head in a logical way that makes sense to me. I think the idea of a Batman musical is brilliant, but you need to be incredibly carefull. As far as music & plot go. Most of the music needs to be dark, moody, & frightening; everything Gotham & The Batman are, but you need to break that up every now & then with something that retains an undertone of ominoscity & darkness while somewhat relieving the audience of the great, but somewhat depressing music. & I don't know why but for some reason I feel that if a Batman musical where ever done it needs 1 song in an opera style similar to that of the middle section of Bohemian Rhapsody, what's your opinion on that?
And, how are you going to fit all those characters into 1 musical play & not have it feel too cramped, or too long, or too rushed, or that they don't have the space they need to develope as characters in the story? |
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| RE: BATMAN: The Musical -
Posted on 19-04-2007 06:34 |
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Ashton
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Hi Chris,
I posted a reply to your message on superherohype as well. I too was unconvinced that a Batman musical could work, until I heard Jim Steinman's some demo reocrdings of songs for his sadly canceled show... Those are available ont he website in my signature by the way. It was treated as a very dark, gothic rock opera, and it's just beautiful.
I strongly reccomend that the you not be afraid of putting a lot of osngs in this... they're needed very badly for a project like this, and one must achknowledge the operatic nature of his story. Don't be afraid to alter the storyline a lot iwhile bringing this to the stage, you can still capture the atmosphere of the comics very well.
I myself am heavily involved with writing/composing for musical theater, and I've been a heavy supporter off fusing Batman with musical theater ever since I heard Steinman's compositions.
toy've made fantastic character choices as well; I'm extremely happy that Harley's going to be in it. Good luck!
http://www.freewebs.com/batman_themusical/ |
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| RE: BATMAN: The Musical -
Posted on 19-04-2007 20:56 |
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Phil
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i heard the music in the batman musical thing in ashton's signature...it's interesting, but i've never been into musicals. i really can't see batman being in it...but i think u guys should check it out.
http://batmanytb.com/pictures/thumbnails.php?album=4 |
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| RE: BATMAN: The Musical -
Posted on 20-04-2007 05:59 |
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Ashton
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Thanks, Phil. I can understand why some people might not get "in" to it, because of it's theatricality. Though probably the most upbeat, rock-toned numbers are "I Need All the Love I Can Get" (Catwoman's song) and "In the Land of the Pig, the Butcher is King" sung by all the corrupt Gotham City officials.... that song was performed by Meat Loaf, with some changes.
http://www.freewebs.com/batman_themusical/
Edited by Ashton on 21-04-2007 01:20 |
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| RE: BATMAN: The Musical -
Posted on 21-04-2007 00:28 |
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madhatterster
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Hi everyone,
I own "Dark Knight Of The Soul" the unofficial memorial to the Batman musical. Ashton told me the webmaster (here) had spoken to him about some plans to do with it. I contacted the webmaster, waiting for a response, but Ashton is not in charge of the site. I appointed him global moderator on the forum and he also designed some banners and logos. Other than that, it's been a 2-year "pastime" passion for me.
I'm a huge fan of Jim Steinman who wrote and produced "Bat Out Of Hell" and "Bat Out Of Hell II: Back Into Hell" for Meat Loaf, "Total Eclipse Of The Heart" and "Holding Out For A Hero" for Bonnie Tyler, "It's All Coming Back To Me Now" for Celine Dion and "No Matter What" with Boyzone taken from his musical "Whistle Down The Wind" with Andrew Lloyd Webber. Jim also did the German musical "Tanz Der Vampire" with direction by Roman Polanski now in its 10th year.
Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures were supposed to produce the "Batman" musical sometime in 2005. It never happened. Burton denied it ever existed. When I spoke to Steinman he said he had a few productive meetings with Burton about the show (then Burton vanished... )
I doubt it will ever be done. I'm honoured, as is Jim, that the site has had so much success (nearly on 9000 hits, that IS amazing for me. I consider myself a "beginner" but this has been very encouraging.) Thank you for all of your interest and the demos are definitely worth checking. My personal favourite is "Gotham City / The Graveyard Shift" performed by New York Met. soprano Emily Pulley and Steinman himself (who also plays keys.) Also check out "Not Allowed To Love".
To the person working on the other "Batman" musical, do you need a lyricist? Because I've written several musicals, one in which particularly reminds me of the Batman mythos.
rockfenris2005.
Dark Knight Of The Soul.
Edited by madhatterster on 21-04-2007 00:36 |
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| RE: BATMAN: The Musical -
Posted on 18-06-2007 05:13 |
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cheady
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Hi everyone,
It's been a while since I've been on here.
Right now all we're worried about it writing the script.
Which has changed slightly since I first posted on here.
We're looking for a 2008 spring release. That is IF WB gives us the rights... we'll see...
My co writer and I were hoping to get the script squared away and then we could have people start working on songs.
It's going very well btw,
Thank you everyone for your thoughts...
no point in offering up more news until there's news to report. |
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| RE: BATMAN: The Musical -
Posted on 03-01-2008 21:02 |
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THEBA
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I can't imagin it. It would be so dumb, Batman singing. I hate the idea.  its a joke
FREEWEBS.COM/BATMANARCHIVES
I am working on an online book on the BA called BATMAN: ONE. |
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| RE: BATMAN: The Musical -
Posted on 03-01-2008 22:18 |
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Razhwurz
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I recomend watching Sweeney Todd, if you have the stomache, they're killing people left and right and making them into meat pies...
Musicals can deffinitly be taken seriously, as long as you remember depth of character and go with the right music, as opposed to Batman Beyond's "Superstitious Cowardly Lot" lol
Never start with the head; the victim gets all fuzzy!
R.I.P. Heath |
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