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“Batman Live” Worldwide Arena Tour Kicks Off July 2011

(November 8, 2010 – Burbank, CA) – Warner Bros. Consumer Products, DC Entertainment and Nick Grace of Water Lane Productions Ltd 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 July 20, 2011 and visiting Newcastle, Glasgow, Sheffield, Birmingham, London, Liverpool, Nottingham, Dublin and Belfast, tickets for “Batman Live” go on sale on Friday, November 12, 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, November 12, 2010. For more information go to www.batmanlive.com. BATMAN LIVE
UK Tour Dates 2011
    Wednesday 20th July Manchester Evening News Arena 7pm 0844 847 8000
    Thursday 21st July Manchester Evening News Arena 7pm 0844 847 8000
    Friday 22nd July Manchester Evening News Arena 7pm 0844 847 8000
    Saturday 23rd July Manchester Evening News Arena 11am, 3pm & 7pm 0844 847 8000
    Sunday 24th July Manchester Evening News Arena 11am & 3pm 0844 847 8000
    Wednesday 27th July Newcastle Metro Radio Arena 7pm 0844 493 6666
    Thursday 28th July Newcastle Metro Radio Arena 7pm 0844 493 6666
    Friday 29th July Newcastle Metro Radio Arena 7pm 0844 493 6666
    Saturday 30th July Newcastle Metro Radio Arena 11am, 3pm & 7pm 0844 493 6666
    Sunday 31st July Newcastle Metro Radio Arena 11am & 3pm 0844 493 6666
    Wednesday 3rd August SECC, Glasgow 7pm 0844 395 4000
    Thursday 4th August SECC, Glasgow 7pm 0844 395 4000
    Friday 5th August SECC, Glasgow 7pm 0844 395 4000
    Saturday 6th August SECC, Glasgow 11am, 3pm & 7pm 0844 395 4000
    Sunday 7th August SECC, Glasgow 11am & 3pm 0844 395 4000
    Wednesday 10th August Sheffield Motor Point Arena 7pm 0114 256 5656
    Thursday 11th August Sheffield Motor Point Arena 7pm 0114 256 5656
    Friday 12th August Sheffield Motor Point Arena 7pm 0114 256 5656
    Saturday 13th August Sheffield Motor Point Arena 11am, 3pm & 7pm 0114 256 5656
    Sunday 14th August Sheffield Motor Point Arena 11am & 3pm 0114 256 5656
    Wednesday 17th August NIA, Birmingham 7pm 0844 338 8000
    Thursday 18th August NIA, Birmingham 7pm 0844 338 8000
    Friday 19th August NIA, Birmingham 7pm 0844 338 8000
    Saturday 20th August NIA, Birmingham 11am, 3pm & 7pm 0844 338 8000
    Sunday 21st August NIA, Birmingham 11am & 3pm 0844 338 8000
    Wednesday 24th August London O2 Arena 7pm 0844 856 0202
    Thursday 25th August London O2 Arena 7pm 0844 856 0202
    Friday 26th August London O2 Arena 7pm 0844 856 0202
    Saturday 27th August London O2 Arena 11am, 3pm & 7pm 0844 856 0202
    Sunday 28th August London O2 Arena 11am & 3pm 0844 856 0202
    Monday 29th August London O2 Arena 11am & 3pm 0844 856 0202
    Wednesday 31st August London O2 Arena 7pm 0844 856 0202
    Thursday 1st September London O2 Arena 7pm 0844 856 0202
    Friday 2nd September London O2 Arena 7pm 0844 856 0202
    Saturday 3rd September London O2 Arena 11am, 3pm & 7pm 0844 856 0202
    Sunday 4th September London O2 Arena 11am & 3pm 0844 856 0202
    Wednesday 7th September Liverpool Echo Arena 7pm 0844 8000 400
    Thursday 8th September Liverpool Echo Arena 7pm 0844 8000 400
    Friday 9th September Liverpool Echo Arena 7pm 0844 8000 400
    Saturday 10th September Liverpool Echo Arena 11am, 3pm & 7pm 0844 8000 400
    Sunday 11th September Liverpool Echo Arena 11am & 3pm 0844 8000 400
    Wednesday 14th September Nottingham Trent FM Arena 7pm 0844 412 4624
    Thursday 15th September Nottingham Trent FM Arena 7pm 0844 412 4624
    Friday 16th September Nottingham Trent FM Arena 7pm 0844 412 4624
    Saturday 17th September Nottingham Trent FM Arena 11am, 3pm & 7pm 0844 412 4624
    Sunday 18th September Nottingham Trent FM Arena 11am & 3pm 0844 412 4624
    Wednesday 28th September Dublin O2 Arena 8pm 0818 719 300
    Thursday 29th September Dublin O2 Arena 8pm 0818 719 300
    Friday 30th September Dublin O2 Arena 8pm 0818 719 300
    Saturday 1st October Dublin O2 Arena 12am, 4pm & 8pm 0818 719 300
    Wednesday 5th October Belfast Odyssey Arena 8pm 028 9073 9074
    Thursday 6th October Belfast Odyssey Arena 8pm 028 9073 9074
    Friday 7th October Belfast Odyssey Arena 8pm 028 9073 9074
    Saturday 8th October Belfast Odyssey Arena 12am, 4pm & 8pm 028 9073 9074
UK Ticket Prices: £20.00 / £30.00 / £35.00 (excluding booking fee)
Limited Availability of Premium “Gotham City” seats To book tickets for the UK (excluding Belfast), please contact the Official National Ticket Sales Hotline – 0844 875 9000 or the relevant venue or for online bookings please visit www.ticketzone.co.uk. Republic of Ireland Ticket Prices: Wednesday 28th September– All tickets €30
Thursday 29th September – Saturday 1st October – €44.20, €33.60, €23
Limited Availability of Premium “Gotham” City” seats To book tickets for Dublin, call the venue on 0818 719 300 or for online bookings please visit http://www.ticketmaster.ie. Northern Ireland Ticket Prices: Wednesday 5th October – All tickets £25
Thursday 6th October – Saturday 8th October - £38, £33, £22.50
Limited Availability of Premium “Gotham” City” seats To book tickets for Belfast, call the venue on 028 9073 9074 or for online bookings please visit http://www.ticketmaster.ie. 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) and “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.
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