September 11th, 2014 by Stinkhead
I took the family to witness Marvel Universe Live at the Verizon Center on Sunday afternoon, and it was epic! The comic pages come to life as your favorite Marvel heroes battle it out with special effects and lots of action. I’m a fan of Feld productions, such as Ringling Bros Circus, Disney on Ice, and of course Monster Jam. But this event was unlike anything I’d ever seen. If you have a kid, or any fan of the Marvel Universe, you need to experience it like this.
The way I tried explaining it to friends before I saw it, was that it was like Disney on Ice, but with more explosions, less ice. But it was so much more than that. There was a bigger story, combining tons of Marvel favorites, with over-the-top effects and stunts that out performed what I was expecting. I tell people that when you go to a Feld event, I always feel like what they provide surpasses what I paid for, or expected. Here, there were way more characters brought to life than I expected. There was more action, more effects, and more WOW factor than I had anticipated.
This mind blowing show puts highly trained actors performing choreographed stunts, with pyrotechnics and video projections. So much more than Disney character skating around a spartan set, there were was a scene inside and outside the Statue of Liberty’s head, then there was the avalanche in the Himalayas, followed by the showdown in the Hydra secret base. I really appreciate the way that they were able to have the action going in a way that every seat could see what was going on too.
I noticed that the costumes and sets seem to reference more the illustrated comic pages, rather than the movies of late. Former B-list villain Loki played a major part in the story, due to his appearance in Avengers of course, but Wolverine had his familiar yellow and blue outfit, and the colors and sets had a very comic feel to them. I believe they chose to reference the comics a bit more, to keep the violence cartooney and dialogue delightfully cheesy. Where as the Marvel Movies (like X-Men, and Avengers) try to put the fantasy into a feasible “real world”, this production stays safely in the edges of imagination, and I found it to be a bit more fun, and palatable.
My son is seven and absolutely loved the show. The story and action were pretty easy for young audience members to follow, but the sets, special effects, and amount of characters were great for the older fans. The best part of the production though are all the surprises. More characters arrive than you think would pop up, more explosions and tricks, and more bang for the buck. We walked out of there pumped up and the kids were jumping off, and air-punching, everything.
They’ve wrapped up at Verizon Center, but are heading down to Patriot Center for another set of performances. Click Ticketmaster to check out showtimes and seats available. Also read our interview with performer Moe Alafrangy, aka Spider-Man.
Do it! Take the kids, treat yourself. Just go!
 |
Posted in 3&up, Boys, event, Girls, review | Comments Off on Marvel Universe Live!
