Disclosure:
I received media passes to this event. No other compensation has been received. All views expressed are my own.
I've seen a lot of shows and theatrical productions in my life, but I have to say that
Marvel Universe Live!, playing this weekend in Kansas City at the Sprint Center, was more action-packed than any of them! I wasn't totally sure what to expect, but it's very safe to say that all my preconceived notions about how entertaining the show would be were blown out of the water!
My son is turning five next month. He's a big superhero fan, but he's never seen any of the movies featuring the Avengers, X-men, or Spider-man. He was excited to get all dressed up in his Thor suit and tote his Mjölnir all the way to the Sprint Center!
We had no issues finding our seats and settled in to enjoy the evening. Mjölnir was kept at the ready and we even checked out the integrity of the railings to make sure they would hold up against the hammer's strength. Good news, Kansas City - they did!
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Image Courtesy of Feld Entertainment |
The two-act show has a runtime of about one hour and forty-five minutes, with one intermission. The scenes are well-designed with an appropriate length to successfully hold the attention of young children. My son still wiggled a little bit, but was overall pretty mesmerized by the show and asked me questions about the storyline, so I knew he was picking up plot pieces.
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Image Courtesy of Feld Entertainment |
The show begins with a gathering of our heroes as they have learned that Loki is (once again) seeking world domination. The cast of heroes includes the more famous: Ironman, Spider-man, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye, and Black Widow - plus a few of the not quite so famous: Falcon and Captain Marvel. There were even a few of the X-men in the story - Wolverine, Cyclops, and Storm were definitely important parts of the plot.
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Image Courtesy of Feld Entertainment |
It is a very family-friendly show with no inappropriate dialogue or innuendo (that I noticed). The stunts were constant and pretty incredible. From flipping cars over to lighting someone on fire to throwing criminals and good guys alike off of tall buildings, there was always something visually stunning going on. I was way impressed by the Statue of Liberty set, where Spider-man and Thor fought off the Sinister Six villains from Spider-man's universe. A multi-level apparatus with a scrim that went back and forth from being opaque and translucent, the illusion was beautifully created that a battle of epic proportions was going on
inside the statue herself. Having been inside the crown of Lady Liberty, I can say that I don't think there's quite as much space in there for battling as they portrayed, but I didn't mind. This scene also included the pretty amazing stunt with the Green Goblin flying on his hovercraft while Spider-man dangled upside-down beneath him. On the way home, I asked my son what his favorite parts were and he said "Everything. But, I wanted to be IN IT!" I might have a heart attack if I were watching my own child perform these stunts, but as a performer I can see how it would be an incredible job!
There were multiple scenes featuring stunts with motorcycles on the small set, and those were a huge hit with the crowd, as well. The only part my son didn't like was when the Hulk had shiny green eyes - he said that was a little scary. But for the most part, he followed the plot well and was on the edge of his seat waiting to see what would happen next! He picked up on the fact that the heroes were tracking down three powerful objects to stop Loki from taking over the world and declared to me loudly during the show: "
Locust (Loki)
has one of them! He'll have to get dead a LOT!"
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Image Courtesy of Feld Entertainment |
I would happily go see the show again! If you have the opportunity, you don't want to miss it! The tour is here from January 14-17, and you have several more chances to see the show. You can follow along via
Facebook and
Twitter for more info! And
click here to purchase tickets to Marvel Universe Live! Kids' tickets are just $15 for select performances.
Here's the full list of remaining showtimes:
Friday, January 15- 7:00pm
Saturday, January 16 - 11:00am, 3:00pm, 7:00pm
Sunday, January 17 - 1:00pm, 5:00pm
Who is your favorite Marvel Universe hero?
Thanks to Feld Entertainment for the chance to attend this event!