Music to My Ears
I recently watched Holy Musical B@man!, a musical produced by Team Starkid, who you may know from their past productions A Very Potter Musical and Starship. They mostly produce parody and comedy musicals, as is probably evident based on the titles of the plays. All of them are free to watch on YouTube, and you can find a link to the one I’ll be discussing here: [linkedylink].
I really enjoyed Team Starkid’s interpretation of Batman as it was very tongue-in-cheek and referential to well-known aspects of the franchise. These references range in everything from the cheesy silver age comics (specific references to Robin Dies at Dawn) to Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns (a fight between Batman and Superman at behest of the government) and to A Death in the Family (a poll is held to determine Robin’s fate). Outside of comics and movie references, the play playfully references aspects of fan culture. At one point Green Lantern is told that he’s a citizen’s second favorite superhero (after Batman, of course), while throughout the play citizens show vocal support for the dark and angsty Batman and ignoring Superman. The latter actually plays a pivotal role in the storyline.
Assuming that writers, Matt and Nick Lang are fans of Batman and superhero comics in general, I found the play to be an interesting look into how fans engage with source material. The Lang brothers use the productions as a way to poke fun at various tropes in superhero stories, notably the villains, as well as secret versus super identities. For example, when first meeting Dick Grayson, Batman introduces himself as “Bruce Man, fuck, no. Bat Wayne! Fuck, no. I’m Batman! Fuck. Can I start again? I’m Bruce Wayne.” Notably, he is also still wearing his costume, poorly hidden by a dressing gown. Later when officially revealing himself to Dick, Dick quips, “I had a feeling you were the Batman!”
This play with “secret” identities is extended to Superman, who repeatedly gets called “Clark” by other superheroes, much to his dismay. However, the other heroes are baffled, as they didn’t realize that it was a secret. Ironically, Superman seems to be the most invested in keeping his identity a secret. Batman, who is never found out, is seen ordering a pizza under the name Batman and having it delivered to Wayne Manor, makes references to playing golf with Lex Luthor as Wayne, among other things.
Another thing that I found interesting in Holy Musical B@man! was their use of Alfred. Alfred is shown adopting many different disguises himself. The first is found out when Batman attempts to contact Lucius Fox while Alfred is in the room. This leads to the revelation that Alfred and Lucius are the same person. Disgusted and feeling betrayed, Batman fires Alfred only to hire O’Malley, the Irish butler and Alfred in another disguise. Alfred adopts two more disguises over the course of the productions, the most memorable of which is [SPOILER] as Spiderman at the end. [/SPOILER]
The usage of different identities within the production, I think, blurs the lines between the secret and super identities. Batman and Bruce Wayne are so integral to one another that the character himself slips up and misnames himself on several occasions. I think, it is important to remember that this assertion is coming from fans of Batman rather than comic book writers themselves. In this regard, I believe that a statement is being made that for fans, Batman and Bruce Wayne (and indeed Dick Grayson/Robin, and Clark Kent/Superman) are such integral parts of one another that they can never be entirely separated. The super may predominate, but the secret identity does not disappear and continues to play an important part in their lives, whether for comedic or serious effect.
The Lang Brothers also play with Batman and Robin’s relationship to one another, coming down on a distinctly pro-Robin side. Notably, Nick Lang plays Robin in the production, and the brothers take care to emphasize Robin’s importance to Batman. Despite Gotham wholly rejecting Robin for being “stupid,” and “ruining Batman’s whole aesthetic,” Robin is the only thing that’s shown to make Batman happy.
Before Robin’s introduction, Batman is shown to be angst ridden to the point of openly hating all of Gotham. He regards everyone as potential criminals that he needs to watch. In fact, the Joker is shown to be his closest relationship, to the point that Batman repeatedly wishes for his presence. When Batman believes everyone to be a criminal, this is hardly surprising though. After Robin joins him though, he becomes happier and actually more effective in his crime fighting. This is because he now has someone to fight for rather than just vengeance.
The Lang brothers are asserting here that Robin is important in that he keeps Batman from becoming too serious and too dark. At one point in the play it’s stated that only pretentious people think that Robin ruins Batman. I find this assertion particularly interesting as it shows that not only are the Lang brothers using the musical as a playground of tropes and in-jokes, but they are also using it as a platform to voice their opinions on fan debates. The combination of genre play and opinion platform, I think is what makes this and many other fan creations to be so intriguing.
