Emmy-award winning director Shanda Sawyer brought her sense of spectacle to the fore in creating and directing Marvel Universe Live for Feld Entertainment. “Feld had brought me in to re-imagine the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus for them in 2006,” she says, "and we forged a wonderful relationship." Subsequently, when Kenneth Feld and Juliette Feld were looking for a concept around which to create a whole new genre of arena entertainment, they thought of Sawyer. In mid 2012, she got the call that would change the course of her career for the next two years: “Feld called and said they wanted me to put together a concept for a Marvel Universe arena show.”
Sawyer dove into researching the Marvel Universe, and wrote the concept for an action-packed, story-driven show that would work in an arena setting. She and the Felds first pitched the show to Disney Theatricals, who would be involved in any Marvel theatrical project. “Thomas Schumacher, president of Disney Theatrical Group, really liked the concept, but suggested we get Joe Quesada, Marvel's chief creative officer, involved. Joe was gracious enough to give me notes on the concept and help me shape it for the big pitch to the rest of the Marvel decision makers," says Sawyer. That meeting went well, so Feld and Marvel put together the business deal, "and we were off and running," she adds. Sawyer notes that Quesada and other members of the Marvel Universe Live committee remained involved throughout the process, working closely with Sawyer and the Feld team to ensure that the characters, action, and storyline remained true to the Marvel Universe. "This was a very exciting new project for everyone and there was a great sense of collaboration.”
Sawyer came to the project with extensive experience creating big concert and spectacle shows as well as directing television, but points out that arena shows are a unique medium. "You can try to fight the challenges of the arena or choose to harness it's power. The size of the room, the energy of the audience, the sound and sightline challenges—they can all work against you, unless you design a show that takes advantage of those conditions,” she notes. “The show needs to really fill the room, immersing the audience in action, and any story has to be told visually and musically as well as with dialogue and action."
Not only did Sawyer and her team need to deliver a truly groundbreaking genre to make the storyline and characters work, they also had to design a show that could tour efficiently from arena to arena throughout the globe. “How many trucks, how long does it take to load-in, load-out? It's like a Rubik’s Cube of logistics.” One of the solutions was digital scenery, in this case set pieces skinned with digital technology, created in conjunction with Emmy-winning scenic designer Joe Stewart and video designer Bob Bonniol. "Joe and I have worked together on many projects" says Sawyer, "he's brilliant, and has that wonderful ability to throw away the rules and ask 'what-if?' We brought Bob in very early in the process knowing that we'd need a truly gifted and imaginative projection designer." Norm Schwab came on board as lighting designer: "Norm is fantastic,” says Sawyer. “He understood each character and how each one needed to be lit, and did a great job of fitting his lighting instruments around the massive amount of stunt and scenic elements in the grid."
Sawyer says that in her research she was inspired by many of the Marvel tropes, "but scenically, what inspired me the most was the concept of transformation - I wanted the set elements to transform in the same way that the characters do." The team first worked with scenic foam to see how various shapes and elements could work in the environment, then went through months of storyboarding and brainstorming to see how these elements could be transformed with mechanical and digital techniques. “We asked ourselves, what kind of staging effect will help us tell this moment of the story,” relates Sawyer. “How can we transport the audience from one place to another effectively?"
The projected scenery and 3D staging elements needed to work in concert to give the show the kind of kinetic energy appropriate to the Marvel Universe. Sawyer felt the transitions, from one location to another, were key: "In one transition, we take the audience's POV flying through New York City, panning up the side of Avenger's Tower, then through a window into the building. Projection melds with 3D scenic pieces as a giant set door opens, becoming the floor of Tony Stark's office. Furniture pops up and we are looking out at the NYC skyline on a massive LED screen. The scale of the arena allowed the team to create massive visuals,” says Sawyer. "We couldn’t create this in a theatre, or any other venue—and seeing it all unfold right before your eyes rather than on a movie screen is a unique type of thrill for the audience."
Sawyer enlisted Andy Armstrong, a top stunt coordinator, whose credits include The Amazing Spider-Man 1 & 2, and Thor. “Andy really understands the Marvel characters and has an encyclopedic knowledge of stunts and action. He's also terrifically creative and loves to innovate." Sawyer and Armstrong worked together to design the arc of the action in the show and then Sawyer incorporated that action into the script as it developed.
Marvel Universe Live was challenging—and rewarding in many ways. “There were so many challenges along the way." Sawyer recalls, "So much of this show was prototypical—every department was creating things that hadn’t been done before. Of course we were all using our knowledge of things that have worked in the past, but we were using that experience to do things differently." Inevitably, there were a few things that didn't work as well as expected, and a few changes of direction along the way, but ultimately 90% of the initial concept pitch is in the show, which is a testament to the entire creative team as well as the amazing Feld production team.
One of the biggest challenges was creating the Hulk character. Feld's in-house creature shop spent over a year designing and building the 'rage monster.' The result is a performer inside a computerized mechanical armature. The performer works internal servos with additional servos run by a remote operator.
Why is the show successful? “I think there are things we really did well, that are very groundbreaking,” says Sawyer. “We are telling a complicated and compelling story through action, in an arena setting. The audiences are pulled along by the dramatic momentum of it —although, I have noticed that some of the adults have to ask the kids what’s going on.
“None of the technology or stunts are there just to be there, everything is there in service of the storyline,” concludes Sawyer. “The action elements, scenery, lighting, costumes, and music all take you further on the journey. There is amazing work from all of the designers, and we could not have asked for a better creative or production team. This is a project where we were all really in the trenches together and it worked!”