Michael Uslan from THE BOY WHO LOVED BATMAN at the Straz Center

At the age of five, Michael Uslan and his older brother Paul discover a mysterious masked vigilante on a comic book cover in a candy store. Little did he know that this chance encounter with Batman would ignite a passion that would forever change his destiny and the world of superhero movies.

Memoirs of Uslan, The Boy Who Loved Batmancaptures this journey from a comic book-obsessed boy to the producer who brought a darker, grittier version of Batman to the big screen. Adapted for the stage, The Boy Who Loves Batman makes its world debut at the Straz Center for the Performing Arts from October 1 to November 10.

Uslan revolutionized the world’s perception of Batman, but his journey wasn’t easy. In his twenties, he approached the president of DC Comics about buying the rights to Batman. At the time, Batman was considered a joke—the pot-bellied character from the TV series “Pow! Zap!” Although strongly discouraged and warned that it would be a wasted investment, Uslan disagreed and privately raised the money to buy the rights.

“I wanted to give my Batman his dignity and his Dark Knight side back. And the president of DC Comics said, ‘Please don’t do this. I don’t want to see you lose all your money. Michael, don’t you understand? When Batman went off television, the brand died like a dodo. Nobody cares about Batman anymore,’” he explains, before adding, “But nobody’s ever seen a dark, serious comic book superhero movie before.”

Negotiations lasted six months, and on October 3, 1979, Uslan acquired the rights to Batman from DC Comics and wrongly assumed that Hollywood would welcome him with open arms, adopting his vision.

“I’m going to go to Hollywood now with Batman in my back pocket, and everyone’s going to line up at my door. They’re going to see the potential for sequels, animation, toys and games,” he says, before pausing. “I got turned down by every studio in Hollywood. It was the worst idea they’d ever heard.”

It took a decade from the time he bought the rights to his first film starring Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson and Tim Burton.

“It was a true contest of human endurance. Ten long years of rejection and I didn’t know how I was going to pay my bills the next week. How do I put food on the table? How do I keep a roof over my family’s head? If I hadn’t had the support of my wife and my parents, I wouldn’t have survived. But we did it, and we proved everyone wrong. With that movie, we changed Hollywood forever, for better or for worse. We changed the comic book industry and, perhaps more importantly, the perception of global comic book and superhero culture. I’m not the kind of guy who says I told you so, but…”

Uslan recounted this and other experiences in his memoirs.

Bob Nederlander of Nederander Worldwide Entertainment contacted Uslan after reading his book, explaining that Broadway was changing. They were looking for big, inspiring stories told in an intimate way.

“He told me I thought your story was exactly what we were looking for. Bob led me to our playwright, Asa Somers, our director, Jeff Calhoun, and the Straz Center for the Performing Arts in Tampa, and that’s how the process began.”

Somers had a series of phone calls with Uslan, then with him and his wife of 50 years, Nancy, because he needed her perspective. He continued with running questions and gap-filling answers.

“We connected as soon as we spoke, and he has a wonderful way of telling stories and building trust. So Nancy and I were able to share some very personal things that had happened in our lives, some tragic and some wonderful. We felt safe with the way he handled and dealt with the situation. It was a really positive experience,” he says. “It was fast-paced. It was fun, and I couldn’t believe how quickly Asa processed and put it all together. It was like lightning.”

Uslan estimates it took just four weeks to convert his life story from a book to a play told in more than 90 minutes.

Although he has been a producer and writer of film, television and animation for 48 years, Uslan says the art of live theatre is entirely different.

“Know what you know and know what you don’t know.” Uslan relied on his trusted colleagues to make the best decisions.

At the play’s first reading in New York, he explained that when Calhoun cast his parents, “bringing them back to life was a surreal, out-of-body experience for me. The magic was captured in that play, and everyone involved felt it. The actors were so great. I get chills thinking about that moment.”

At the world premiere of The Boy Who Loved BatmanUslan and his wife will be there the first and last week. He is excited to have his family and lifelong friends, from kindergarten to university, come to see the show.

“I’ve been fortunate to have a great support system – my wife, my parents, my brother, my family, my friends – and they’re all there,” he says.

Uslan was gifted with the talents of a Tony Award-winning stage actor (25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee) and TV movie actor (Fantastic Beasts, The Walking Dead) Dan Fogler, who could play him from age 7 to 40.

Paul Adam Schaefer plays the imaginary friend. Katherine Yacko plays Nancy Uslan. Kelly Bashar, Nicholas Perez-Hoop, and Hugh Timoney play multiple roles, including Michael’s family, Bill Finger, Stan Lee, and others.

The play features scenic design by Daniel Allen, projection design by Caite Hevner, lighting design by Mike Wood, sound design by Jeremy Douglass and costume design by Newt Rametta.

One can easily imagine a big smile when Uslan answers the question whether he would sign autographs at Straz Back Door.

“I will not only sign everything that someone brings me, whether it is a comic book, a DVD, a poster or whatever; I will also sign my book, The Boy Who Loved Batman.

Uslan explains that comic book superheroes are part of our modern folklore. “It’s our contemporary mythology. If you don’t believe me, I’ll just say that the Greeks called him Hermes, the Romans called him Mercury, and I call him Flash. The Greeks called him Poseidon, the Romans called him Neptune, and I call him Aquaman. It doesn’t matter if it’s the Knights of the Round Table or the Avengers; it’s always the same stories of brave heroes fighting the demons and dragons of their time. The ancient gods of Greece, Rome, and Egypt still exist, only today they wear spandex and capes.”

If you accept comics and superheroes from that perspective, then I think it’s an incredible legacy, in addition to the fact that comics are indeed a legitimate American art form, indigenous to this country like jazz. The creators, artists, and writers of superheroes deserve the respect of all.

Don’t ask him what his favorite Batman movie is. “Why don’t you just ask me which of my kids is my favorite?” he joked and laughed. “I will say that the first Batman movie was a lifelong dream come true. Since then, I’ve been fortunate to work with people over my 48-year career who I consider to be true geniuses, who have a passion and a vision for the character. What a way to bring your dreams and passion into your work. I’m a very lucky man.”

A seemingly ordinary day spent sitting on the shoulders of his older brother Paul, who shared ten cents to pick out a comic book, shaped the course of Uslan’s life. He says reading Batman stories helped shape his personal, ethical and moral codes.

“It was scary when I chose a Batman, and that day began the love story between me and my superhero.”

Uslan hopes that everyone who has fought for a dream will leave the theater with hope and smiles and that parents and grandparents will share this play with their children. He believes this will fulfill the most important word at this stage of his life: legacy.

“The play shows that I was the only one who came. That’s how I got the rights to Batman. Even a kid from New Jersey who didn’t come from money and didn’t buy his way into Hollywood didn’t have family in Hollywood, didn’t know anybody in Hollywood. You just have to find your passion, commit, persevere to make your dreams come true. It’s definitely possible. If I did it, there’s no reason why anybody else can’t. And I hope that with Batman, comic books, superheroes and comic book movies, audiences around the world will be universally entertained and see the humor and the craziness of my story.”

The Boy Who Loved Batman will run at the Straz Center from October 1 to November 10. Tickets are available at strazcenter.org/events/2425-season/broadway/the-boy-who-loved-batman , and Uslan’s memoir, audiobook and sequel Batman’s Batman are available on Amazon.

The Straz Center and Tampa Theatre are teaming up for a special evening of film and discussion. On Wednesday, October 2, Uslan will take the stage at the Tampa Theatre following a screening of Batman (1989) for an exclusive discussion and Q&A with the audience. The film begins at 7:30 p.m., with Uslan’s post-screening talk immediately following. Local filmmaker Brett Culp, whose Batman documentary Legends of the Knight debuted at the Tampa Theatre in 2013, will moderate the Q&A. Tickets are $10 ($7 for theater members) and are available at the Tampa Theatre box office or at www.tampathheatre.org.

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