Not content with dispatching her pop bands forward through the decades to grace us with extensive reunion/nostalgia tours, it would appear that the Goddess of the Noughties is now sending forth her cartoons. Specifically, Avatar: The Last Airbender which built up a devoted following when it first aired on Nickelodeon between 2005 and 2008 and has since found new legions of faithful through its reincarnation on Netflix, as well as spawning a series of graphic novels and a recent live action TV remake (plus a 2010 M. Night Shyamalan movie which scores a whopping 5 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes).
Over three seasons, the Nickelodeon original tells the story of Aang, a 12-year-old ‘Avatar’ who must use his power over the elements to bring harmony among four warring nations. Think epic quests, duels with evil Fire Lords and a flying ‘sky bison’ called Appa to bring the obligatory cute. Plus a score by Emmy-award-winning Jeremy Zuckerman, which is the focus of this internationally-touring production that condenses the original cartoons into two hours of footage played on a big screen behind a live orchestra and choir of four.
Act one packed the first two seasons of Avatar into around 80 minutes of excerpts, which were preceded by title frames akin to those from silent movies offering explainers like: “The boy in the iceberg” and “Yue becomes the Moon Spirit”. Even with this help, as a non-Avatar expert I would have been lost without the running commentary from my nine-year-old sidekick. The music soared, augmented by thumping percussion for the menacing bits and some beautiful choral singing (think lots of ethereal ‘aaaaaahs’ rather than lyrics), and for a good while I was swept along, entertained also by the whoops of enthusiasm for each new segment from the stalls around us.
Image courtesy of Liverpool Philharmonic
After a bit, though, it did all begin to feel a little samey. However well-constructed Zuckerman’s score is and however interesting the addition of traditional Asian instruments like the pipa, a plucked wooden device sometimes called the Chinese lute, there was no avoiding the reality that this was music originally conceived as a backdrop to the animated action and, midway through the second season and more than an hour into the concert, I was definitely flagging.
My enthusiasm was revived by a more dramatic and tightly edited second act, which rattled through the climactic third series in around 45 minutes along with dramatic lighting and much arm-waving from charismatic conductor David Mahoney. Yet I could not hope to match the fervour of most of the audience, who rose to their feet and cheered as Aang’s story concluded. The nine-year-old was with them, but this was by no means a kids’ show. All but a handful of those around us were old enough to buy drinks at the bar, and yet the biggest snaking queue of the night was for the merchandise desk. Evidently, for Avatar true believers, the opportunity to worship collectively was one to be relished. In an age where cultural experiences (especially those on screen) are increasingly personalised and atomised, this is nostalgia worth having.
Main image photo credit: Liverpool Philharmonic
Avatar: the Last Airbender in concert is on tour. For more information, click here.
