Testing the limits of Batmania

One can only imagine how aggravating a day June 25, 1966, was for Adam West.

He’d signed on for a two personal appearance at Shea Stadium, at 2 and 7:30 p.m., part of a concert that included Frank Gorshin, the Young Rascals, the Temptations, the Chiffons and Junior Walker and the All-Stars, and it was coming apart.

The show’s promotor was Harry Bloomfield who, although convicted of income tax evasion in 1949, was still granted a license to put on the show. A thousand tickets were stolen from a publicist’s office, and several of the booked acts, including Skitch Henderson and his Tonight Show Orchestra and M.C. Bruce Morrow, abandoned ship because of dismal ticket sales.

The local Teamsters union, fearful that they wouldn’t get paid, threatened to walk before the show until West personally guaranteed the crew’s payment in advance.

As it got closer to 2 p.m. it was obvious that only around 3,000 people were in attendance as. All this and West wore his Batman costume, the gloves, the tights, the cowl as the afternoon temperature climbed to 87 degrees.

After the musical acts, a gate in leftfield opened and West as Batman was driven around the field in a Cadillac convertible – not the Batmobile – close enough to the stands to shake hands with the overheated kids in attendance. As the PA system echoed through the nearly empty stadium, West reached the stage and asked, “Have you seen any unusual looking people around here?”, the cue for Frank Gorshin as the Riddler to appear on stage. A sample of their onstage schtick: Riddler: “Why are the Mets like my mother-in-law’s cookies? (Riddler is married?) They need a better batter.”

West and Gorshin left the stage, then reappeared without costumes. West sang. Gorshin did celebrity impressions. Reportedly the 7:30 show was better attended, but even an audience of 5,000 in a place that seats 55,000 makes for an oppressive scene.

If it was the first true test of Batmania, it failed. The franchise wobbled a bit but recovered the next month when the Batman movie opened and scored well at the box office.

After the concert, promotor Bloomfield concluded, “Shea Stadium is not conducive to concerts.” When he was reminded about the Beatles’ capacity concert there, Bloomfield replied, “The Beatles were a freak attraction.”