New ‘Batman’ play premieres in Tampa. Is it a new model for the Straz Center?

TAMPA — Michael Uslan’s origin story goes something like this.

The 73-year-old grew up in the suburbs of New Jersey with supportive parents who let him fill the garage with so many comic books they couldn’t fit their cars inside. He loved the caped heroes and their conniving villains. But he loved Batman the most.

This was in the 1960s, when Adam West’s iconic turn as Batman on TV turned the character into a “Kapow!” kidder.