Thanks everybody!
So I tried it again on my second sheet of acrylic. This time I did not heat up the pipe. Instead I heated both sides of the acrylic with the torch and when it started to bend, I laid it down along the pipe, continued to heat it very gradually and applied pressure until I got the full bend I wanted. And here it is...
I also found that the plastic eggcrate that I'm using for the platforms is too weak across that length of span so I superglued a strip under it to add strength...