Bat Boy: The Musical was reviewed at the London Palladium.
Star rating: two stars ★ ★ ✩ ✩ ✩
We love this “spooky season” almost as much as we love musicals, so when a concert production of cult favourite Bat Boy was announced, our fangs were practically dripping with excitement. Taking to the legendary London Palladium stage on 31 October in a semi-staged concert production, the Off-Broadway musical promised to deliver an off-kilter mix of horror and comedy, in a show which has only had minor Fringe success over here so far. Producers clearly hoping to determine the levels of bloodlust for the show assembled some of London’s most popular talents to tell its story, but did it bite off more than it could chew?
Inspired by a spoof news story, Bat Boy centres around the discovery of a strange creature (played by Jordan Luke Gage) living in a cave, who appears to be half-human and half-bat. After a civilian is injured, authorities capture the creature and put it in the care of town veterinarian Dr Parker (Trevor Dion Nicholas) who plans to put the creature down. Giving in to pleas from his wife Meredith (Victoria Hamilton-Barritt) and daughter Shelley (Jodie Steele), Parker agrees to keep the creature alive, and Meredith begins to nurture the child, naming him Edgar and teaching him language and social skills. Edgar’s yearning for human connection grows stronger as feelings for Shelley deepen, but so too does his bloodlust, and a dark secret about Edgar’s true origins threatens to blow the family and community apart.
Bat Boy proves that you really can make a musical about anything, but that’s not necessarily a reason to do so. Its generic rock score (music and lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe) is decidedly rough around the edges, and its lack of memorable melodies or recurring motifs don’t do it any favours; there’s little to suggest that its composer would go to create the scores for Heathers and Legally Blonde. Tonally the production was very uneven, with director Dean Johnson seemingly unsure if it wanted to be a straight horror or a B-movie pastiche, and achieved murky results at both.
Committing to one or the other would’ve created a much more satisfying piece of theatre, rather than something that felt like a workshop to try different ideas. As a production, the concert felt half-baked, with the most minimal of set and staging (Andrew Exeter), and unforgivably patchy sound (Aidan Jones). While certain allowances can be made for one-off concerts (rather than longer runs), the production should still show off the musical in the best way possible, and this sadly didn’t happen. Keythe Farley and Brian Flemming’s book and O’Keefe’s lyrics may be far cleverer than they appear, but everything was lost in a sea of missed microphone cues and an overpowered ensemble that got repeatedly drowned out. Fans of the show may have still been able to find things to enjoy, but as a vehicle to bring the musical to the attention of a new audience, the production failed to serve the show.
Fortunately, our West End has one of the strongest talent pools in the world when it comes to performers, and a strong cast helped to make the best of an underwhelming situation (with reportedly only six days of rehearsal). Gage once again proved what a terrific leading man he is, sounding strong and really committing to the role. There were elements of his “loveable doofus” Romeo from & Juliet and he performed it brilliantly. Hamilton-Barritt once again showed what a scene-stealer she is as Meredith, winningly playing into the parody to great comic effect, and if the whole production had matched her tonal direction, it would’ve transformed the show. Steele did well with what she had to work with and sounded great as always, as did Nicholas as Dr Parker, really going with the comedy as the story took ever-crazier turns. And Tosh Wanogho-Maud once again demonstrated what an incredible vocalist he is as the Reverend Hightower, giving us another chance to hear that voice after the untimely recent closure of Ain’t Too Proud.
The Bat Boy Palladium concert production was a frustratingly underwhelming experience, saved by some fantastic performances. It feels like a wasted opportunity to be a truly unique horror musical (we need more of those), and neither does it work as a tongue-in-cheek parody like Little Shop of Horrors or The Toxic Avenger. A forgettable score and a lack of identity make this more of a Halloween trick than a treat, even if it does brilliantly showcase the talents of Gage and Hamilton-Barritt. Bat Boy needs a much sharper bite if it’s going to sink its teeth into London’s theatre scene again any time soon.
Rob Bartley
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