Actor Rob Compton will play the title role in Bat Boy: The Musical at The Large, Southwark Playhouse in January 2015
Full casting has been announced for Bat Boy: The Musical which will be seen on the London stage in a brand new production at The Large, Southwark Playhouse from 9–31 January 2015.
Rob Compton will take on the title role of Bat Boy, alongside Georgina Hagen as Shelley Parker, Russell Wilcox as Sheriff, Nolan Frederick as Bud, Simon Bailey as Reverend Hightower, Andy Rees as Rick, Pepper Harrison as Ruthie and Lindsay Scigliano as Maggie. They join the previously announced Lauren Ward as Meredith Parker and Matthew White as Dr Parker.
Rob Compton’s theatre credits include: Mother Courage and Her Children (The Lowry), A Chorus of Disapproval (Harold Pinter Theatre), All the Fun of the Fair (UK tour) and Great Expectations (English Touring Theatre). Georgina Hagen has appeared in Evita (Ljubljana Festival), Starlight Express (Bochum, Germany) and We Will Rock You (UK tour).
Russell Wilcox has enjoyed roles in One Man, Two Guvnors (National Theatre), The Sound of Music (Kilworth House), She Stoops to Conquer (National Theatre), Billy Elliot (Victoria Palace Theatre) and Ace of Clubs (New Wimbledon Studio). Credits for Nolan Frederick include The Pajama Game (Shaftesbury Theatre), Sister Act (UK tour), Me and My Girl (Sheffield Crucible), La Cage Aux Folles (Menier Chocolate Factory), Gone With the Wind (New London Theatre) and Porgy and Bess (Savoy Theatre).
Simon Bailey’s recent roles include Marry Me a Little (St James Studio), I Can’t Sing! (London Palladium), Raoul in The Phantom of the Opera (UK tour and Her Majesty’s Theatre), Passion (Donmar Warehouse), Les Misérables (Queen’s Theatre) and We Will Rock You (Dominion Theatre). Andy Rees has been seen in Tonight’s the Night (UK tour), A Chorus Line (London Palladium), Legally Blonde (UK tour), Mamma Mia! (Prince of Wales Theatre), Spamalot (Palace Theatre), The Rocky Horror Show (UK tour) and Chicago (Cambridge Theatre).
While training Pepper Harrison’s shows included Legally Blonde and Babes in Arms (Arts Ed). Lindsay Scigliano has appeared in Grease (Llubljana Festival), The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (Union Theatre) and Once Upon a Time at the Adelphi (Union Theatre).
A strange bat-child is discovered in a dank cave in deepest, darkest West Virginia. For the small community of Hope Falls, the discovery threatens to shake its moral core and the residents turn to the town veterinarian, Dr Parker, in the hope that he will know what to do with the strange creature. Taken under the wing of Dr Parker’s wife, the boy is taught in the ways of the world and adjusts to life in this seemingly normal American family. However, secrets, lies and a mysterious case of dead cows leave Bat Boy at the mercy of his God-fearing community.
Bat Boy, a twist on the modern day musical comedy, was inspired by an article run by American tabloid The Weekly World News; a paper of fabricated stories that many unsuspecting readers believed to be real. The creation of Bat Boy became an overnight sensation and made him a pop-culture icon.
Bat Boy: The Musical won New York’s Outer Critics Circle and Lucille Lortel Awards for Best Off-Broadway Musical in 2001. It received its UK premiere in 2004 at West Yorkshire Playhouse prior to a West End run at the Shaftesbury Theatre.
The show is directed by Luke Fredericks with choreography by Joey McKneely and set and costume design by Stewart Charlesworth.
Luke Fredericks and Stewart Charlesworth are behind the company Morphic Graffiti which has created critically acclaimed productions of Carousel at Arcola Theatre and Jekyll and Hyde at the Union Theatre.
Joey McKneely is best known for directing and choreographing the 50th anniversary production of West Side Story based on the original choreography of Jerome Robbins, which debuted at Sadler’s Wells in 2008 and has since played all over the world. Broadway credits include The Boy From Oz, Smokey Joe’s Café (Tony Award nomination), Cy Coleman’s The Life (Tony Award nomination), and The Wild Party.
Bat Boy: The Musical is produced by Paul Taylor-Mills Ltd, and marks the company’s return to Southwark Playhouse following the acclaimed production of In the Heights earlier this year. Paul Taylor-Mills is delighted to be working with Equity on a special agreement between both parties which will ensure everyone on the production will receive at least the National Minimum wage.
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