The world premiere of the long-awaited Jim Steinman’s Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical will take place in London’s West End at the London Coliseum, opening on Tuesday 20 June 2017, following previews from 5 June, for a limited season until 22 July 2017. This follows previews at Manchester Opera House from 17 February to 8 April 2017.
As with many great works of art, the genesis of the Bat Out Of Hell album occurred across a number of years. One of the songs was written while Steinman was an undergraduate at Amherst College in the late 1960s.In the 1970s, Steinman wrote a theatrical musical that was presented in workshop in Washington D.C. in 1974 and featured many of the songs that would ultimately appear on the Bat Out Of Hell album, which was released in 1977.
Bat Out Of Hell became one of the best-selling albums in history, selling over 50 million copies worldwide. 16 years later, Steinman scored again with Bat Out Of Hell II: Back Into Hell, which contained the massive hit I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That).
For the stage musical, the legendary and award-winning Jim Steinman has incorporated iconic songs from the Bat Out Of Hell albums, including You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth, Bat Out Of Hell, I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That) and Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad, as well as two previously unreleased songs, What Part of My Body Hurts the Most and Not Allowed to Love.
Jim Steinman’s Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical is a romantic adventure about rebellious youth and passionate love, set against the backdrop of a post-cataclysmic city adrift from the mainland. Strat, the forever young leader of The Lost, has fallen for Raven, daughter of Falco, the tyrannical, ruler of Obsidian.
Jim Steinman’s previous musicals include his collaboration with Andrew Lloyd Webber on Whistle Down the Wind, including the hit single released by Boyzone, No Matter What, and the musical Tanz der Vampire, which has been running for 20 years and has been presented in Vienna, Stuttgart, Berlin, Hamburg, Paris, Budapest, Warsaw, St Petersburg and Tokyo.
REHEARSAL GALLERY
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Directed by award-winning theatre and opera director Jay Scheib, the cast of Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical will be led by newcomer Andrew Polec as Strat and Christina Bennington as Raven, with Rob Fowler as Falco and Sharon Sexton as Sloane. Also starring will be Aran MacRae as Tink, Danielle Steers as Zahara, Dom Hartley-Harris as Jagwire, Giovanni Spano as Ledoux and Patrick Sullivan as Blake. Also in the cast will be Jemma Alexander, Emily Benjamin, Stuart Boother, Georgia Carling, Natalie Chua, Jonathan Cordin, Amy Di Bartolomeo, Jordan Lee Davies, Olly Dobson, Hannah Ducharme, Phoebe Hart, Rosalind James, Michael Naylor, Eve Norris, Tim Oxbrow, Andrew Patrick-Walker, Benjamin Purkiss, Anthony Selwyn, Courtney Stapleton and Ruben Van keer.
Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical has book by Jim Steinman with early writing by Stuart Beattie, music and lyrics by Jim Steinman, direction by Jay Scheib, choreography by Emma Portner, with musical arrangements and supervision by Michael Reed, set design by Jon Bausor, costume design by Meentje Nielsen, video design by Finn Ross, lighting design by Patrick Woodroffe, sound design by Gareth Owen, orchestration by Steve Sidwell, casting by David Grindrod Associates and musical direction by Robert Emery.
Jim Steinman’s Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical is produced by David Sonenberg, Michael Cohl, Randy Lennox, Tony Smith, and produced in association with Bat Out of Hell Holding Limited.
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Listings
BAT OUT OF HELL – THE MUSICAL
17 February – 8 April 2017
Opera House Manchester
3 Quay Street
Manchester
M3 3HP
Performances: Mon-Sat at 7.30pm, Thurs & Sat at 2.30pm (no matinee on Sat 18 February)
Based on the film by MICHAEL POWELL and EMERIC PRESSBURGER
and the HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN fairytale
Music by BERNARD HERRMANN
New Adventures are delighted to announce further UK dates for the World Premiere tour of Matthew Bourne’s production of THE RED SHOES.
The tour will now continue to: Sheffield Lyceum from Tuesday 30 May – Saturday 3 June; Glasgow King’s Theatre from Tuesday 6 June – Saturday 10 June; Wycombe Swan from Tuesday 13 June – Saturday 17 June and the Liverpool Empire from Tuesday 27 June – Saturday 1 July.
Due to popular demand THE RED SHOES will then make an unprecedented return to The Lowry, Salford from Tuesday 11 July – Saturday 15 July and Birmingham Hippodrome from Wednesday 19 July – Saturday 22 July. The production sold out at The Lowry in November 2016 and has already sold out at Birmingham Hippodrome before its first visit in February 2017. Full tour schedule below.
THE RED SHOES will also tour to four cities in America later this year. Full details to be announced shortly.
The World Premiere tour of THE RED SHOES opened at the Theatre Royal Plymouth in November and is now five weeks into a sold out eight week Christmas season at Sadler’s Wells, where it opened to rave reviews. The performances at Sadler’s Wells are the fastest selling in New Adventures history. The production is also sold out in Woking and Birmingham with limited availability at the remaining venues throughout February – Milton Keynes and Norwich.
The role of “Victoria Page”, the girl who dreams of being a great dancer, immortalised on screen by Moira Shearer, has been created by New Adventures star, Ashley Shaw, most recently seen across the UK and internationally as “Aurora” in Matthew Bourne’sSleeping Beauty. Rising star and fellow “Aurora”, Cordelia Braithwaite, also plays the role, along with Sleeping Beauty favourite Katrina Lyndon in her principal role debut (at certain performances).
Sam Archer who created the title role of Edward Scissorhands in 2005 and who has starred in Cinderella, The Car Man and PlayWithout Words has returned to the Company to play the iconic role of Svengali-like Impresario “Boris Lermontov”. One of New Adventures’ finest leading men, Chris Trenfield, also plays Lermentov, as well as musical genius, “Julian Craster”; the man with whom Victoria Page falls in love. Sharing the role of Julian will be one of New Adventures most popular dancers, Dominic North, who was last year nominated for his second National Dance Award, along with rising star Andrew Monaghan who has already debuted leading roles in Swan Lake,The Car Man and Sleeping Beauty.
Completing the principal cast are the leading dancers of the Lermentov Company. Prima Ballerina, “Irina Boronskaja” is played by Michela Meazza, who returns to New Adventures where she has danced and created many leading roles (including “Lady H” in Dorian Gray, “Joyce” in Edward Scissorhands and “The Stepmother” in Cinderella). She is joined by Company favourites Anjali Mehra, most recently seen as both “The Queen” and “The Girlfriend” in Swan Lake and NicoleKabera, who most recently played “Queen Eleanor” in Sleeping Beauty.
“Ivan Boleslawsky” the role made famous by Robert Helpmann has been created by one of New Adventures finest young dancers, Liam Mower (the original West End Billy Elliot but now taking on his seventh principal role with New Adventures). Also playing Ivan is popular company dancer, Danny Reubens, who scored a great personal success recently as “Jack” in Lord Of The Flies.
Company choreographer and ‘character dancer’ “Grischa Ljubov”, has been created by veteran company dancer, Glenn Graham, who as well as playing “The Swan” in Swan Lake has recently been seen as “King Benedict” in Sleeping Beauty. Also playing the role of Grischa will be Leon Moran recently seen in Sleeping Beauty,The Car Man and as “Jim” in Edward Scissorhands.
Completing the New Adventures cast as the leading dancers and creative team behind the Ballet Lermentov are Steph Billers, Will Bozier, Jack Jones, Daisy May Kemp, Phil King, Dominic Lamb, Kate Lyons, Joe Walkling and Katie Webb. Joshua Harriette (Ballet Black, Michael Clark Company) and SerenWilliams (Ballet Central graduate) made their debuts with New Adventures in this production.
A beloved fairy-tale and Academy Award-winning movie, THE RED SHOES has seduced audiences and inspired generations of dancers with its tale of obsession, possession and one girl’s dream to be the greatest dancer in the world. Victoria Page lives to dance but her ambitions become a battleground between the two men who inspire her passion.
Matthew Bourne’s magical new adaptation of the legendary Powell and Pressburger film reunites him with his regular collaborators and New Adventures Associate Artists and the team that brought you the world wide hit, Sleeping Beauty; Lez Brotherston (set and costumes), Paule Constable (lighting) and Paul Groothuis (sound).
This World Premiere is set to a new score arranged by New Adventures Associate Artist, Terry Davies using the mesmerizing music of golden-age Hollywood composer, Bernard Herrmann (most famous for his collaborations with Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles and Martin Scorsese), whose work ranges from the witty and playfully robust to the achingly romantic and bittersweet.
An intoxicating drama where life imitates art with fateful consequences; THE RED SHOES will dazzle your senses and break your heart.
THE RED SHOES is supported using public funds by Arts Council England.
