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BAT OUT OF HELL THE MUSICAL

★★★★

UK Tour

BAT OUT OF HELL THE MUSICAL

Peacock Theatre

★★★★

“a non-stop blockbuster of a musical”

Jim Steinman’s epic rock and roll masterpiece returns to London as part of its UK tour.

Whispers of Meat Loaf’s original song greet the incoming audience, like hearing a ghost from the past. There are no doubts when the band starts to play in earnest, the bass vibrating through one’s very soul and the audience – many dressed in tour T-shirts – whoops in expectation.

The unassuming but excellent eight-piece band (MD Iestyn Griffiths) are rescued from the invisibility of a pit and displayed high above the stage action. The black stage (set and costume design Jon Bausor) is dominated by a large central sewer pipe leading into who-knows-where and opening out onto the relatively small playing space. A small back room serves as Raven’s bedroom, her bed curiously made from flight cases; a nod to the rock and roll origin of the production, perhaps. Scenes from this room are screened above the stage filmed live by an on-stage video cam-operator (video design Finn Ross).

Strands of Peter Pan, Romeo and Juliet, even West Side Story abound in the wafer-thin plot, though Jay Scheib’s direction shines. A rag-taggle group of boys and girls (The Lost) live in the sewer tunnels below a dystopian, post-apocalyptic Gotham-esque city controlled by a despot ruler who sends in his riot squad for summary beatings of the youth. He fears for the safety of his daughter Raven (Kate Tonkinson), who on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, declares her love for Strat (Glenn Adamson), the unofficial leader of the pack. Falco declares she shall never have him and so the scene of rebellious teenager versus parent who doesn’t understand is set.

Steinman’s songs are, of course, legendary and their narrative content ripe for stage performance and all our favourites are here. Paradise by the Dashboard Light – an anthem for failed marriage – is performed almost straight as from the LP. Falco (Rob Fowler) and Sloane (Sharon Sexton) make out in an open top Chevy (in flashback), awkwardly fumbling their clothing until Sloane commands Falco to ‘stop right there’. Including a girl in referee’s uniform going through the baseball commentary as Falco thinks he’s going to make it to last base, black and white baseball footage is screened above the action to reinforce the imagery. Including too a line-up of twitchy and giggling dancers, there’s so much going on in this scene that it’s hard to know where to focus. But Fowler and Sexton’s voices win-out; together the couple are superb.

The full youth ensemble in their grungy hip-hop attire (shades of Mad Max) give their all and their energy levels are phenomenal. But the choreography (Xena Gusthart) verges on the twee. There is little sense of rock and roll danger and hip thrusts are comedic rather than sexually threatening. For Crying Out Loud is the standout song as the ensemble share the solo lines, and pairings are made amongst the gang, some individual characterisation becoming evident. Bat Out of Hell closes the first act and as Strat’s ‘silver black phantom bike’ breaks up, confetti cannons fire pieces of the broken metal into the air and pyros shoot out tongues of flame. It’s wild, dramatic, over the top, and totally thrilling.

In the second act there’s time for some deceit and treachery, instigated for the best possible reasons, by Tink (the excellent Carla Bertran) but it’s a foregone conclusion that young love will out. I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That) is inexplicably the show’s closing number, and the only ensemble piece that feels to go on too long.

Of course, the strength of the singers is the be all for a production of this type and Glenn Adamson and especially Katie Tonkinson do not disappoint. They are both excellent throughout and well supported by the full ensemble. This is a non-stop blockbuster of a musical, sung powerfully and tunefully throughout, and danced with total commitment. An absolute blast.



BAT OUT OF HELL THE MUSICAL

Peacock Theatre then UK Tour continues

Reviewed on 22nd May 2025

by Phillip Money

Photography by Chris Davis Studio

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

Last ten shows reviewed at Sadler’s Wells venues:

SPECKY CLARK | ★★★ | May 2025
SNOW WHITE: THE SACRIFICE | ★★★★★ | April 2025
SKATEPARK | ★★★★ | April 2025
MIDNIGHT DANCER | ★★★★ | March 2025
THE DREAM | ★★★★★ | March 2025
DEEPSTARIA | ★★★★ | February 2025
VOLLMOND | ★★★★★ | February 2025
DIMANCHE | ★★★★ | January 2025
SONGS OF THE WAYFARER | ★★★★ | December 2024
NOBODADDY (TRÍD AN BPOLL GAN BUN) | ★★★★ | November 2024

 

BAT OUT OF HELL

BAT OUT OF HELL

BAT OUT OF HELL

Bat out of Hell – New Images

 

Take a look at the stunning new production photos for the world premiere of Jim Steinman’s Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical, which is currently in previews at the London Coliseum, opening on 20 June and running until 5 August 2017.

 

Patrick Sullivan as Blake, Andrew Polec as Strat & Giovanni Spano as Ledoux
Dom Hartley-Harris as Jagwire (front left) with the cast
Aran MacRae as Tink
Dom Hartley-Harris as Jagwire as Danielle Steers as Zahara
LtoR Giovanni Spano as Ledoux, Andrew Poelc as Strat & Dom Hartley-Harris as Jagwire with the cast
Andrew Polec as Strat & Christina Bennington as Raven
Sharon Sexton as Sloane
Andrew Polec as Strat (left)
Andrew Polec as Strat
Danielle Steers as Zahara & Dom Hartley-Harris as Jagwire
Andrew Polec as Strat & Christina Bennington as Raven
Andrew Polec as Strat & Christina Bennington as Raven
Patrick Sullivan as Blake, Andrew Polec as Strat & Giovanni Spano as Ledoux

Photography by Specular

 

Directed by award-winning theatre and opera director Jay Scheib, the cast of Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical is led by Andrew Polec as Strat and Christina Bennington as Raven, with Rob Fowler as Falco and Sharon Sexton as Sloane. They are all featured in the photos, alongside Danielle Steers as Zahara and Dom Hartley-Harris as Jagwire, who perform Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad and Dead Ringer.
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.
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. And 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.
Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical has book, 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 and Jon Bausor, 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 and Tony Smith.

 

 

BatOutOfHellMusical.com

 

 

 

 

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