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Description[]

BatMusical

Bat Out of Hell is a musical with book, music and lyrics by Jim Steinman.

After several years of pre-production, a developmental lab was held in November 2015 in New York City.

Two of the producers, the director, musical director, and only one member of the cast - Andrew Polec (Strat) were retained as the show headed for England.

The first promotional launch events for the show were in November 2016, in London and Manchester, and a prolonged rehearsal period went underway.

The show premiered at the Manchester Opera House in Manchester, England in February 2017, and was followed by limited runs in London (June 2017) and Toronto (October 2017).

Despite the development of this musical taking place in the UK, Jim Steinman has been heavily involved in the creative process for the show. In multiple interviews, the cast have mentioned that he's constantly watching and giving feedback via Skype, on a daily basis, and speaks with the director for hours on the phone. Also, longtime collaborator Barry Keating has been working on the project as Creative Consultant - relaying information from Jim, filming rehearsals to send to Jim, and keeping things on track with his vision.

For a comprehensive list of the changes between versions of the show during previews, see Bat Out Of Hell The Musical - changes during previews.

Historical roots[]

Strat-in-baal-shirt

Andrew Polec as Strat (2017), wearing a shirt showing a photo of Jim Steinman starring as Baal in The Dream Engine (1969)

In 1968, Jim Steinman wrote a musical in college called Baal, based on Bertolt Brecht's first play - also titled "Baal". The following year, ideas from that musical had progressed into a musical called The Dream Engine. It was about a young man named Baal, and he led a tribe of wild young people, they lured and enticed a girl into joining the tribe, and there are two main villains in the story - a couple called Max and Emily (presumably a nod to Mech and Emilie from Brecht's Baal). It was a very political piece, in protest about contemporary issues, especially that the older generation were drafting their youth to fight and die in the Vietnam war. Youth rebellion was a major theme. The song Who Needs The Young originates in this play, as do some spoken word segments, such as Hot Summer Night and I've Been Dreaming Up A Storm Lately, which are also present in Bat Out Of Hell The Musical.

In 1977, Jim Steinman's musical Neverland was in workshop, where The Dream Engine had morphed to be less political, and more Peter Pan oriented. It was now set in the future, in the dystopian city of Obsidian, Baal now led Lost Boys, and rescued Wendy from her parents Max and Emily.

Much of the structure of Neverland, and specific elements such as the dream suppressant scene, Wendy saying "the sea is watching the sky, the sky is watching the sea, nothing will ever happen", and Tink ordering the protagonist to send the girl back to her parents, remain intact in Bat Out Of Hell The Musical. Spoken word pieces Nocturnal Pleasure and Love and Death and an American Guitar, which are also in Bat Out Of Hell The Musical, make an appearance - though in different context. It was still a far, far wordier play overall than Bat Out Of Hell The Musical.

Many of the songs in Neverland were also in the album Bat Out Of Hell, performed by Meat Loaf. While touring with Meat Loaf for the album during the late 1970s, Jim Steinman would perform his spoken word piece Love and Death and an American Guitar, which is now used to open Bat Out Of Hell The Musical. He would also perform Hot Summer Night, as on the album.

The song Bad For Good from Jim Steinman's 1981 album of the same name and its accompanying music video depict what could be considered a prototype of Raven's bedroom scene from Bat Out Of Hell The Musical.

The location "The Deep End" can be seen in the 1986 music video for the song "If You Were A Woman (And I Was A Man)" on the Bonnie Tyler album Secret Dreams and Forbidden Fire, which Jim Steinman produced. He came up with the concept and co-directed the music video.

Jim Steinman's ongoing musical project has transformed into Bat Out Of Hell The Musical. We have Strat instead of Baal. We have Raven instead of Wendy. We have Falco and Sloane instead of Max and Emily.

The character Strat often wears a shirt depicting Jim Steinman as Baal in The Dream Engine (1969) as a nod to the roots of this show.

Productions[]

NYC First Draft Reading (2009)[]

In 2009, Barry Keating directed a reading of Steinman's first draft of Bat Out of Hell at Ripley-Grier Studios Uptown in NYC. It starred André De Shields as Hook and Justin Vivian Bond as Mother Hook. At this stage, the show was still very much an adaptation of Peter Pan, retaining many of the names of characters and locations from Neverland and the Bat Out of Hell 2100 screenplay. There was no live music; instead edits of the songs provided by Steven Rinkoff were played. In a post on the Rockman Philharmonic message board, Steinman wrote: "[T]he reading of DRAFT 1 of BOOH was, for me, the best thing I ever created, over ALL MY SONGS put together!" A video of the reading was recorded, and afterwards Steinman would compile it on a DVD, with the musical numbers accompanied by footage from various films, and animated sequences by an unknown artist. This DVD was edited by Chris Bierlein.

NYC Developmental Lab (2015)[]

Bat Out of Hell held a developmental lab at Pearl Studios from November 2 to November 24 2015.

Main article : Bat Out Of Hell The Musical - NYC Developmental Lab (2015)

Manchester (2017)[]

Bat Out of Hell completed an extended run in previews at the Manchester Opera House from February 17 to April 29 2017.

Main article : Bat Out Of Hell The Musical - Manchester run (2017)

London (2017)[]

Bat Out of Hell ran at the London Coliseum from June 5 to August 22, 2017.

Main article: Bat Out Of Hell The Musical - London run (2017)

Toronto (2017)[]

Bat Out of Hell ran at the Ed Mirvish theatre in Toronto, Canada from October 14 to January 7, 2018.

Main article: Bat Out Of Hell The Musical - Toronto run (2017)

London (2018)[]

Bat Out of Hell ran at the Dominion Theatre, London from April 2nd 2018 to January 5th 2019.

Main article: Bat Out Of Hell The Musical - London Dominion run (2018)

US tour (2018 - 2019)[]

A US Tour of the show was planned to take place starting late 2018 to mid 2019. The Tour was cancelled a few days before the end of the first date in Toronto, and did not continue to the other stops.

Main article: Bat Out Of Hell The Musical - US Tour run (2018)

Oberhausen (2018-2019)[]

A production of the show ran from November 2, 2018 - September 19, 2019 in Oberhausen, Germany. The show, including it's songs, were translated into german for this proudction.

Main Article: Bat Out Of Hell The Musical - Oberhausen run (2018-2019)

New York (2019)[]

A 6 week engagement of the show, from August 1 - September 8, 2019 at New York City Center theater was announced. Featuring cast members from the original UK production, as well as the aborted US Tour.

Main Article: Bat Out Of hell The Musical - New York City Center run (2019)

2020 International Tours (2020-2023)[]

A new production of the show was announced for a series of dates at Hard Rock Cafe Hotels in America between March and April 2020. The show was then due to move on to a series of one night only arena shows in Australia in May 2020, before moving on to a UK Tour beginning September 2020.

The Australia dates and many of the UK dates were rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic for late 2021-2022. The America dates did not go ahead, and currently no new dates have been announced. Additional UK dates have since been added, along with a 2 week run in Germany and a return to London engagement at the Peacock Theatre. Further stops have been announced in New Zealand, Austria and Switzerland.

Main Article: Bat Out Of Hell The Musical - Tours (2020-2023)

Las Vegas Residency (2022)[]

A production has been announced at the Paris Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. It opened on Tuesday 27th September 2022 and is set to run into 2023. The material has been cut down to only 90 minutes, so some significant differences from previous productions.

Main Article: Bat Out Of Hell The Musical - Las Vegas (2022)

PREVIEW_Bat_Out_of_Hell_the_Musical

PREVIEW Bat Out of Hell the Musical

Launch event in London

Cast Album[]

See Bat Out Of Hell The Musical : Original Cast Recording for details.

Songs[]

Act One[]

Act Two[]

During the 2020-2022 UK Tour, Good Girls Go To Heaven was performed as an encore at certain performances.

Cast and Characters[]

For casting, please visit the wiki pages for the individual runs of the show. If you'd like more information on characters in the show, please visit one of the links below:

Band[]

Band - Manchester and London 2017[]

Musical Director - Robert Emery
Assistant Musical Director/Keyboard - Steve Corley
Keyboard - Jamie Safir
Drums - Elliot Henshaw
Percussion - Dave Danford
Guitar - Ben Castle
Guitar - Mark Cox
Bass Guitar - Hugh Richardson
Saxophone - Nik Carter
Saxophone - Nathan Hawken
Trumpet - Jack Birchwood
Trombone - Barnaby Philpott

Orchestral Management - London Musicians Ltd: Managing Director, David White

Band - Toronto 2017-18[]

Musical Director/Keyboard - Robert Emery
Assistant Musical Director/Keyboard - Steve Corley

Keyboard 2 substitute - Greg Diakun
Keyboard 2 - Michael Vieira
Bass - Mike Pellarin
Guitar 1 - Tristan Avakian
Guitar 2 - Tony Zorzi
Drums - Chris Sutherland
Percussion - Nick Coultier
Trombone - Doug Gibson
Trumpet - Mike Herriott
Woodwinds 1 - Alexander Boychouk
Woodwinds 2 - Mark Promane

Contractor - Mark Whitelaw

Creatives[]

Book, Music, Lyrics - Jim Steinman
Additional Book Material - Stuart Beattie
Director - Jay Scheib
Associate Director - Andrea Ferran
Producers - David Sonenberg, Michael Cohl, Randy Lennox, Tony Smith
Associate Producer - Bat Out of Hell Holding Ltd
Musical Director - Robert Emery
Musical Supervisor & Additional Arrangements - Michael Reed
Orchestration - Steve Sidwell
Choreographer - Emma Portner
Associate Choreographer - Suzanne Thomas
In-House Choreographer - Michael Naylor
Set Design - Jon Bausor
Costume Design - Meentje Nielsen
Video Design - Finn Ross
Lighting Design - Patrick Woodroffe
Sound Design - Gareth Owen
Casting - David Grindrod CDG
Fight Director - RC-Annie
Production Management - Simon Marlow
Design, Advertising, & Marketing - Dewynters
Theatre Press Representative - Amanda Malpass PR
Music Press Representative - Outside Organisation
Production Photographer - Specular
UK General Management - Julian Stoneman & Mark Green for MPSI Ltd
US General Management - Roy Gabay for Jumpstart Entertainment

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