Bat Out of Hell

Bat Out of Hell was the 1977 debut album by American rock singer Meat Loaf and composer Jim Steinman and has become one of the best-selling albums in history.  It was followed up by two other albums to become the Bat Out of Hell trilogy, but it is the original Bat out of HelI that holds the most iconic songs. At the time it felt like there should be a story to the album, which certainly leaves much to the imagination. So the stage musical version, which didn’t premiere until 2017, some 40 years after the release of the original album, and written by Steinman himself, is the answer to many of the questions fans, old and new, have had over the decades. 

The 1977 album was developed by Steinman from a musical entitled Neverland which he wrote in 1974, as a futuristic rock version of Peter Pan. This current musical reimagines this concept and tells the tale of two young people who fall in love; Strat, the leader of the Lost, a gang of orphans, whose DNA was frozen in a cataclysmic chemical disaster, keeping him forever 18, and Raven, the daughter of the despotic leader of the island, called Falco. 

The opening night at the New Victoria theatre in Woking was buzzing, the audience demographics spanning a range of ages, with many sporting a variety of Bat Out of Hell T-shirts and plenty of black leather. The merch stand was doing brisk business. Once in our seats we were politely told to leave the singing to the professionals until the curtain number, which was a little disappointing at first, being as many of us could have belted out a fair few of the songs, although not necessarily in key. Once the show got off to its dramatic high octane start however, we forgot the desire to sing along as we concentrated on taking in the full spectacle of music, dance and multivisual set. This takes a few minutes to get used to; there is the full ensemble action and dance taking place on the front stage, a screened off bedroom set to the side, where a camerawoman is filming the action live and projecting it simultaneously onto a large screen behind the stage. At first this was a little overwhelming as your eyes are busy trying to find the focus, but it does the trick in drawing your full attention into the action and story.

There is no faulting the stellar performances from the principals: Glenn Adamson as Strat, Martha Kirby as Raven, Rob Fowler as Falco and Sharon Sexton as Sloane. Adamson is relentless in his sustained energy and performance. The solid ensemble provides strong harmonies and admirably choreographed, highly energetic dance numbers, although the stage does seem a little crowded at times and would benefit from a larger floor space. The first number in itself would leave less experienced performers heaving their chests in a corner of the stage in a sweaty heap for the remainder of the first act, but these professionals kept it going to the mighty, spectacular crescendo of Bat Out of Hell at the end of Act 1. 

With this amount of energy, it does feel a little long running at 2 hours 40 minutes including the interval, but fans are certainly not short-changed. The finale brought the audience to their feet and an opportunity to add their voices to the performance. As an interesting twist at the end, the audience were encouraged to get out their phones and film an additional number to share with friends and family to promote and revive the struggling musical theatre industry. With two performances a day for the next two weeks, this production team are certainly giving it their all to do so. 

This tour is dedicated to the memory of Jim Steinman, who died on 19 April 2021, and Meat Loaf, on 20 January 2022.

[Amanda Briggs, October 2022]

Bat Out of Hell the Musical, is playing at the New Victoria theatre in Woking from Tuesday 25 October to Saturday 5 November