Bat Out of Hell, the rock musical by Jim Steinman is the, originally aborted, predecessor of (rather than a spin off from) the multi-million selling Meat Loaf album.
It brings together a 'greatest hits' collection of Steinman songs from his collaboration with Meat Loaf, with a couple of 'bridging' arias specially written to support plot progression.
(Images by Specular)
Steinman's musical storm is blowing away audiences
Bat Out of Hell, which is Steinman's reworking of Peter Pan, has Neverland as a post-apocalyptic Manhattan ruled over with ruthless disregard by tyrannical Falco.
Having long lost the love and respect of his wife Sloane, Falco is fixated on to keep his daughter Raven from the clutches of the Lost, a group of wayward youths whose age remains frozen in teenage years.
Raven though is a spunky young woman, with a rebellious mind of her own, and she is drawn to Strat, the hypnotic leader of the Lost.
Who will win an increasingly high states, and bloddy, tussle for Raven's heart and soul?
As an album, the 1978 release of Bat Out of Hell took the music world by storm and remains one of the biggest selling of all time.
Forty years on, this musical reincarnation is set to have similar impact on theatre audiences worldwide.
It is certainly taking London West End by storm and an inevitable global tracking is likely to follow.
The word storm is most apt, being derived from the German sturmaz meaning tumultuous noise.
Tumultuous, in turn, refers to a happening or period of time involving many exciting and confusing events or feelings.
For those, like myself, who used Meatloaf's Bat Out of Hell as a seminal staging post in life, this production is the physical embodiment of everything that album offers.
It is blasting away as I write this review and sounds as fresh and musically outrageous as it did on first hearing.
On stage, Steinman offers the audience a bombastic theatrical experience that bludgeons the emotions.
And though I knew what to expect, before going along, I was still astonished by the staggering impertinence of the piece.
This is a high octane, adrenaline fuelled rock musical in which the sirens do scream and fires howl.
Notices in the foyer warn theatre goers to the use of strobe lighting; smoke, pyrotechnic and loud sound effects, live filming, gun shots; genetically mutated teenagers and a chainsaw.
And that's just the half of it.
Seinman's collaboration with Meatloaf include : You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth; Dead Ringer For Love and Two Out of Three Ain't Bad.
Paradise by the Dashboard Light performed by Rob Fowler as Falco and Sharon Sexton as his lush of a wife Sloane manages to be both raunchy and achingly funny.
No small mean feat
And Bat Out of Hell itself, which brings both the 'curtain' and the house down to end the first half, is a spectacular rendition.
Finally, I'd Do Anything for Love provides a fittingly powerful finale.
As for enjoying Bat Out of Hell, this will depend on your rapport and relationship with the music, particularly given its loud and unrelenting nature.
My guess is that you will not get tickets without a clear preconception as to what Bat Out of Hell is going to offer.
To do otherwise will see you leave the auditorium punch drunk from its relentless nature.
But, be assured, those ready and willing for what is in store will still be blown away by Bat Out of Hell- as I was.
The performances
Although it goes without saying, I must say all the performers and musicians are exceptional.
In the lead roles :
- Andrew Polec as Strat is dynamic as a tortured youth consumed with self-doubt and sexual tension.
- Christina Bennington as Raven combines vulnerability with a sassy independence
- Rob Fowler as Falco and Sharon Sexton as Sloane add stability to the production as Raven's bickering parents – and genuinely steal the show with 'Dashboard'.