London’s getting a fresh bout of Bat fever
BAT Out Of Hell is taking flight, setting course for the Dominion Theatre in the West end.
The show, based on Jim Steinman’s great rock album and directed by Jay Scheib, will land at the Dominion on April 2 for an open-ended run.
Bat Out Of Hell played dates last summer at the London Coliseum (home of the english national Opera), which was appropriate because Steinman said he modelled his piece on Wagner’s masterworks — except he ditched the classical music in favour of pure rock ’n’ roll.
With a nod to Peter Pan, Steinman’s story is one of rebellious teenage love between motorbike street kid Strat ( named after the Fender Stratocaster guitar) and raven, whose wealthy parents (Daddy in particular) don’t want her mixing with youths from the other side of the tracks.
‘It’s a good love story,’ said Michael Cohl, the rock promoter turner theatrical producer, speaking from his office in new York.
He and his associates took the enO production to Toronto, where it’s currently playing to packed houses. He hopes it will tour north America later next year, perhaps revisiting Toronto again.
Cohl and Julian Stoneman, the show’s general manager, said negotiations have begun,
with the hopes that andrew Polec and Christina Bennington, who originated the roles of strat and Raven, will play them at the Dominion.
Rob Fowler and sharon sexton, who played Raven’s parents, are also in discussions about the West end return.
I saw the show (which ran in manchester before the Coliseum) a couple of times and was struck by the fact that it didn’t just appeal to fans of the 40-year-old album, sung