WHAT A BATTY SHOW
JIm STeInmAn’S Bat out of Hell is swooping on to the British stage.
The show, based on the best-selling album — which featured super-sized singer meat loaf belting out Steinman’s songs, and which has sold more than 50 million copies worldwide — will run at the manchester opera House from February 17 until April 29.
Jay Scheib, who is directing the show, said that Steinman had originally conceived Bat out of Hell as a futuristic adaptation of Peter Pan.
‘It was always meant for the stage; and this really works like an opera,’ he said, as he showed me footage of workshops he has overseen in new York.
Steinman said the stage show will primarily be based on the first Bat out of Hell album, but may use music from subsequent Bat lPs. There will also be a couple of new songs.
Scheib and Steinman have been busy, cutting the show’s book.
‘The story can be told through the songs. We keep cutting dialogue, because for the most part it’s redundant,’ said Scheib, who enjoys a reputation in the U.S. as an innovative director of theatre and opera.
He explained that Bat out of Hell is about ‘never growing up. And never getting old. And always being in love! That’s rock’n’roll.’ I’ve been listening to the album again after a gap of nearly 20 years, and he’s right: it still seems incredibly vital. The creative team have auditioned hundreds of actors for roles — including Benjamin Purkiss and Christina Bennington, who are likely to appear in the show, which will be heading down to the london Coliseum next summer, after its opera-House run. Tickets for manchester are available from today at batoutofhellthemusical.com