'Bat Out of Hell': Meatloaf musical rocks U.K.

‘BAT OUT OF HELL:—THE MUSICAL’: Andrew Polec & cast. Photo: Specular

JIM STEINMAN’S BAT OUT OF HELL: THE MUSICAL
Book, music & lyrics by Jim Steinman
Choreography by Emma Portner
Directed by Jay Scheib
Through January 5, 2019
Dominion Theatre
London, United Kingdom
https://www.batoutofhellmusical.com/

By Scott Harrah

Meatloaf was an iconic rock singer in the 1970s, with a string of classic hits featuring his larger-than-life persona and soaring vocals, but it was New York composer/producer Jim Steinman that wrote and conceived Meatloaf’s songs and helped turn the singer into a superstar. Mr. Steinman also composed mega-hits for everyone from Aussie pop group Air Supply to Bonnie Tyler (“Total Eclipse of the Heart”), Celine Dion and others.

This jukebox musical featuring both Meatloaf hits and classics by Air Supply, Celine Dion and others has had many successful incarnations throughout the United Kingdom, most recently in England at the London Coliseum in summer 2017, and a brief stint in Canada at Toronto’s Ed Mirvish Theatre from October 2017 to January 2018.

Bat Out of Hell: The Musical takes nearly all of Meatloaf’s big hits and attempts to weave them into a puerile narrative about a watered-down version of Peter Pan, set in an apocalyptic city called Obsidian and centers on the tale of Strait (Andrew Polac), who seeks eternal youth and has romantic designs on Raven (Christina Bennington), much to the disapproval of the young woman’s wealthy parents Falco (Rob Fowler) and Sloane (Sharon Sexton).

The narrative is often confusing and makes little sense. In addition, too much is happening on stage (but it all certainly looks spectacular, with Patrick Woodroffe’s high-tech lighting and Jon Bauser’s futuristic sets.) Many scenes are mostly shown on video screen projections by Finn Ross, because dramatic scenes unfold behind opaque curtains on various parts of the set. This might be great for a rock or pop concert, but it becomes tiresome in a West End musical.

The best aspect of the show is Emma Portner’s trenchant choreography. The dancers are always in perfect sync, and really flesh out the themes of all the hit songs. Show standouts include Rob Fowler as Falco; and Rhianne-Louise McCaulsky (the understudy for Zahara at the performance we saw).

The Meatloaf classics are all here, from “Bat Out of Hell” and “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That), “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad,” “You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night), plus Air Supply’s “Making Love Out of Nothing At All” and the Celine Dion standard “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now.” The reason for the other songs not originally performed by Meatloaf is that Jim Steinman wrote hits for many artists over the years. The Meatloaf songbook and other Steinman-penned hits always had the rock opera-style orchestrations and soaring vocals that lent themselves to music videos and over-the-top spectacle. Case in point: Ms. Dion’s 1996 smash hit “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now,” purportedly inspired by Emily Bronte’s Gothic novel Wuthering Heights, and best known for a romantic music video in which Celine wore bodice-ripper period costumes and traipsed around an 1800s estate carrying candles, like a pop-music version of Cathy searching for Heathcliff on the Moors. (Meatloaf also recorded a less successful version of the song.)

Act I is actually weaker than Act II. Meatloaf’s all-time greatest hit “Paradise By the Dashboard Light,” the classic about losing one’s virginity, should be performed like the nearly nine-minute rock operetta that made it a golden oldie, but here the song is done with scattershot orchestration and minus the requisite passion and melodrama.

By Act II, the Meatloaf songs are performed with the proper instrumentation and soaring backup choruses that are the Meatloaf and Jim Steinman trademark, but one leaves the Dominion Theatre feeling like something is missing. Jukebox musicals are tricky to pull off on both sides of the Atlantic because one really needs to have a solid story (like Tina, currently playing in London at the Aldwych) to really capture the essence of any great pop artist.

Bat Out of Hell: The Musical certainly rocks the U.K. and the audience at the performance we caught seemed to enjoy the show. The production’s narrative is perhaps too hollow for a Broadway transfer to New York, but it’s flashy and razzle-dazzle enough perhaps for a Las Vegas run. If you are in London this summer and enjoy the Meatloaf songbook, it’s still a fun evening.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published July 2, 2018
Reviewed at June 22, 2018 performance in London