Featuring the music of Jim Steinman, and partly based on Meat Loaf’s Bat out of Hell album, this rock-and-roll musical takes the audience to a post-apocalyptic Manhattan, where Strat (Glenn Adamson) and his band of lost boys lead a protest against tyrannical leader Falco (Rob Fowler). Featuring excellent dance numbers, superb vocals and musical interludes with the volume cranked up to eleven, this is a true spectacle, let down by a poor plot, ill-defined characters and hammy acting. The story is loosely based on Peter Pan, although lacks the charm of the original, with character motivations and story arcs fairly difficult to decipher. Throughout, Meatloaf’s songs fail to progress the story in any meaningful way, and only seem tangentially related to the action happening on the stage.
Fowler’s Falco is a stereotypical villainous character, and yet his actual role is not at all clear – is he a corrupt businessman? A politician? A dictator? It is impossible to tell. The opening number (All revved up with no place to go) gives the show a lively start, and one is able to sit back and enjoy the impeccable choreography (Xena Gusthart) expecting that any questions will be answered later, but this isn’t the case. Instead the show lurches from one shoe-horned song to another, all incredibly well-performed by the talented cast, but failing to stir much emotion, with a plot that fails to be compelling in the slightest.
We are introduced to Falco’s wife Sloane (Sharon Sexton), who longs for the romance of her youth, performing Paradise by the Dashboard Light as she reminisces, although the entire number invokes the use of an on-stage camera with a backdrop projection, and the majority of the staging seems to revolve around said camera rather than for the audience in the room, leaving us with the choice of staring at the actors backs or relying on the screen. Such videography has been overused in recent years, and is just as tiresome and pointless here, detracting from the production rather than enhancing it. I did, however, enjoy the use of handheld microphones throughout, which add to the rockstar tones underlying the entire production, and never feel out of place, although they did lead to some fairly cringy and over-the-top moments.
Falco and Sloane’s daughter Raven (Katie Tonkinson) longs to join the Lost Boys, and ends up running away to join Strat, together performing the adrenaline fuelled title song Bat out of Hell, which definitely gets the blood pumping and provides a fitting first act finale, complete with fireballs, confetti cannons and flashing lights. It is a technical marvel, and hats off to Patrick Woodroffe’s lighting design, which does a great job in making this number memorable and exciting.
The second act offers no more in way of interesting plot or character. A poorly sketched b-plot revolves around Georgia Bradshaw’s Zahara, who seems to be some sort of double-agent, working for Falco whilst actually being a member of The Lost Boys, although this reveal is a somewhat damp squib, in that no one cares about her enough to be surprised. Zahara also enjoys a romance with Jagwire (Ryan Carter), and although the two are given one of the standout numbers of the show Dead Ringer for Love, they lack chemistry and are on the whole fairly forgettable.
The show does feature incredibly impressive music throughout, and on the whole Jay Scheib’s direction is commendable, adding in choreography that helps to tell the story even if the lyrics do not. For fans of the music, there is a lot to enjoy here, and the standing ovation that the show received from a majority of audience members speaks for itself. But music alone doesn’t make for a good musical, and the plot is lacking in so many places that it is hard to be bothered about what is happening. On the surface, the production is slick and very watchable – but beneath all that is a gaping chasm that leaves you feeling just a little bit empty.
Tom Morley, June 2025
Review round-up:
All That Dazzles: Bat out of Hell UK Tour – 3 stars from ATD, who say that you will “leave the theatre fairly satisfied from a rocking experience, albeit slightly confused over what the Hell it is you have just seen”
East Midlands Theatre: Bat out of Hell – EMT also award the show 3 stars, saying that the show “falls far, far short of the “musical” it purports to be“
Theatre and Tonic: Bat out of Hell The Musical – T&T’s 3 star review offers a slightly more uplifting look at the show, pointing out that “if you’re a fan of the music, you’ll have a smashing time at the theatre!”
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