A few thoughts on the London Bat Boy

[leeinlondon]

Posted: 8/24/04 at 6:00am

I have to say that I think the Shaftesbury (theatre of DOOM ) saps the life out of the show.. it is just the wrong house for it. I would much prefer to see a smaller production in somewhere like "The Venue" or "Trafalgar Studios" where it would have a chance at really connecting with the audience.

I liked quite a lot of the humour and many times I laughed out loud but I found much of the music to be rather disposible. I honestly cannot remember the lyrics of a single song the next morning. It is worth seeing for the four main leads especially at such a cheap price ( I paid less than $10 was upgraded to a top price seat). Devan May is a true star in my opinion.. he puts so much into the exceptionally difficult role.

Overall I thought the second act worked much better than the first, the conception scene was one of the funniest things I have seen for quite a while. Although I was rather perplexed by the bizarre scene in the woods where people crawled around pretending to be animals having sex, as Pan (?) sang to the young lovers. I understand from discussions of the Off Broadway show it was supposed to somehow parody The Lion King but I could not see that at all.

I thought the chorus members varied greatly in their abilities to bring the material over and no I don't accept that we were seeing a preview since it had played six weeks at the West Yorkshire Playhouse. Oh and what was with the terrible lighting design, as the guy pointed out next to me they have so much really expensive equipment and barely used it. I don't want to sound overly critical since I enjoyed the show but I felt that it was mis-located in the West End by the producers.
Updated On: 8/24/04 at 06:00 AM

[rockfenris2005]

Posted: 8/24/04 at 6:19am

Is this a vampire musical?

[leeinlondon]

Posted: 8/24/04 at 6:41am

Nope it is a "half bat / half boy found in a cave" musical

[popcultureboy]

Posted: 8/24/04 at 7:56am

It really is in the wrong place, isn't it? I saw it last night and while it is still shaky in places and needs to be shorter, I really enjoyed it. I thought it was very funny, completely surreal, utterly charming. And Deven May is wonderful in the role, I am very glad he came over with the show.

[leeinlondon]

Posted: 8/24/04 at 8:22am

Oh we were at the same performance..

where were you sitting ??

I was in Row F of the Dress Circle on the Aisle (seat F19).

[popcultureboy]

Posted: 8/24/04 at 8:28am

Stalls Row M for me. I had to laugh that the "reconfiguring" of the auditorium amounted to blocking off the back 4 rows. Was the Dress any different?

[leeinlondon]

Posted: 8/24/04 at 8:33am

Nope they didn't touch the Dress Circle.

I am not sure why they decided not to sell the back of the Stalls... they could have had a student / umemployed rate of £2 or £3 for those seats.

It was funny when the curtain got tangled up in the revolve

[popcultureboy]

Posted: 8/24/04 at 8:39am

I can't bear watching when stuff like that happens! I felt so awful for them. I would be interested to go back in about a month (assuming it's still on) and see it again and see how different it is.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 8/24/04 at 10:51am

Doe the act one curtain number "Comfort and Joy" rock the place? It's one of the show's best, and manages to accomplish and satirize atthe same time the "Les Miz" one more day effect -- different clumps of characters singing of similar investments in an outcome.

Also, what kind of song has replaced "Inside your heart" for the lovers in act two? That number also worked, and apparently has been cut (or just given new lyrics?)

[popcultureboy]

Posted: 8/24/04 at 10:54am

The Act Two opener was much more successful in rocking the place than Comfort and Joy was last night. The staging was just too clumsy. I did love the song though and I am sure when they tighten it up, it will be infinitely better.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 8/24/04 at 11:26am

After the production I saw, I could not get "Comfort & Joy" out of my head for weeks. And I think though silly, "Children, Children" is a gorgeous song and makes the antics of the animals during the Pan scene seem even funnier.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 8/24/04 at 11:49am

Isn't "Children, Children" basically a S. Schwartz send-up? It has a sort of faux PIPPIN quality. I, too, howl at that, but it's just s'damned catchy.

[My Fair Lady]

Posted: 8/24/04 at 11:54am

I love Deven May and I love Batboy! i heard that iit's coming back to New York. Is that true? I would definitely see it.

[Benzy92]

Posted: 8/24/04 at 12:12pm

I love BAT BOY!! Do we know if they are going to record a cd.. I would love to hear the new songs.. How is the song that replaces Inside my Heart (one of the best songs in the show!)?

[kec]

Posted: 8/24/04 at 12:28pm

Lee, any comments on Emma Williams?

[popcultureboy]

Posted: 8/24/04 at 12:30pm

I'm not Lee, but I will make some comments on Emma Williams. I wanted to HATE her. I was fully preapred to want to storm the stage and drop kick her into the audience. And I loved her. Great voice, great acting, she really impressed me.

[kec]

Posted: 8/24/04 at 12:35pm

Why did you want to hate her? I agree with you about her voice and acting. I saw her in her West End Debut as Truly Scrumptious in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and was amazed at her voice -- even singing those simple Sherman Brothers Tunes. I heard her on the BBC2 in Sunset Boulevard as Betty -- her duet with Michael Ball (Joe Gillis) was outstanding!!!! I was so very much looking forward to seeing her perform with Michael in Edinburgh at an outdoor concert in Princes Street Garden, but the concert was cancelled.

[Eastwickian]

Posted: 8/24/04 at 12:35pm

I love Emma Williams - not only tremendously talented but a lovely person as well!

And yes, a CD has already been recorded - latest work from Dress Cricle in London on the release date is 'sometime in September' but I suppose we'll have to see how it all goes. Personally, I can't wait!

[popcultureboy]

Posted: 8/24/04 at 12:40pm

I hated her in CCBB, so I was fully expecting to repeat the experience here. Pleasingly, I didn't.

[lovettespies]

Posted: 8/24/04 at 2:50pm

I love this show! But can anyone answer the Inside your heart song question. It was one of my favorites, and is there any place we can find the new song?

[LuvUrBatBoy]

Posted: 8/24/04 at 3:09pm

Well I for one was sort of surprised in the decision to take Bat Boy to the West End in the first place. Namely for the reason that Bat Boy is so "American" in it's conception, parody and characters.
While I think it would be interesting to see the British take on how West Virginians act and sound, I somehow knew that trnasferring this show to a more mainstream venue would ruin some of it's charm. Granted, I can't accurately back those thoughts up due to the fact that lack of time and lack of
passport will be keeping me from seeing the production.
I'm also disappointed in the decision to change/drop some of the songs from the show. Being a former Rick/Lorraine myself I was especially saddened by the loss of "What You Wanna Do".
Sometimes I think some things are better left alone.

[Lori]

Posted: 8/24/04 at 3:15pm

K - I was thinking about you when I heard Edinburgh got cancelled. Sorry you missed out on hearing the duet from Sunset. I was lucky enough to catch it at Penshurst Place and it was fantastic (although I wasn't quite as moved seeing it out of context as I was seeing it in Cork).

Hoping to catch Bat Boy when I'm in London for MB's Singular Sensations performance at the Haymarket. I really love Emma's voice and her acting in Sunset was top notch as well.

Updated On: 8/24/04 at 03:15 PM