Andre De Shields and Bat Out of Hell

Lot666 said: "Over in theBAT OUT OF HELL Will Play 8 Weeks At NY City Center In 2019thread, a link was recently posted to a demo of a song for a previous treatment of the show, and it's performed by Andre De Shields. I wasn't really familiar with Mr. De Shields' work prior to Hadestown, and it was very interesting to hear him really sing a piece (in Hadestown, his character is more of a poet/storyteller than a singer)."

Andre De Shields is Broadway Theater Royalty. He originated the role of "The Wiz" in the 1975 Original Broadway production of "The Wiz". 

Andre De Shields

Updated On: 8/22/19 at 09:31 AM

g.d.e.l.g.i. said: "Andre and Jim have enjoyed a long association dating back to Jim's first musicals in the early Seventies. It continues to the present; as recently as 2008, Andre played the role that later became known as Falco (opposite Justin Vivian Bond of Kiki & Herb fame as a prototype of Sloane) in one of the earliest readings of Bat Out of Hell."

Having recently seen the show at NY City Center with the superb Bradley Dean as Falco, I cannot imagine Andre De Shields in that role. The characterization must have evolved considerably since the early days!

Way back in the late '70s I was mesmerized by Andre De Shields in Ain't Misbehaving.  He could find the sex hidden in every lyric, as if everything was a double entendre.   I wore out the cast album in college.  Great memory.

Yes, I didn’t want to sway from the thread topic so didn’t mention the others, but the entire cast was amazing.  There are so many moments that stick out; it’s a master class on how to tell a story through song.  I’ve seen other productions since but I’ve never seen any that matched the magic of the original.   

And yes, thanks for the reminder about the spelling.  Temporary brain disconnect.