REVIEW | Bat Boy: The Musical In Concert, London Palladium

Reviews

1 Nov

Written by Annie

*Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in return for an honest review

Exactly 26 years after its premiere, the cult classic Bat Boy: The Musical returned to the stage on the night of Halloween for a one-night staged concert. The iconic rock musical by the genius that is Laurence O’Keefe is certainly not a timid show and it certainly filled The Palladium with its power.

Bat Boy: The Musical follows the title character’s ascension and desire to fit into society, with twists reminiscent of a Greek tragedy, all mixed with O’Keefe’s signature comedic writing. It’s a show of total madness, but I must admit I loved every second.

The performance worked extremely well as a concert production, feeling the perfect mix of a musical and a rock concert. The choir’s impact beautifully lingered over the score and offered an additional layer of spine-tingling choral sounds. The whole show was incredibly dynamic, huge congratulations to movement director Rhys Wilkinson, who created such an impactful performance that did not drop its energy once and instead continued to grow with the drama.

The show is the perfect mix of rocky, horror-instilling drama, and satirical comedy, it really does work for any type of musical fan. I went in completely blind and was not left disappointed. Dean Johnson has really sunk his teeth (too easy, sorry) into this project and has proved his talent for directing once again. It is hugely evident that Johnson researched the show heavily ahead of its performance, and the script felt slick and was transposed onto the stage with ease.

With the music being so powerful and loud, it is always a risk that the staging is overly complex, yet Johnson and the creative team tackled this beautifully – creating high impact staging, without it distracting from the performance. The performance had excellent fluidity and did not stagnate at any stage.

It is no secret that Jordan Luke Gage is adored for his faultless vocals, quickly rising to MT icon heights – and yet he exceeded any benchmark he had previously set with his performance. His characterisation of Bat Boy was a work of art, really diving deep into the story and performance, and giving us an incredibly beautiful portrayal. The songs are not for the fainthearted and yet Gage performs them with such ease, it is an absolute honour to have watched.

Joining Gage were Jodie Steele, Trevor Dion Nicholas and Victoria Hamilton-Barritt – who form Bat Boy’s family – and all provide stellar performances. Steele plays the tragic sister beautifully with her songs offering gorgeously light motifs of music amongst the heavy rock score. Nicholas and Hamilton-Barritt portray the miserable parents with such power, that their presence on the stage was impeccable. Hamilton-Barritt’s ability to effortlessly blend such a hilarious performance with so much anguish and horror was a total stroke of genius and made her the absolute standout performance of the night for me.

The rest of the cast followed suit, offering incredibly strong vocals, with wonderfully satirical performances. I particularly loved the ensemble song “A Joyful Noise” which was so energetic.

Sadly, there were significant issues with the sound last night – with many microphones not being turned on in time for lines to be delivered, meaning a lot of the lyrics were lost in a fair few songs. We also lost Bat Boy’s final lines meaning his death was a lot less impactful than perhaps intended. The band were on stage for the performance which really packed a punch when in unison with the cast, but when the mics weren’t working correctly it did mean we totally lost the vocals which was unfortunate.

It is evident that the score is incredibly complex and does flick between lines quickly – however, it was a shame for so much to be missed – as it did leave significant sections of the show quite confusing as the story was not all that easy to follow without the full script.

As a one night only performance it is understandable and perhaps expected for some hiccups, but it is a shame that it seems to often be an issue for the standalone concerts.

Overall, it was an absolute pleasure to watch the revival of Bat Boy, creating a night of pure terror and delightfully dark humour for Halloween. It’s always a treat to watch something that breaks the barriers of what Musical Theatre can be, and I hope to see many more shows continue this tradition in the future.