"Bat Out of Hell" Roars on to the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre Stage! FOUR STARS
Meatloaf and Jim Steinman fans have the opportunity to relive their halcyon days as the UK tour of “Bat Out of Hell”, the award-winning hit musical, roars onto the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre stage this week, featuring all the hits the 1977 LP of the same name, which is considered to be one of the best selling albums of all time.
Jukebox musicals rarely deliver on the storyline and this one is no exception. It’s just a little corny, a little unbelievable and somewhat unfathomable, but then the music is the real star of this show.
The poor quality of the script made the storyline hard to follow and to be honest, because of that I found my attention wandering it a little, but in a nutshell, Strat is the forever young leader of a tribe called "The Lost," and he falls in love with Raven, the daughter of the tyrannical ruler Falco. As Strat and Raven's forbidden love blossoms, “The Lost” fight for freedom against Falco's regime, fighting for their home and their lives.
Although a tale of forbidden love, it certainly isn’t “Romeo and Juliet”, and a “Peter Pan” theme runs throughout with some of the leading characters relating to Peter, Wendy, Captain Hook and Tinkerbell. Then in contrast to the hard rock element, there is a sweet, touching and romantic feel to the show which is hard to dislike.
The musical score certainly doesn’t disappoint though. Including everything from “You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth”, to “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad”, to “Dead Ringer for Love” and of course the title tune, the energy and electric atmosphere these unique songs create is second to none.
To perform any rock song takes exceptional vocal ability, but Meatloaf set the bar so high for this genre of music that you could be forgiven for thinking that musical theatre performers may struggle. Not so. This cast are exceptionally vocally gifted, and dramatically too I suspect, although the script doesn’t really allow them to display their skills.
Glenn Adamson reprises the role as Strat, which he was definitely born to play, with seventies glam rock vibes rather than heavy metal. His vocal performance was naturally outstanding as any Steinman and Meatloaf composition demands, and his exceptional performance of “Bat Out of Hell” is one of the best finales to a first act of a show I have seen in a very long time.
Katie Tonkinson is perfectly cast in the role of rock chick Raven, reminding me a little of Bella Swan from Twilight, with a beautiful voice and for me, her rendition of “Heaven Can Wait” was the best moment of the night.
There are exceptionally strong performances from Rob Fowler as Falco and Sharon Sexton as Sloane, both vocally and dramatically and their duet “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” was another highlight, although a little too raunchy perhaps. No one wants to see someone’s parents making out in the back of a car, even if it is a flashback!
In contrast though, their version of “What Part of my Body Hurts the Most” oozed the mature emotions associated with a marriage in distress and brought a tear to the eye.
There is yet another confident vocal performance from Georgia Bradshaw as Zahara, perfectly matched by Ryan Carter in the role of Jagwire. It was also good to see local performer Sophie-Rose Emery in the role of Valkyrie playing her home town.
Xena Gusthart’s choreography is sharp and energetic and well performed by the talented ensemble, although the show is so full on that there were moments where they looked a little jaded. Maybe it was the heat.
The impressive scenery makes the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre stage appear cavernous and Patrick Woodroffe’s lighting design is suitably dramatic and atmospheric, with a supernatural, otherworldly appeal, perfectly depicting the futuristic setting.
There is nothing quite like live music for heightening the senses and invoking emotion and the band, under the supervision of the musical director Grant Walsh, is nothing short of outstanding.
Often overlooked in theatre reviews, musicians of this calibre deserve every ounce of the praise they receive, as they undertook Steinman’s very specific and unique orchestrations with an ease, and at the perfect tempo to showcase the casts’ performances to perfection.
Despite not being a Meatloaf fan, I was thoroughly impressed and glad I saw “Bat Out of Hell.”
In conclusion, I loved the music, hated the storyline, adored the cast performances, so “Two out of Three Ain’t Bad”.
For tickets, call 01902 429212 or visit grandtheatre.co.uk
Runs until Saturday.
