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| Just a short review of Jim Steinman's Bat Out Of Hell: the Musical | |
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Dr_Rock 02:37 pm UTC 02/20/17 |
| Jim Steinman's Bat Out of Hell redefined musical theatre! After brewing for over 40 years in the mind of fevered genius Jim Steinman, Bat exploded on to the stage at Manchester Opera House with screaming guitars, pounding drums, dripping blood, floods of testosterone and larger than life replicas of classic cars and bikes. The plot was like Romeo and Juliet, Peter Pan, 1984, The Warriors and Lord of the Flies had been put in a giant, thematic cocktail shaker and poured out; the resulting drink then being decorated with fruit, umbrellas, sparklers, et al in the typical over-the-top-style that is Steinman's trademark. It was a given that the songs would be world-class (out of this world in fact) and after hours of debates on what the exact selection would be, no one could have been disappointed. The acting, singing and dancing from all the cast and ensemble was excellent with the four lead stars glowing brighter than the metal on the edge of a knife. Andrew Polec had the right blend of mischievousness and madness to play the role of Strat (or who is anyone kidding, Jim at 18); whilst all vocal performers had the voices to do justice to these songs in a way that Meat Loaf himself has only been able to recall with reminiscent-tinged reverie for the past 20 years. The only minor criticism is that Dead Ringer for Love seemed forced in to the show, both scripturally and sartorially; and if anything needs to be cut or reduced this should be it. To hear "Not Allowed to Love" and "What Part of My Body Hurts the Most" performed to their highest standard yet was also a highlight; and I await the cast recording album with levels of anticipation that are unhealthy. A word of praise should be recorded for the front of house team who, failing to switch on a mic on one occasion notwithstanding, did a fantastic job in transferring the music from the stage, through our ears, eyes and pores into our blood. Forgive me for the cliche of using the loneliest words ever known but if only Jim could have been there himself to see/hear/witness/be consumed by it then I'm sure, even with his famously high standards of excellence in his work; he would have recognised that this was something very special. | |
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