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He has suffered, and now it's your turn
You are here not to laugh, but to learn Listen to his ungodly shriek Watch what they put him through Heed the tale of a filthy freak... Who's just like you! Hold me, Bat Boy Touch me, Bat Boy You hear me cry when no-one hears Won't you lick away my tears? Love me, Bat Boy Save me, Bat Boy Sink your fangs into my soul Only you can make me whole! --"Hold Me, Bat Boy"
[music & lyrics by Laurence O'Keefe] |
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Deven May as Bat Boy
Kaitlin Hopkins as Meredith Parker Sean McCourt as Dr. Thomas Parker Kerry Butler as Shelley Parker Trent Kendall as Hightower / Mrs. Taylor |
Doug Storm as Rick Taylor / Lorraine
Jim Price as Bud / Daisy / Pan Kathy Brier as Maggie / Ron Taylor Daria Hardeman as Ruthie Taylor / Ned Richard Pruitt as Sheriff Reynolds |
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Not a lot of musicals can say that they are the spawn of a series of tabloid articles… but there’s a first time for everything! This one started with an article entitled “Bat Child Found in Cave” along with a grotesque illustration, gracing the front page of the Weekly World News, a newspaper just about as revered for its truthful journalism as the National Enquirer. Brian Flemming and Keythe Farley, the show’s authors, came across this story and decided two things: (a) that this was the ugliest thing they’d ever seen, and (b) that he should star in his own musical. A few years later, they brought songwriter Laurence O’Keefe on board to, well, write songs – and thus began the saga of Bat Boy: the Musical.
The show was developed over about five years, with readings and productions in both LA and New York. Scenes were changed, songs were cut, and new songs were added until it had grown enough to bring to New York in 2001, featuring some of the cast members who had been with the show since the beginning (such as Deven May, another alum of Notre Dame de Paris, as Bat Boy, and Kaitlin Hopkins as Meredith Parker), and some who were being introduced to the madness for the first time. |
 the Bat Boy of the Weekly World News |
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| Bat Boy had its official opening night on March 21, and was received just as well by the critics as it already was by its audiences. Newspapers and magazines praised Farley and Flemming’s book, as well as O’Keefe’s score, which is full of memorable melodies and lyrics that never fail to take the listener by surprise. The ten-person cast was also lauded: rarely does one see a cast work so seamlessly together, some as the central characters around whom the story revolves, and some as perhaps four or five different characters, switching back and forth between genders.
Bat Boy became off-Broadway’s hit of the 2001 season, winning the Lucille Lortel and Outer Critics’ Circle awards for best off-Broadway musical, and rounding up a total of eight Drama Desk nominations. The show played to full houses and standing ovations down in Union Square, and rumor has it that even the real Bat Boy attended one of the performances! However, like so many shows, Bat Boy fell victim to the tragic attacks on New York City on September 11. Because of a sudden lack of ticket-buying tourists, the show was forced to close on September 23, with the hope that it could reopen full force after enough of a hiatus for the city to come back to life. It reopened in the middle of the following month, but ticket sales simply never regained the same momentum that they had once had. Bat Boy played its final performance on December 2, after nine months of performances. More information... ~ For clips from the cast recording, visit the media section of this site. ~ For rehearsal and event photos, visit the pictures section. ~ To meet other Bat Boy fans, visit the BatBoard. ~ To read the original "Bat Boy" articles, visit the Weekly World News online. ~ For pretty much anything else, take a look at the fabulous official site for the show. |
