BAT BOY: THE MUSICAL


Nearly thirty years after its Los Angeles World Premiere, Bat Boy The Musical finally gets the sensationally staged and performed local revival it so richly deserves thanks to the always impressive Open Fist Theatre Company.

The half-boy/half-bat who gives the musical its title is first discovered running wild in the woods by redneck teen siblings Ron (Isaac Council), Rick (Ethen Remez-Cott), and Ruthie Taylor (Sandra Kate Burck) and brought back to civilization (if you can call it that) where local law officer Sheriff Reynolds (Michael Lanahan) deems it best to leave the screeching, grunting creature in the home of town veterinarian Dr. Parker (Scott Mosenson), his wife Meredith (Robyn Roth), and the Parkers’ teen daughter Shelley (Bethany Koulias).

 Given a human name as befits his new surroundings, Edgar (Ben Raanan) quickly proves himself the fastest of learners, revealing both the intelligence of an Oxford scholar and a posh English accent to match.

 Unfortunately for Edgar, a series of mysterious cattle deaths leads the uncouth townsfolk to target him as the perpetrator of these gruesome crimes, which is why Meredith insists that Edgar stay as far away from an upcoming revival meeting as possible, words of wisdom he seems unlikely to heed given his desire to prove to the locals that they have nothing to fear but fear itself.

What Bat Boy fails to realize is that danger lies a lot closer to home.

All of this adds up to a musical that won multiple major awards for its 2001 off-Broadway debut and rave reviews for composer-lyricist Laurence O’Keefe (of subsequent Legally Blonde and Heathers: The Musical fame), and Bat Boy: The Musical’s tuneful, clever songs remain its greatest asset, with Keythe Farley and Brian Flemming’s hilariously offbeat book coming in a close second, that and its deftly delivered message of tolerance and understanding.

For all this wildness and wackiness to work, however, an assured directorial hand is required because played too broadly, as was the case in a recent community theater revival, the cleverness of Farley and Flemming’s book can end up lost in the chaos.

This, fortunately, is not the case at Open Fist Theatre, where director Pat Towne and assistant director Amanda Weier keep things deliberately just under over-the-top, allowing both lead and supporting players to create characters that are at once wild and weird and wacky but never cross over into caricature.

Not only that, but in L.A. native-turned-recent NYU grad Raanan, Open Fist has found a triple-threat star-in-the-making capable of captivating audiences with Edgar’s boyish if batty charm, thrilling them with his athleticism and power pipes, and delivering the heart-pounding dramatic goods when confronting a town gone mad and his own forbidden love.

The equally fabulous Roth and Koulias give the ladies of Saturday Night Live some pretty tough competition where comedic gifts are concerned and and they’ve got vocal chops to match. (If Gilda Radner and Kristin Wiig ever had a love child, she’d be Koulias.)

In addition, Mosenson avoids two-dimensional villain cliché by making Dr. Parker initially sympathetic before jealousy drives him mad.

 And there’s not a weak link in Bat Boy’s stellar featured cast completed by Hutchins Foster (Bud), Carmella Jenkins (Daisy), Rebecca Larsen (Mrs. Taylor), Ziare Rene (Ned), Beth Robbins (Maggie), Grace Soens (Lorraine), and the particularly memorable duo of Amir Levi as forest satyr Pan and Chima Rok as evangelist Reverend Hightower.

 Leading and supporting performers vocalize terrifically under the expert music direction of Sean Paxton, who conducts and plays keyboards in Bat Boy’s excitingly live 4-piece band (completed by Mick Flick, Jim Miller, and Kevin Tiernan).

Not only that, but choreographer Jennifer Maples knows how to bring out the best in the Bat Boy cast, in particular in the foot-stomping hoedown-ready “Another Dead Cow,” and Tambrie Allsup scores high marks for her pulse-pounding fight choreography.

The steps and ramps of scenic designer Brad Bentz’s lumber plank-constructed set give Open Fist’s Bat Boy an appropriately countrified look that takes us from locale to locale without the need for cumbersome scene changes, and Michael Mullen costumes the cast to perfection, from homespun farm community garb to forest fantasy wear.

Brandon Baruch lights all this with thrills-enhancing punch, Christopher Moscatiello’s sound design ensures that the band doesn’t overpower vocals, and Charley Mulally’s makeup and Joe Seely’s animal props are a scary-movie-ready plus as are the shadow theater effects.

Linda Bard, Ally Moore, and Tyler Vasquez are swings.

 Bat Boy: The Musical is produced by Weier and Christian Lebano. Jeremy Thompson is associate producer. John Dimitri is production stage manager. Lucy Pollak is publicist.

I first saw Bat Boy back in 2005 as an enthusiastically performed but not particularly memorable teen production at the Whitefire and since then the only Bat Boy that’s come close to what I’ve been hoping to see was Musical Theater Guild’s terrific (but only partially designed) concert stage reading six years later.

Fortunately for anyone in the mood for catchy tunes, offbeat lyrics, and all-around far-out fun, Open Fist Theatre’s Bat Boy: The Musical hits the entertainment bulls-eye and then some. I highly recommend getting bitten.

Open Fist Theatre Company @ Atwater Village Theatre, 3269 Casitas Ave., Atwater Village. Through April 6. See website for detailed performance schedule.
www.openfist.org

–Steven Stanley
March 7, 2025
Photos: John Dlugolecki

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