Ben Raanan (Photo by John Dlugolecki)
Reviewed by Madison Mellon
Atwater Village Theatre
Through April 6
RECOMMENDED
Cult horror musicals are having a renaissance lately. Carrie has gone from a legendary flop to a mainstay at colleges and regional theaters. Little Shop of Horrors is printing money off-Broadway, Heathers: The Musical is coming back to New York City, and Teeth recently concluded its blood-splattered run at New World Stages. Perhaps it is the disorienting and nihilistic times we live in, but audiences seem uniquely eager to eat these stories up. Bat Boy: The Musical is, in my humble opinion, an underappreciated entry in this genre. It is also particularly relevant, dealing with themes of otherness and bigotry as well as religious fundamentalism. Open Fist Theatre Company’s production, currently playing at Atwater Village Theatre, is a scrappy production that leans into Bat Boy’s absurdity without losing sight of its heart.
Bat Boy is inspired by a series of articles from the satirical tabloid Weekly World News. Set in a small West Virginia town, the story follows the discovery of a half-boy, half-bat creature discovered in a cave. Taken in by the local veterinarian and his family, the bat boy — named Edgar —struggles to be accepted and attempts to assimilate while navigating the prejudices of the superstitious townspeople.
Under the direction of Pat Towne, Open Fist’s production maintains a sharp pace, embracing the chaotic energy of the material while still allowing room for the show’s more sincere moments to land. Each element feels cohesive: the cast fully embraces the absurdity of the material, and the production design facilitates the increasingly madcap story as it escalates. The set (scenic design by Brad Bentz), is simple yet effective, constructed of rough wooden planks that suggest the rustic environment of the town. This approach enables rapid transitions between locations —cave, living room, slaughterhouse — ensuring the manic energy never lags. The lighting design (Brandon Baruch) is also very effective in setting the mood, heightening the drama in key moments and smoothing the transitions between locations.
The actors all do an excellent job in handling the tone of the piece, leaning into the over-the-top characters without crossing the line into insincere parody. Ben Raanan is an endearing Bat Boy, effectively serving as the musical’s emotional core. Robyn Roth makes for an amusingly deadpan Meredith. She also has a very strong voice and handles some of the show’s best numbers excellently. This production features a strong ensemble, and the material gives each of them moments to shine. While there are a few times where actors struggle with more vocally challenging moments in the score, they sounded accomplished overall.
All this said, there are areas where the production would benefit from greater precision and clarity. Several key moments are staged too far downstage, often with actors kneeling, making crucial action difficult to see. This is especially apparent in the show’s dramatic ending, where the rapid-fire chaos becomes hard to track. Small design details could have further refined the production. The cage that Bat Boy is kept in is somewhat clunky, necessitating a couple of awkward staging moments. A cow’s head, which features prominently, is so small that it comes across as more comedic than grotesque. The band, while they sound good, are under-amplified, and there were times where actors seemed to be struggling to hear their cues. While these are all relatively minor quibbles, they’re the kind of details that could have been easily adjusted to elevate the production’s clarity.
Above all else, this production succeeds in striking the delicate tonal balance that makes Bat Boy such an unusual yet endearing show. It’s bizarre, raunchy, and absurd, yet still carries an undercurrent of genuine emotion and social commentary.
Atwater Village Theatre, 3269 Casitas Ave., Atwater. Fri.-Sat., 8 pm, Sun., 7 pm, Mon., 7:30 pm; thru April 6. https://openfist.org https://openfist.org/ Running time: two hours with an intermission.
