Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Electrifying vocals redeem Jim Steinman’s woefully uneven BAT OUT OF HELL

• By drediman
• August 10, 2019
• No Comments

Christine Bennington and Andrew Polec in Jim Steinman’s “Bat Out of Hell” at New York City Center. Photo by Little Fang Photo.

This week, a slightly downsized version of Jim Steinman’s London hit musical Bat Out of Hell opened at New York City Center for a limited run of five weeks (a bit shorter than the previously announced eight weeks). For a while, it seemed like the production wouldn’t make it to New York after its tour was mysteriously cancelled, but arrived it has. If you haven’t gathered already, the musical is the stage version of the iconic 1977 Meat Loaf album of the same name. Set in some sort of apocalyptic future, the piece tells the story of two star-crossed lovers amidst an unstable, dystopian society.

There’s no getting around the fact that Bat Out of Hell is a curious, often heavy-handed, and tonally uncertain concoction (Mr. Steinman wrote both the score and the book). Although there are clear, unmistakable references to Romeo and Juliet, Peter Pan, and Mad Max, the show never coalesces to anything more than the sum of its parts (if that). There were also numerous confounding instances during the show when neither I nor the audience knew whether to laugh at or with it. As a composer, Mr. Steinman has a somewhat limited musical palette, but there’s no denying his gift for powerful hooks and cast iron melody. Indeed, despite the misguided book, his score is chock full of thrilling, instantly recognizable classics, like “I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That)”, “It’s All Coming Back To Me Now”, and “Paradise By The Dashboard Light”.

The show has been directed with gutsy kitsch and rock concert flash by Jay Scheib (the unfortunately unflattering, tacked-on choreography is by Xena Gusthart). The production uses multi-media technology – much of the show is filmed by a small camera crew and projected onstage onto a large billboard – and kinetic video projections to exciting effect. But the main reason to pay a visit to City Center – and it’s a spectacular draw – are the electrifying vocals by the principal performers. The score is passionately performed with unrelenting vocal firepower by the quartet of Christine Bennington, Andrew Polec, Bradley Dean, and Tony-winner Lena Hall as if their lives depended on it. When they launch into the show’s numerous exhilarating anthemic numbers, any qualms about Mr. Steinman’s woefully uneven attempt at musical theater are erased.

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BAT OUT OF HELL
Off-Broadway, Musical
New York City Center
2 hours, 30 minutes (with one intermission)
Through September 8