Campy 'Bat Boy' takes flight, despite lapses

By Mal Vincent
The Virginian-Pilot

Straight out of the pages of the supermarket tabloid rag Weekly World News comes "Bat Boy: The Musical," the story of a half-boy, half-bat creature who shook up the town of Hope Falls, W.Va., from slaughterhouse to revival meeting.

No, "Bat Boy" is not about baseball. Neither is it a treatise on the younger life of Bruce (Batman) Wayne. It's about the townsfolk and the creature they call a freak, a menace, an abomination.

You'll call this outlandish comedy a hoot - that is, if you can get through the shrieking, caterwauling, off-key noises that are presented in the name of music by this brave, but largely tone-deaf, cast. This show is a good deal kinder to the funny bone than it is to the ears.

So be it. Laugh and get over it. Comedy this wild is hard to find, at least on 40th Street. Mischievous and irreverent, the show even comes with plastic ponchos for patrons on the first two rows. They, indeed, are in danger of being spattered with theatrical blood (all in good fun, of course).

Bat Boy is discovered deep in a cave. Since he is regarded as more bat than boy, he's put in the care of Dr. Thomas Parker, the local veterinarian, whose wife adopts Bat Boy and whose daughter covets him.

As a result, the jealous doctor concocts a plan to blame Bat Boy for the cattle plague that has afflicted the hills. Knowing that vampire bats crave blood, Parker caters to Bat Boy's weakness.

Renamed Edgar, the boy has a rabbit to close Act One. He is played by a real trouper - the bravest rabbit since Bugs Bunny - and sensible enough to tuck his ears under when singing is happening.

In Act II, Edgar graduates to a cow's head, and the local populace gets more suspicious. The front row prepares to protect itself with ponchos.

Edgar learns to stand upright and to speak perfect English. He's close kin to Edward Scissorhands or the Elephant Man in the degree of intolerance leveled at him. It is clear that all he needs is a good dental plan.

The outlandish nature of the "musical" is a hoot from beginning to end. Directed by Philip Odango, the cast is best when it plays it deadpan. In order to work, in fact, it must be played seriously, allowing the audience to fill in the humor.

The musical accompaniment is pre-recorded, a device that might have worked if there had been a few more weeks of rehearsals.

Most in need of polishing are the ensemble numbers, which are all but indiscernible, although some of Laurence O'Keefe's clever lyrics get through.

Amid all the wailing, there is one standout performance. Eileen P. Quintin is a revelation as the Bat Boy who becomes Edgar. Tiny and elastic in frame, she manages quite amazing physical and emotional ranges - alternately suggesting vulnerability and threat. She, too, is lacking in the singing category, but she is a delight when it comes to mime and reaction - telling more in her silences and reactions than dozens of off-key songs could.

A mixture of Andrew Lloyd Webber, "Hee Haw" and "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," the play offers several exceptional moments. Kent Collins tries to "sell" his songs and largely succeeds. Kristen Martin is hilarious as the lowdown Taylor woman who keeps her cigarette on hand at all times.

As for most of the others, the less said about their "singing" the better. The laughs are deserved.

The intolerance of the local folk is cynically, and hilariously, overstated. "If it feels good, kill it," they suggest. The sheriff orders: "Everyone go home - and get your guns."

Produced by a startup theater group called The Foppish Dandies, "Bat Boy: The Musical" is a welcome addition to the all-too-tame local musical scene. It's outlandish.

Now, if it could only carry a tune.

Mal Vincent, (757) 446-2347 mal.vincent@pilotonline.com