[NEohioPAL] Review of "Bat Boy: The Musical" at GLTF

[Bob Abelman]

'Bat Boy' an unusual, fun bite from GLTF

Bob Abelman

News-Herald, Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times, Geauga Times Courier

Member, International Association of Theatre Critics 

 

This review appeared in the News-Herald 4/16/10

 

Bat Boy: The Musical, playing in repertory rotation with Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, is an odd choice for the Great Lakes Theater Festival.

 

Cleveland's classic theater company has built a solid reputation on delivering classic theater.  Yet Bat Boy is a modern-day gothic story set to rock-gospel music. It tells the tale of a half-boy/half-bat struggling to find a place in a world that shuns him and the love of a family that takes him in.  

 

In his opening night pre-show chat, artistic director Charlie Fee attempted to persuade patrons that this show does, indeed, fit the GLTF mold.  While Shakespeare's classic A Midsummer Night's Dream draws from Greek mythology, English fairy lore and medieval romance, Fee explained that Bat Boy also contains well established classical elements and literary themes.

 

 Director Victoria Bussert's program note reinforces this by recognizing something Sophocles, Oedipus Rex-ian and even biblical in this play.  "Yes, it's loud," she explains, "but that doesn't obscure the deeper message."

 

"Classical elements"?  "Literary themes"? "Deeper meaning"?

 

No explanation can hide the fact that playwrights Keythe Farley and Brian Flemming ripped Bat Boy's storyline from a supermarket tabloid headline.

 

No explanation can sidestep Bat Boy's unabashedly campy presentation, where the pretense of taking itself seriously gives way to its over-the-top presentation.  Everything about this play, from its outlandish characters to the quirky lyrics by Laurence O'Keefe, is fully intended for laughs.  

 

In fact, no explanation is necessary, for the most significant similarities between A Midsummer Night's Dream and Bat Boy are blatantly obvious.  Both plays are silly, surreal comedies in their own right.  Both plays were written to bring unadulterated joy to their respective audiences.  And both plays lose their charm when audiences lose their sense of humor by looking too closely for classicism, literary themes and deeper meaning rather than simply buying into the fun and frivolity occurring on stage.     

 

Those prepared to buy into Bat Boy will thoroughly enjoy themselves, for Bussert's clever direction, Jeff  Herrmann's comically macabre scenic design, Nicole Frachiseur's creative  costuming and Martín Céspedes brazen choreography have constructed a production that goes for the jugular.  No opportunity to play for the laugh under the guise of earnestness is missed.       

 

The title role is handled brilliantly by Mitch McCarrell, a New York actor born and raised locally.  Behind his bat-ears, pointy teeth, sonic screeches and cave-dweller physique resides incredible athleticism, stage presence and a true song-and-dance man.

 

McCarrell's energy, charisma and his own buy-in to this production carries this show and the audience along with it.

 

He is accompanied by a talented troupe of performers.  Most are returning members of the GLTF company and, therefore, are brilliant actors.  They include Lynn Allison, Lynn Robert Berg and Erin Childs as The Parkers, the family that takes Bat Boy into their home. 

 

In the true spirit of this play, members of the ensemble take on several roles regardless of gender or the fact that their multiple characters are required to be on stage at the same time.  Standout performances are delivered by Eduardo Placer, Gisela Chipe, Alana Simone and Dane Agostinis. 

 

Unfortunately, several GLTF regulars are quite obviously built for non-musical theater.  Their par singing and clear discomfort with some of Céspedes' more creative movement are distractions in an otherwise wonderful production. 

 

Yes, Bat Boy is an odd choice for the Great Lakes Theater Festival.  Forego the literary analysis and deep thinking, and go have fun.

 

Bat Boy: The Musical continues in repertory with A Midsummer Night's Dream through May 16 at PlayhouseSquare's Hanna Theatre in Cleveland.  For tickets, which range from $15 to $49, call 216-241-6000 or visit www.greatlakestheater.org
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