"Bat Boy" to close 15 Jan 2005

"Bat Boy" to close 15 Jan 2005

Bat Boy The Musical is to close 15 Jan 2005 at the Shaftesbury Theatre after a run of 5 months (167 performances).

The show opened 8 Sep 2004, following previews from 18 Aug, to luke-warm notices from the popular press: MICHAEL BILLINGTON for THE GUARDIAN says, "What we get is a musically undistinguished, lyrically trite rock-show...Quite what it is doing on a West End stage...is a mystery." FIONA MOUNTFORD for THE EVENING STANDARD says, "Book now for quite the most batty experience the West End has offered in many a long day." CHARLES SPENCER for THE DAILY TELEGRAPH says, "Only a marginal improvement on the production values and wit of a student revue." BENEDICT NIGHTINGALE for THE TIMES says, "Ebullient stuff, sometimes fun and occasionally even funny. But it's also pretty sophomoric and almost wilfully cluttered."

The cast includes Deven May (Bat Boy), Rebecca Vere (Meredith Parker), John Barr (Dr Thomas Parker), Emma Williams (Shelley Parker),

Bat Boy The Musical has music and Lyrics by Laurence O'Keefe, Story and Book by Keythe Farley and Brian Flemming. It is directed by Mark Wing-Davey and designed by Madeline Herbert.

It is based on actual events as reported in The Weekly World News. A group of adventure seekers discover and capture an odd looking youth hiding in a West Virginia cave. Bringing him home to the townsfolk of Hope Falls both shocks and intrigues this sleepy community, setting the tone for this roller coaster musical-comedy.

The show is described as somewhere between Edward Scissorhands and My Fair Lady - a classic love story with a bite!

"Bat Boy The Musical" opened to critical acclaim Off-Broadway in 2001, winning both the Outer Critics' Circle and Lucille Lortel Awards for 'Best Musical'.

(John Landis will direct the film version of Bat Boy The Musical, which goes into pre-production in fall of 2005 )