Bat Boy: The Musical opens at 1st Stage

Apr 25, 2014
1st stage theater in dc

1st Stage, Tysons Corner's award winning professional theater, announces the May 23 opening of Bat Boy: the Musical, book by Keythe Farley and Brian Flemming and music and lyrics by Laurence O'Keefe.   Steven Royal directs the production at 1st Stage.  Walter Bobby McCoy is music director and Pauline Grossman is choreographer.

The Story:  Ripped from the 1992 World Weekly News tabloid headline, BAT BOY THE MUSICAL is both musical comedy/horror spoof and big-hearted satire on American prejudice. When a half boy/half bat creature is discovered in a cave near fictional Hope Falls, West Virginia, the local vet's wife sets out to teach him the ways of civilization only to be thwarted by the colorful, "civilized" townsfolk who have something else in mind.  In the tradition of Sophocles, Sondheim and South Park-- with hints of Mary Shelly, Tim Burton and Mel Brooks-Bat Boy weaves a smart and playful pop/rock score with a crazy take on American eccentricities.

The 1st Stage production of Bat Boy:  The Musical features performances by Jimmy Mavrikes as Bat Boy, Maria Rizzo as Shelley, Esther Covington as Meredith, and Alan Naylor as Dr. Parker.   An ensemble composed of Stephen Hock, Katie Nigsch-Fairfax, Farrell Parker, Russell Silber, Dani Stoller and Maggie Lee Walker plays twenty-six additional characters.

This production features a set design by Adam Koch, costume design by Chelsey Schuller, lighting design by David Sexton, sound design by Kenny Neal, fight choreography by Paul Gallagher and prop design by Kevin Laughon.   The production is stage managed by Sarah Magno.

Bat Boy: The Musical was developed at the Directors Company and premiered at Tim Robbins' Actors Gang Theatre in Culver City, California on October 31, 1997 in a production directed by Keythe Farley and choreographed by Derick LaSalla. The musical opened off-Broadway at the Union Square Theatre on March 21, 2001.  The New York production won awards for best Off-Broadway musical including the Lucille Lortel Award, two Richard Rodgers Awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Outer Critics Circle Award in 2001.   Bat Boy: the Musical was produced locally by Studio Theatre Secondstage in November 2002.