BAT BOY Original Off-Broadway Cast: Where Are They Now?
BroadwayWorld looks back at the 2001 Off-Broadway cast, which included a young Kerry Butler before her star turn as Meredith Parker.
It’s been 25 years since the horror rock musical Bat Boy flew into New York City and opened on March 21, 2001, at Off-Broadway’s Union Square Theatre.
Featuring a book by Keythe Farley and Brian Flemming with music and lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe, the musical — which premiered years earlier at the Actors’ Gang Theatre in Los Angeles on October 31, 1997 — has since gained a cult following and returned to New York City last year.
The highly anticipated New York City Center gala staging, which released a cast recording in digital and streaming formats on August 28, welcomed back original Off-Broadway cast member Kerry Butler to play Meredith Parker this time around — after she originated the role of Meredith’s daughter, Shelley.
Because audiences seem hungry for more, BroadwayWorld looks back at the leading actors of the original 2001 Off-Broadway cast, which also featured Daria Hardeman, the late Trent Armand Kendall, Richard Pruitt, Doug Storm and Kathy Brier as part of the ensemble. Most of the Bat Boy ensemble cast has kept a relatively low profile in recent years.
The company also included a handful of amazing swings and understudies such as Leslie Kritzer, John Treacy Egan, Stephanie Kurtzuba, Chad Kimball, J.P. Potter and the late Gavin Creel.
Deven May
Deven May is perhaps best known for playing the half-man, half-bat at the heart of Bat Boy. The actor originated the title role of the rock musical at the Actors’ Gang Theatre in Los Angeles in 1997 and reprised his performance for the Off-Broadway run in 2001 as well as the West End engagement in 2004. He was nominated for a Drama Desk Award as well as the Lucille Lortel Award for his portrayal of Edgar, the bat child, in Bat Boy. He received the Theatre World Award for his performance and the 1998 Ovation Award for Best Lead Actor in a Musical after originating the role in L.A.
Following his time with Bat Boy, May had a long run as Tommy DeVito in the Jersey Boys national tour and reprised the role for Las Vegas company.
In a 2007 interview with the Los Angeles Times, he said he was “happy” that people were beginning to associate him with roles other than creatures like Bat Boy. “After Bat Boy, I remember going in for roles on things like Dark Angel and X-Files, and they were like, ‘Would you be Alligator Man?’ ‘Could you possibly be a sort of half-ape, half-foot — a foot/ape boy?’”
In recent years, it appears that May has focused on a life outside of the spotlight. According to his LinkedIn and Instagram, he now works in real estate — and as of last year, he was still occasionally performing with a group of fellow Jersey Boys alums called “The Fourmers.”
Kerry Butler
Kerry Butler had already racked up a handful of Broadway credits (including Blood Brothers, Beauty and the Beast and Les Misérables) before starring as Shelley Parker in Bat Boy. Following that, her career really exploded when she was cast as Penny Pingleton in the Tony Award-winning musical Hairspray, receiving nominations for the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards for her performance.
She went on to star as Audrey in the 2003 revival of Little Shop of Horrors, receiving an Outer Critics Circle nomination; Clio/Kira in Xanadu, nabbing her first Tony Award nomination; Brenda Strong in Catch Me If You Can, getting a Drama Desk Award nomination; and many more.
In recent years, she has been on Broadway in The Best Man, Disaster!, Mean Girls (Outer Critics Circle nomination) and Beetlejuice. She also performs her Mama, I’m a Big Girl Now! concert alongside former Hairspray costars Marissa Jaret Winokur (who was also part of the New York City Center staging of Bat Boy) and Laura Bell Bundy.
Fans of the actress couldn’t contain their excitement when it was announced that Butler would be returning to the musical Bat Boy to play Shelley’s mom, Meredith, in the New York City Center staging — and she received a Drama League Award nomination for Distinguished Performance.
“How lucky am I that I got to be on the original Batboy cast album and the @nycitycenter revival,” she captioned an Instagram post featuring footage from the New York City Center cast inside the recording studio. “What joy! I am such a fan of this show.”
Kaitlin Hopkins
Kaitlin Hopkins originated the role of Meredith Parker at the Actors’ Gang Theatre in Los Angeles in 1997 and reprised her performance for the Off-Broadway run in 2001. She received a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Musical.
While the actress has been seen on Broadway in Noises Off, Anything Goes with Patti LuPone and How The Grinch Stole Christmas, she is perhaps best known for her Off-Broadway work in both Bat Boy and the pop opera Bare, in which she played Peter's mother, Claire Simmonds.
She also appeared in the films The Nanny Diaries, Confessions of a Shopaholic, Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles and How To Kill Your Neighbor’s Dog, among others.
In a 2015 interview, she explained that in the fall of 2009, she and her husband, Jim Price — who acted alongside her in both Bat Boy and Bare — moved south of Austin, Texas, to work at Texas State University, where she created a BFA in Musical Theatre program. “I love teaching and directing and giving back to young artists,” she said at the time.
According to her résumé, she also directed a production of Bat Boy at Texas State University. Her website states that she currently serves as artistic director for the Johnny Mercer Foundation Songwriting Intensive and as the program director for the Musical Theatre College Pre-screen Intensive at Snow Pond Center for the Arts in Maine.
Jim Price
Jim Price played the roles of Bud, Daisy and Pan (who sings the epic Act II number “Children, Children”) in the Off-Broadway production of Bat Boy.
The actor has a handful of Broadway, Off-Broadway and national touring credits to his name, including the original Broadway casts of 1999’s The Civil War and 2006’s Ring of Fire.
Like his wife Hopkins, he was also part of the Off-Broadway production of Bare and worked at Texas State University. According to his bio page, he was the Head of Playwriting and worked in the Department of Theatre and Dance at the College of Fine Arts and Communication.
As a playwright, he is the author of Collision Course and the composer/lyricist of the musical Cold Feet. His wife recently shared some of his artwork on Instagram and said that art is part of his “newest adventure.” About five years ago, she wrote, Price gave his notice at the college to focus on other things. “For the past three yrs (now in our home in the Hudson Valley) he’s been blissfully happy studying new things simply for the joy of learning, fishing every day, meditating and gardening,” she shared.
Sean McCourt
Sean McCourt played Dr. Thomas Parker in Bat Boy, but he is also known for his impressive Broadway résumé, which includes the original Broadway company of Wicked, playing the Witch’s Father and an Ozian Official, as well as Titanic, It Ain't Nothin' but the Blues, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown and Mary Poppins.
Celebrating the 21st anniversary of the Broadway musical Wicked, the proud dad shared a photo to Instagram of his daughter with the movie’s Glinda, Ariana Grande.
“Our little show turns 21 today,” he captioned the post. “Clara used to crawl up and down the aisles of the Curran theatre when we were in San Francisco. Here’s the original Wicked baby with the latest Glinda. (Don’t miss this movie in theatres. It’s so good.)”
