BAT OUT OF HELL Will Play 8 Weeks At NY City Center In 2019

[persephone88]

And completely agree with mkpie's review. If you enjoy Jim Steinman's music, you will have a good time. If you don't, or are looking for something with "meaning", don't bother. The voices are terrific, right down to the cast members with only a few sung solo bits. All powerful voices that were a treat to hear. Andrew Poleck was giving 110% despite the silly script. I'd go see him again. Bradley Dean, funny, on point and that Paradise By The Dashboard Light with Lena Hall was fantastic - both vocal powerhouses. Choreography - really pedestrian, though maybe they were going for the Pat Benatar school of 80s music video dance, but it was not on par with Broadway caliber dance. Ditto the book - holes big enough to drive Strat's motorcycle through and just ridiculous. But people are going for the nostalgia and the songs, and this cast does them justice. Sets and lighting were great though I'm sorry we didn't get the full stunt moments that they did in London. My husband sometimes accuses me of being a theatre snob, and sometimes I am, but I enjoyed this despite the hot mess plot and the cast were all giving it their all. Good music, fun time.

[Sho-Tunes-R-Us]

Time to take the red eye out from San Fransissyco and arrive Monday morning at my hotel in .... wait for it....

Hell's Kitchen.

Attending Tuesday evening show. Teal Wicks (Lady Cher) may be my plus-one. She's the niece of a good friend of mine in Sacramento. Teal lived in Davis, CA. Hope to get a special photo-op with her and Andrew and ...

[SmoothLover]

Sho-Tunes-R-Us said: "Time to take the red eye out from San Fransissyco and arrive Monday morning at my hotel in .... wait for it....

Hell's Kitchen.

Attending Tuesday evening show. Teal Wicks (Lady Cher) may be my plus-one. She's the niece of a good friend of mine in Sacramento. Teal lived in Davis, CA. Hope to get a special photo-op with her and Andrew and ..."

 

You deserve to get a picture with Andrew for keeping this thread alive all of these months, I seem to remember that you were going to sit on L 101 Orchestra?

 

[Sho-Tunes-R-Us]

I believe I'm in J.

[Sho-Tunes-R-Us]

Would I let a little thing like kidney stones rolling during a six hour coast-to-coast flight stop me from seeing the show this Tuesday evening? I think knot. THAT'S how hardcore a show queen I am.

[scripps]

Sho-Tunes-R-Us said: "Would I let a little thing like kidney stones rolling during a six hour coast-to-coast flight stop me from seeing the show this Tuesday evening? I think knot. THAT'S how hardcore a show queen I am."

Yes! I saw the show again over the the weekend and was fortunate enough to be invited backstage and have the opportunity to poke around the set. I hope you get the royal treatment at your performance and get your special pic, 'cause Andrew sure is a cutie. That voice. That great hair :)

 

[mamaleh]

I caught this past Sunday's matinee and found it loud, over-the-top--and very entertaining. While the ensemble was very talented, they could do worse than to study the amazing performances of Bradley Dean and Lena Hall, especially during the hilarious and energetic "Paradise By the Dashboard Light" number. That is a musical theater course in itself.  

[Kad]

I saw this on Sunday evening. It's the sort of spectacularly bad big-budget mess that just doesn't happen very much anymore. The vocals are outstanding, the plot is incomprehensible beyond the broad strokes, the choreography is ridiculous to the point of being hilarious, the costumes are Starmites meets Hook meets ASOS, the book is mostly hacky jokes that don't land, there are no fewer than 5 confetti cannons in the first act.

It's a show you'll laugh at and be gobsmacked by. It really can't be missed.  

[Sho-Tunes-R-Us]

SmoothLover said: "Sho-Tunes-R-Us said: "Time to take the red eye out from San Fransissyco and arrive Monday morning at my hotel in .... wait for it....

Hell's Kitchen.

Attending Tuesday evening show. Teal Wicks (Lady Cher) may be my plus-one. She's the niece of a good friend of mine in Sacramento. Teal lived in Davis, CA. Hope to get a special photo-op with her and Andrew and ..."

You are correct.  I'm in row L.  As in "go to 'L, ducky!"   Kidney stone flare-up from my red eye flight in has subsided and I'm battered, but ready to wrok.



You deserve to get a picture with Andrew for keeping this thread alive all of these months, I seem to remember that you were going to sit on L 101 Orchestra?

"

 

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

That moment when some random familiar-looking guy has worse seats than you got on the discount sites...

[ggersten]

So, sho-tunes-r-us......it looked like Meatloaf was there tonite as well.  Looking forward to your report.  Also, yours, g.d.e.l.g.i.

https://twitter.com/BATtheMusicalNY/status/1163956712354852866

 

[ggersten]

 

 

[ggersten]

A different vantage point with a little more:    

 

[SmoothLover]

My friend who works at City Center said that Meatloaf was in row H on the center isle in the orchestra so Show Tunes R Us should not have been too far behind. Must have been a thrill for him as much as he was anticipating the show! They also had brought in some of the expensive motorcycle display outside of the theatre which was drawing quite a crowd.  

[Sho-Tunes-R-Us]

SmoothLover said: "My friend who works at City Center said that Meatloaf was in row H on the center isle in the orchestra so Show Tunes R Us should not have been too far behind. Must have been a thrill for him as much as he was anticipating the show! They also had brought in some of the expensive motorcycle display outside of the theatre which was drawing quite a crowd. "

Yes, I was just two rows back on the opposite side.  Got a picture taken and will attempt to put it up later.

My expectations were met 10x over.  Absolutely insane from beginning to end and totally camptastic.  Hope to go again Wednesday night.  Also had a photo taken with Danielle Steers and spoke to Bradley Dean for about five minutes.  When I told him my background as a fan of the show (and a first-timer) he asked for my card and told me to go to the stage door post-performance on Wednesday for a special treat.  Fingers, toes, eyes and nose crossed for some extra special photos.

 

[Miles2Go2]

Sho-Tunes-R-Us said: "Yes, I was just two rows back on the opposite side. Got a picture taken and will attempt to put it up later.

My expectations were met 10x over. Absolutely insane from beginning to end and totally camptastic. Hope to go again Wednesday night. Also had a photo taken with Danielle Steers and spoke to Bradley Dean for about five minutes. When I told him my background as a fan of the show (and a first-timer) he asked for my card and told me to go to the stage door post-performance on Wednesday for a special treat. Fingers, toes, eyes and nose crossed for some extra special photos."

I’m so happy for you. You’ve believed in this show when many didn’t and have been wanting to experience the show live for so long. Looking forward to hearing about your “special treat!” If it involves a shirtless blonde tenor, so much the better. 

[ggersten]

So happy for you Sho-Tunes.... After all you have gone through to get to see this show, you deserve whatever little extras come your way.

[SmoothLover]

I am glad you had a nice time Show Tunes, kidney stone and all!

[GiantsInTheSky2]

I was speaking to a friend in the show and it was very entertaining seeing them try to explain the show and how over-the-top it is. Definitely going to see this before it closes.

[mpkie]

Wow guys! I'm so jealous of anyone who was there to experience that on Tuesday! I've been listening to the OLCR on a loop since seeing the show last week and absolutely love it. Andrew Polec's voice doesn't make any sense to me!

GiantsInTheSky2 said: "I was speaking to a friend in the show and it was very entertaining seeing them try to explain the show and how over-the-top it is. Definitely going to see this before it closes. "

Actually Andrew Polec does a fantastic job explaining what the show is about. Whatever show he's describing sounds way better (can we're see that version of the show?? Lol); he describes it with so much passion too! 

(Disclaimer: I may or may not have binge watched all video / live performances and interviews about this show on YouTube. )

[raddersons]

This show is absolutely insane and makes little to no sense. 

A must see. 

[Lot666]

bwayphreak234 said: "Bat Out of Hell has no place on Broadway (in my opinion)"

I'm curious as to why you would say this. If The Rocky Horror Show could run on Broadway, why not Bat Out of Hell?

 

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Rocky Horror could, but not successfully; it flopped both times round. And I can't imagine that Bat, struggling as it is to sell full-price tickets at City Center, would be able to weather the same commercial reception on Broadway.

As for what I thought, sorry to disillusion you, ggersten, but I actually wasn't there; a friend caught the picture of Meat a couple rows behind her, and I've never been able to resist telling a story even if it's not my own. :P Poor guy, quite a downgrade from the royal box he got in London, but he (and his guitarist/musical director/producer, Paul Crook, who came along) seems to have had a swell time nonetheless. (Was that Michael Cohl and his wife a row behind them? I've only seen Michael a couple times, but in one of the videos, it looked like him.)

Some people might have already guessed this from the things I said in this thread, but I'm not coming to see Bat while it's in town. Everything I've seen and heard to date has told me I would have zero interest in what's on that stage. Naturally, some explanation is in order.

Jim Steinman's bio in the Playbill -- or program, whatever you want to call it -- says this show is the culmination of a 50-year dream. And I mean, any seasoned Steinman fan knows that's sort of true. This rock adaptation of Brecht's Baal became The Dream Engine 50 years ago, evolving over time into Neverland, the proposed film Bat Out of Hell 2100, and now Bat itself. We've heard Jim expound on variations of this concept for decades. We've read earlier drafts (click each of those links), we've listened to the music from each version, we've observed countless interviews where he explains how the DNA of this idea is embedded in every song he's ever written. And then, in 2016, this is what came out, and it didn't much improve in the time since.

To people who expected that when the final product came to life, there'd be some great understanding; that everything would finally be illuminated in the light in which it was meant to be seen; that people would hear these songs and not regard them as a guilty pleasure, but finally understand where it all came from, the method to Jim's madness; who hoped he'd finally be properly appreciated for his art; who wouldn't be content to settle for people once again coming out humming the score, but dismissing the plot and saying the show's more fun if you turn off your brain and don't try to dissect it or expect more substance from it than there is... this was a disappointment. And I'm not going to pretend this rock concert masquerading as a revue isn't a frustrating letdown, just because Jim seems to have settled for it. If this was his dream, I feel maybe he should have taken the advice of "Paradise..." and slept on it before giving us the answer in the morning.

[bear88]

Sho-Tunes-R-Us said: 
My expectations were met 10x over. Absolutely insane from beginning to end and totally camptastic. Hope to go again Wednesday night. Also had a photo taken with Danielle Steers and spoke to Bradley Dean for about five minutes. When I told him my background as a fan of the show (and a first-timer) he asked for my card and told me to go to the stage door post-performance on Wednesday for a special treat. Fingers, toes, eyes and nose crossed for some extra special photos.

Considering that I know you've been eagerly anticipating this show for a long time now, and had to literally suffer to see it, I am very pleased that you're so pleased.

 

[Lot666]

g.d.e.l.g.i. said: "Rocky Horror could, but not successfully; it flopped both times round."

It's not fair to equate financial failure with "this show has no place on Broadway". There have been numerous shows over the years that failed financially, but still had merit.

g.d.e.l.g.i. said: "this rock concert masquerading as a revue"

Bruce Springsteen, Morrissey, and now Barry Manilow have staged "concerts masquerading as revues" of their respective catalogs on Broadway.