Bat Boy: The Musical

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Bat Boy: The Musical
1997 poster
Music	Laurence O'Keefe
Lyrics	Laurence O'Keefe
Book	Keith Farley Brian Flemming
Based upon	Weekly World News Tabloid
Productions	1997 Off-Broadway
Awards	2001 Lucille Lortel Award 2001 Outer Critics Circle Award

Bat Boy: The Musical is an Off-Broadway musical based on Bat Boy, a character whose antics regularly appear in the Weekly World News tabloid. The story about a half-boy, half-bat found living in a cave inspired bookwriters Keythe Farley and Brian Flemming to write a stage adaptation. They were joined by American composer/lyricist Laurence O'Keefe (no relation to the English bassist Laurence O'Keefe), and their first production premiered on Halloween, 1997.

The musical differs in a few of its plot details from the Weekly World News portrayal of Bat Boy. In the musical, Bat Boy learns to speak from his adoptive family, yearns for acceptance and tries to join society, only to face hatred and violence from a town that fears him and jealous rage from his foster father. Although full of blood, violence, incest and interspecies sex, Bat Boy: The Musical has won several awards and rave reviews. John Lahr of The New Yorker observed that "this is the only play in the history of the theatre whose hero ends Act I with a rabbit in his mouth, and who moves on in Act II to an entire cow's head."

This musical premiered at Tim Robbins' Actors' Gang Theatre on October 31, 1997 and has since been produced Off-Broadway, in London's West End, at the Edinburgh Festival and in scores of productions throughout the world. The musical was awarded best Off-Broadway musical by both the Lucille Lortel Award and the Outer Critics Circle Award in 2001. Regional productions of Bat Boy have been nominated for and won dozens of awards, including the Norton Awards (New England's equivalent of the Tony) and Ovation Awards (Los Angeles). It entered regional theatre in 2002 beginning with the Phoenix Theatre. The show has also proven quite popular in Korea and Japan.

Contents 1 Synopsis 1.1 ACT I 1.2 ACT II 2 Controversy 3 Adaptations 4 Differences in the London production 5 External links

[edit] Synopsis

[edit] ACT I

Three teenagers -- Ron, Rick and Ruthie Taylor -- go rappelling deep into a forgotten cave just outside their hometown of Hope Falls, West Virginia. In the cave they light up a bong and start smoking dope. Suddenly they notice a strange, humanoid creature in the cave with them. They cannot see him very well in the darkness, but identify him as the legendary feral "Bat Boy," who has haunted the local tales of Hope Falls for years. Excited by thoughts of having a new "pet", Ruthie offers him some Fritos (Doritos in the London version), but the "Bat Boy" rejects the gift and bites Ruthie's neck instead. Immediately, Rick and Ron leap on the "Bat Boy," knock him unconscious and put him in a bag.

As Ruthie is taken to the hospital, Rick and Ron hand the "Bat Boy" over to the incompetent local lawman, Sheriff Reynolds, who decides to take him across town to the house of local veterinarian Doctor Parker and have the animal "taken care of." As he takes the creature through town, the Sheriff is constantly badgered by the townsfolk, who at first accept "Bat Boy's" existence and then scream when they see his face. The company assembles onstage as a sort of Greek Chorus, singing HOLD ME, BAT BOY and telling the audience to watch and learn.

At Doctor Parker's house, his wife Meredith and daughter Shelley are cleaning and discussing boys; Rick Taylor is Shelley's boyfriend. Just as the conversation gets tense, Sheriff Reynolds arrives with the "Bat Boy" (his head covered in a sack with the warning "BITES" written on it). Meredith informs him that the Doctor is not at home; he is out hunting. Reynolds begs Meredith to put the "Bat Boy" in one of Doctor Parker's spare cages, explaining that the Sheriff is coming up for reeleection and cannot afford to do something irresponsible. Both Meredith and Sheriff Reynolds wish they could solve the matter a different way. They sing CHRISTIAN CHARITY. Shelley finally convinces Meredith to keep "Bat Boy," and the Sheriff thanks them and leaves.

Later in the evening a storm is brewing. At the Parker residence, Meredith has moved a large cage inside the living room and put the "Bat Boy" inside it. He is hungry and howls for food, yet he refuses everything Meredith makes for him, to the point of screaming at it until it is taken away. Shelley, no longer entertained by the thought of keeping a "Bat Boy," is annoyed by his constant shrieking and makes fun of him. She sings UGLY BOY. Meredith does her best to ignore Shelley's rudeness. They decide to give the Bat Boy a name. Meredith christens him Edgar, then goes into the kitchen to prepare a stew for him. Rick Taylor arrives to see Shelley. He sings "WATCHA WANNA DO?" but flips out when he sees Edgar. Rick decides to ignore him and make out with Shelley, but Edgar interrupts their make-out session by imitating their moans loudly and repeatedly. Perturbed, Rick approaches the cage to kill Edgar, but Meredith interrupts and sends him on his way. Shelley is disgusted with Rick and other boys after see Rick threatening to kill Edgar.

Meredith sends Shelley to bed. Now alone with Edgar, she sings softly to him, telling him that she hopes her house can be A HOME FOR YOU. She offers him stew, and even though he rejects it, he does join singing in his own way.

In the Hope Falls Slaughterhouse, the "Honorable" Mayor of Hope Falls, Maggie, has called a meeting of the Town Council. First, the Council has confirmation that the Reverend Billy Hightower will be bringing his Tent Revival Meeting and Barbecue to Hope Falls in the spring. Secondly, Mayor Maggie draws attention to the fact that the meat hooks are empty. The ranchers admit that their cows are too malnourished, and some have been dying for no apparent reason. As the meeting draws to a close, they sing that ANOTHER DEAD COW may have been caused by the newly-arrived "Bat Boy."

Back at the Parker residence, Doctor Parker returns from hunting. He is drunk and carries some dead geese slung over his shoulder. Parker does a double-take when he notices Edgar in the gloom, but is too drunk to react. He pulls out a flask and has a quick drink, then pulls out a hand-held tape recorder and quickly analyzes Edgar. He decides to put "one of us out of our misery" and is about to give him a lethal injection when Meredith interrupts. She begs him not to kill Edgar. Oddly, they both seem to know more about the "Bat Boy" than they let on. Desperate, Meredith offers to sleep with her husband if he doesn't kill Edgar. Doctor Parker takes the bait and seems to forget that Edgar is in the room, singing DANCE WITH ME, DARLING. As soon as Meredith takes his syringe and leaves the room, Parker sings to Edgar about how he's "prayed this day would arrive; when she'd return to his arms," and realizes that Bat Boy is his ticket to Meredith's affections. He slices open the neck of one of the geese, revealing that Edgar only drinks blood. As Edgar drinks, the chorus of "Voices in His Head" come onstage to sing with him.

At the local hospital, a doctor assures Mrs. Taylor that, even though they are having difficulties healing her wounds, Ruthie will be okay. At this point Ruthie convulses into a nightmare about "Bat Monsters." Her mother sings to her (MRS. TAYLOR'S LULLABY), promising her that if the Sheriff wants to stay in office he will kill the Bat Boy.

The next day at the Parker residence, Meredith tries to teach Edgar how to behave like a human being. It takes some persuasion to get him interested, but after being taught to say "Hello" and "Boy," Edgar tries hard to learn to be civilized. Over the course of several weeks, we see Edgar evolve from mistaking Disneyland for the Wailing Wall, to graduating with a high school level education. All the while, Doctor Parker is secretly feeding Edgar blood. In the end, Edgar's progress is impressive (SHOW YOU A THING OR TWO).

Mayor Maggie calls for another special meeting of the Town Council, to "discuss the safety issues as they relate to this weekend's Revival Meeting." Doctor Parker is the guest of honor, and the Sheriff, urged on by his constituents, tells Parker to take Edgar out of town. Doctor Parker tries to convince the townsfolk that Edgar is not a danger, but they threaten to kill the Bat Boy if he is not taken away. Doctor Parker has no choice. He tells everyone that, despite how hard it will be on Meredith to keep Edgar from going, he will not attend. The townsfolk shake hands with Doctor Parker and take his word of honor (CHRISTIAN CHARITY REPRISE).

At the Parker residence, Shelley is teaching Edgar to dance while Doctor Parker convinces Meredith that the pact he made is for the best. They all sit for tea, served by a now very proper Edgar (who, thanks to some BBC Language Tapes, speaks with a upper-class English accent). As they talk, Edgar expresses his desire to go to the Revival, and Doctor Parker tries to persuade him to go camping with the family this weekend instead. Edgar points out that the Revival would be a nice coming-out for him, since the residents haven't yet seen his civilized side. Shelley mentions that people are talking behind Edgar's back, and Doctor Parker lets slip that they are saying very cruel things. Edgar sings that he doesn't want to harm them; he only wants to get to know them (A HOME FOR YOU REPRISE).

After more refusals, Shelley gets mad with Meredith and asks to be excused. Meredith excuses her and Doctor Parker tries to convince Edgar that it's all right not to go to the Revival. Edgar cuts him off by saying that he was watching a medical program on TV, and he was astonished to find that his having a navel means he may be human. At this, Doctor Parker gets angry and forcefully tells Edgar that he will not attend the Revival. After Edgar breaks down and falls to the floor begging, Meredith changes her mind and tries to convince Doctor Parker that the boy's attendance at the Revival will be all right.

Doctor Parker is astonished that his wife is standing up to him, but quickly regains his composure and sticks to his word of honor. Meredith tells Edgar that, even if Doctor Parker doesn't go, she and Shelley will accompany Edgar to the Revival, ignoring Doctor Parker's noncompliance. After Parker attacks Meredith in a rage, Edgar attacks Parker and almost bites him. After realizing that Meredith is no longer paying attention to him, Doctor Parker has an epiphany (PARKER'S EPIPHANY): Meredith never came back to his arms, and she never will. Doctor Parker pretends to change his mind and tells Meredith to tell Shelley the "good news" while he gives Edgar his "medication."

Meredith then goes upstairs, leaving Doctor Parker alone with Edgar. After having a rather brief conversation with Edgar, the now-furious Doctor Parker attempts to devise a plan to slay Edgar and bring Meredith back to him (COMFORT AND JOY). The company, similarly, sings of their plans for the revival the next day. Edgar sings of overcoming his instincts, but Doctor Parker foils his plans by killing a live rabbit in front of the hungry boy, overcoming his resistance to his own nature.

[edit] ACT II

At the Revival Meeting, Reverend Billy Hightower is trying desperately to raise the hopes of the residents by urging them to sing (A JOYFUL NOISE). As he prepares to "heal" the sins of any congregation member wishing to volunteer, Meredith, Shelley and Edgar arrive. The townsfolk freak out, but the Reverend decides to give Edgar a chance. Edgar sings to the citizens, begging them to accept him (LET ME WALK AMONG YOU) and promising he can be a civilized member of the community.

Just as the townsfolk seem to have given up their prejudices (A JOYFUL NOISE REPRISE), Doctor Parker arrives. He tells the townsfolk that Ruthie Taylor has died in the night as a result of Edgar's poisonous saliva, deadly to both humans and cattle. (In reality, Parker has stolen into the hospital and given Ruthie a lethal injection). Parker also says he has called the Institute in Wheeling and they are coming to take Edgar away. The whole town turns against the shocked and guilt-ridden Edgar as Rick Taylor runs in with his siblings and mother. In the confusion, Rick pulls out a pistol and fires two shots into the air, silencing everyone. He aims the gun at Edgar, but the Sheriff, true to his duty, aims a gun at Rick. Rick is about to shoot Edgar when Shelley steps in front of the gun, defending him. Rick shoves her aside violently and Edgar flips out, biting Rick's neck. In the resulting confusion Edgar runs away, with Shelley and Meredith hot on his heels. Doctor Parker examines Rick and, under the pretense of administering an antidote, gives him a lethal injection. Rick convulses exactly like Ruthie and dies. Doctor Parker declares that the antidote came too late, and the only thing left to do is hunt the Bat Boy (STOP THE BAT BOY!).

As Meredith and Shelley hunt for Edgar in the woods, they decide that once they have found him they will leave town, change their names, and live far away from anyone, including Doctor Parker (THREE BEDROOM HOUSE). In the excitement of the moment, Shelley tells Meredith she is in love with Edgar. Meredith reacts with horror, telling Shelley that the thought is "hideous." Not knowing the reason for her mother's revulsion, Shelley believes Meredith is just as ignorant and prejudiced as the townsfolk. She runs deeper into the woods, while Meredith yells out for her not to go.

In a clearing in the woods Shelley finds Edgar and confesses her love for him. He too confesses he loves her. As things become more intimate between them, the forest god Pan arrives with some woodland animals and coaxes Edgar and Shelley to sleep together (CHILDREN, CHILDREN).

Ron Taylor, vowing vengeance for his dead siblings, is out looking for Edgar. He decides he would most likely satisfy his blood-lust in the slaughterhouse, charging in and making a ruckus. Daisy, carrying a torch, hears the noise and tells the Sheriff over a walkie-talkie that she may have the Bat Boy cornered in the slaughterhouse. Mrs. Taylor overhears this comment. Arriving at the slaughterhouse and assuming Bat Boy is inside, Mrs. Taylor sets fire to the building with the torch. While the slaughterhouse burns, the townsfolk arrive to watch the blaze. Ron bursts out of the structure, set afire. The Sheriff tackles him, trying to douse the flame so that "Bat Boy" is still alive when the van arrives -- but he falls nevertheless. The townsfolk get more and more angry. Doctor Parker tries to calm them by telling them that the Bat Boy is on a rampage. In the process he lets slip that he, Doctor Parker, will kill again --but he plays it off and the townsfolk disregard the comment. They follow the doctor as he leads them on a hunt for Edgar.

In the clearing in the woods, Shelley and Edgar are curled together after a sexual encounter. Edgar realizes he is hungry and tries to protect Shelley, who reveals that she is not afraid; she knows he eats blood. After an argument, Shelley convinces Edgar that she should provide Edgar with his meal (INSIDE YOUR HEART). Just as Edgar is about to bite her, Meredith finds the pair and stops them by revealing her darkest secret: she is Edgar's mother, and this makes Shelley his sister. Ashamed, angered, and disgusted with himself, Edgar runs off. Shelley, also horrified, backs away from Meredith and tries to scream. Instead we hear the sound of a cow being decapitated.

Outside the cave where he was found, Bat Boy has beheaded a cow and is drinking deeply from it. He sings an APOLOGY TO A COW, saying that he is ashamed to live in a dog-eat-dog world. He believes his parents are the real beasts for tearing him from his content cave life and teaching him about anger and hate, and for locking their own child inside a cage and condemning his love for Shelley when they could have lived in bliss. He swears that his face will be the last they ever see.

Ned and Roy, guided by Doctor Parker, enter the scene. Bat Boy makes a move on Parker, but Ned won't let Edgar get close to him. The Sheriff tries to calm the rest of the townsfolk as they enter, but they will not be placated. Then Meredith arrives with Shelley. Meredith begs the townsfolk not to kill him, because he is her son. She convinces Doctor Parker to tell them his story. Doctor Parker was once a cattle doctor and she was his assistant. One day, he was working on a liquid pheromone which would increase the cattle population by arousing male cattle. However, he accidentally injected it into Meredith and, overcome with passion, he impregnated her. Walking home alone afterwards, Meredith was raped by bats, also attracted by the pheromones. Later she revealed she was pregnant with Doctor Parker's child, and they were married. Nine months later, Shelley was born, but, to everyone's horror, there was a second child -- Edgar, Meredith's son by the bats. Parker was told to take the child into the woods and kill it, but could not bring himself to do it and instead left the infant there to be discovered and cared for by the bats.

Instead of placating the townsfolk, the story angers them further. They blame Edgar for the cow plague, but Meredith responds angrily, "There is no plague! You've been raising cows on the side of a MOUNTAIN!", and the townsfolk are stunned into sheepish silence. Edgar himself has already decided he wants to die, but not at the hands of the townsfolk or the police. He takes the hunting knife from Doctor Parker's belt and hands it to Doctor Parker, begging him to give Edgar peace. But Doctor Parker cannot do it. Bat Boy then tells him and the townsfolk what happened between him and Shelley during the night. Infuriated, Doctor Parker grabs Bat Boy and holds the knife to his neck, but Meredith pulls him off, begging him to rethink what he is about to do. Doctor Parker and Meredith sing together, Doctor Parker apologizing for everything he's done. Realizing there is no other solution, he slits his own throat open with the knife. Attracted by the sight and smell of blood, Edgar leaps upon Doctor Parker and begins to drink. As he does so, Doctor Parker stabs him in the back, as he raises his knife to stab again, Meredith runs forward and tries to pull him off; she too is stabbed in the back. Meredith and Doctor Parker die first. Bat Boy, dying in Shelley's arms, tells her that he is not a boy, but an animal (FINALE:I IMAGINE YOU'RE UPSET/FINALE: I AM NOT A BOY).

As the townsfolk realize what has happened and regard each other with shame, the men from the Institute arrive to carry Bat Boy away. As they take in the carnage, Shelley stands up and begins delivering the final messages of the show (two of which, apparently, are "the mountain is no place for raising cows" and "don't kill Mrs. Taylor's kids"). She is joined in by the townsfolk, the institute men, Rick, Ron, and Ruthie, and, finally, Meredith and Parker as they all revert to the Greek Chorus from the opening number (HOLD ME, BAT BOY REPRISE). The show ends as the company tells the audience not to "deny [their] beast inside".

[edit] Controversy

The musical production contains depictions of violence, gore, incest, and rape, which has roused debate in certain high schools seeking to produce it. In 2005, a California high school scheduled a performance of Bat Boy: The Musical for the school's spring musical, but several parents objected to the play's content, saying that it "was not age-appropriate". Many students within the school defended their right to perform the play. Christian organization Focus on the Family involved itself in the discussion with the school, expressing criticism towards the play.[1] Many other high schools have performed Bat Boy: The Musical across the nation.

[edit] Adaptations

Bat Boy will be filmed in 2007, directed by John Landis, director of Animal House, The Blues Brothers and An American Werewolf in London. [2]

[edit] Differences in the London production

• The small scenes interspersed in the opening number HOLD ME BAT BOY are removed so the song plays right through without interruption (though the scenes are included in the London cast recording to give some context)
• Both of the songs UGLY BOY and WATCHA WANNA DO? were replaced in the London production by the song HEY FREAK.
• The reference to Rev. Hightower doesn't occur in the London production until the second meeting of the Town Council.
• In the London production, the song MINE ALL MINE replaces INSIDE YOUR HEART. In this song, Shelley awakes to see that Edgar is trying to leave her without explaining why. The bulk of the song consists of Shelley demanding that Edgar stay, or at least explain his change of heart. Eventually Edgar reveals his hunger for blood, after which Shelley offers him her arm and they complete the song in accord.

[edit] External links

• Bat Boy: The Musical official site
• 2006 Edinburgh Fringe Festival production