Workhouse Arts Center’s ‘Bat Boy: The Musical’ is wildly satirical, wickedly enjoyable

He’s younger. He’s sensible. He’s good-looking. He’s curious concerning the world round him. He’s delicate and romantic. He’s often homicidal. He desperately desires to belong. He has pointed ears and was born in a cave, however Bat Boy is rather like you and me. 

Hope Falls, West Virginia, has a inhabitants of 500 and a giant downside — nay, a disaster on their palms. The slaughterhouse is dried up, and the ranchers’ cows are mysteriously dying in entrance of their eyes. Who’s accountable when issues go fallacious? The scapegoat, in fact. In this case, it’s a half-bat, half-boy the Taylor siblings discovered residing in a close-by cave.

So begins Workhouse Arts Center’s Bat Boy: The Musical, when novice spelunkers Rick (Kyle Donovan), Ruthie (Olivia Levin), and Ron Taylor (Mel Gumina) descend into the cave, their smartphone lights piercing the darkness. But the Taylor children are in for a impolite shock when out of the abyss emerges a creature in contrast to any they’ve seen earlier than — a creature so unusual, so weird, so terrifying, and but so clearly exhibitive of each bat and human options, that he ought to solely be dubbed Bat Boy. Played with wily athleticism by Matthew Monaghan, Bat Boy brings a delightfully uncommon mixture of raunchy bodily comedy and dry humor to the stage. 

If you suppose you’ve heard of Bat Boy earlier than, that’s as a result of this 1997 rock musical by Keythe Farley and Brian Flemming, with music and lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe, is impressed by a 1992 Weekly World News story with the headline “Bat Child Found in Cave.” The well-known picture of the eyes-wide, fangs reared, opalescent-looking adolescent bequeaths a level of nonsensical camp that’s performed up tenfold in Workhouse’s manufacturing. Directed by Stephen Emery, this small-scale manufacturing packs a mighty massive humorousness. 

Bat Boy is captured by Sheriff Reynolds (Michael Sherman), however not earlier than nipping Ruthie’s finger first. He is rapidly taken to the native veterinarian, Dr. Parker (an intensely brooding patriarch performed by Adian Chapman), to be put down. But Dr. Parker’s uptight spouse Meredith (Melanie Kurstin is aware of precisely when to go excessive) and their teenage daughter Shelley (a sensible however wise Sasha Rosenbaum) produce other plans for the tiny beast. While Dr. Parker is lower than thrilled and Shelley considerably confused, Meredith is sort of sure that each one Bat Boy wants is a bit of Christian charity to tame his animalistic methods. Thanks to the Parker household — and BBC diction tapes — Bat Boy learns what it means to belong to “polite society,” growing a fancy British accent alongside the way in which. His foster household bestows on him a brand new moniker: Edgar.

Edgar desires nothing greater than to return out to society throughout Reverend Billy Hightower’s (Brian Ashton) Tent Revival Meeting, which is certain to be the social occasion of the yr. By this level, Edgar has turn into each mom’s (and mom’s daughter’s) dream, however the city is much less amenable to him — what with Ruthie Taylor nonetheless hunkered down within the hospital and all that. But it doesn’t take a genius to determine what’s actually occurring right here. The Appalachian townsfolk don’t like Edgar as a result of he’s completely different from them. The allegory of this musical is obvious as day, however relaxation assured the second act has loads of true surprises for this creature of the night time. When Meredith will get a bit of too possessive of Edgar, Shelley begins growing emotions for him, and Dr. Parker begins scheming behind the scenes, issues are sure to show ugly. 

Likely influenced by Little Shop of Horrors (however not fairly at its degree), Bat Boy’s rating has a stunning variety of musical theater bangers (if you happen to’re into that type of factor). The greatest offender is “Hold Me, Bat Boy,” which has but to depart my head since leaving the theater.

Scenic designer Sequoia Grace retains issues truncated on the venue’s easy black field. Quick transitions between the Parker household front room and the Town Hall match the tempo of the musical, including sure moments of intrigue, notably when the vinyl partitions of the set “come alive,” so to talk, complemented by Christina Giles’s eerie lighting design. The set is at all times engulfed by the darkish humidity of the cave, harkening us again to Bat Boy’s roots. Bat Boy at a number of factors climbs, hangs, or dangles from what I can solely assume are the lighting rigs hung above — however out of sight of –- the scene. 

Merissa Martignoni and Natalie Turkevich’s costume design signifies that we’re within the twenty first century — as does the fixed presence of smartphones on stage. The bother right here — from black judiciary robes to daisy dukes and overalls to mid-century shirtwaists — is a scarcity of cohesion. Emery’s program observe alludes to the concept “tabloid headlines have transferred to our algorithmic feeds,” however what the director calls “an era of digital sensationalism” by no means fairly reaches its payoff on this manufacturing. The alternative to incorporate telephones on stage, sadly, proves extra distracting than anchored to any clear message. 

It’s no use pretending Bat Boy is rooted in any type of wise actuality. Like Edgar says, “The world is man or beast, but I am both or neither.” Workhouse’s Bat Boy is comedian mayhem. The jokes land. The ensemble’s power is infectious. It’s a wildly satirical, wickedly enjoyable time. 

Running Time: Two hours together with an intermission.

Bat Boy: The Musical performs by means of October 25, 2026, offered by Workhouse Arts Center, performing in Building W-3, 9518 Workhouse Way, Lorton, VA. Purchase tickets ($50 for basic admission, with reductions accessible for college students, seniors, and army) on the field workplace, online, or by calling 703-584-2900.

Bat Boy: The Musical
Story and Book by Keythe Farley and Brian Flemming
Music and Lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe
Directed by Stephen Emery