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Bat Out Of Hell to Tour North America
Bat Out Of Hell to Tour North America

Bat Out Of Hell To Tour North America

Bat Out Of Hell, a new musical inspired by the critically acclaimed best-selling albums of the same name, will a launch a North American tour at Detroit’s Fox Theatre following the show’s triumphant return to Toronto at the Ed Mirvish Theatre. The musical features an array of hit songs by celebrated rock composer Jim Steinman that were sung by the artist Meat Loaf on the original albums, including “You Took The Words Right Out of My Mouth,” “Bat Out Of Hell,” “I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That),” and “Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad,” as well as two previously unreleased songs “What Part of My Body Hurts the Most” and “Not Allowed to Love.” The musical is currently playing an extended smash hit engagement in London’s West End where it won the 2017 Evening Standard Award for Best Musical.

London and Toronto star of Bat Out Of Hell, Andrew Polec, will return to lead the cast of the tour which will visit nineteen cities. Polec plays the role of Strat. Joining Polec will be Emily Schultheis as Raven, Bradley Dean as Falco, Lulu Lloyd as Sloane, Avionce Hoyles as Tink, Harper Miles as Zahara, and Tyrick Jones as Jagwire. The ensemble for Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical includes Will Branner, Samantha Pauly, Zuri Washington, Alana Randall, Erin Mosher, Emilie Battle, Kaleb Wells, Nik Alexander, Adam Kemmerer, Michael Milkanin, Lincoln Clauss, Alex Deleo, Paulina Jurzec, Nick Martinez, and Tiernan Tunnicliffe.

“Just like the album Bat Out Of Hell, this musical was born to tour,” said Mr. Steinman. “I’m thrilled that the show has been so well received in the U.K., but not everyone can get to London, so I’m delighted that the producers decided to take the show on the road here. Very rock and roll! Andrew Polec is a rock god in the making and to have him take his performance as Strat on the road is going to make this a legendary show for music fans.”

Jim Steinman’s Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical is described as follows: “A romantic adventure about rebellious youth and passion set against the backdrop of a city in ruin. The Lost, an eternally young street tribe, battles against a tyrant desperate to keep the city under his control. But when a forbidden love is exposed, who will survive the war for the future of the city?”

The creative team for Bat Out Of Hell includes Jay Scheib as director, Emma Portner as choreographer, with musical supervision and additional arrangements by Michael Reed, set design by Jon Bausor, costume design by Mr. Bausor & Meentje Nielson, lighting design by Patrick Woodroffe, video design by Finn Ross, sound design by Gareth Owen, orchestration by Steve Sidwell, and musical direction by Ryan Cantwell.

“The three Bat Out Of Hell albums have sold a staggering 100 million copies globally. The first album, released in 1977, is one of the best-selling albums of all time and in 2003 was named one of “Greatest Albums of All Time” by Rolling Stone. Sixteen years later, Mr. Steinman scored again with Bat Out Of Hell II: Back Into Hell, which contained the massively successful single “I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That)” which reached number one in 28 countries and earned a Grammy® Award. The final album in the trilogy, Bat Out Of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose, debuted on Billboard’s Top 10 list, was a top-selling album in 14 other countries, and includes Meat Loaf’s hit version of the Steinman classic “It’s All Coming Back To Me Now.”

Mark Robinson is the author of the two-volume encyclopedia The World of Musicals, The Disney Song Encyclopedia, and The Encyclopedia of Television Theme Songs. He maintains a theater and entertainment blog at markrobinsonwrites.com.