Bat Out of Hell: classic rock musical returns to stage at Edinburgh Playhouse

The genius of writer Jim Steinman was evident in the hits he had for several artists, but none better than the interpretations from Meat Loaf and thus rewarded with million selling albums and tours until he died in January 2022. That titled album of 1977 preceded the stage musical, but Steinman had been working on this, an interpretation of Peter Pan and called it Neverland. The stage musical did not appear until February 2017 at Manchester Opera House before transferring to London Coliseum then on to Toronto the following year.

Now reimagined, this huge tour opens in Edinburgh and runs until September this year, taking in Aberdeen in March and Glasgow in April. The new format was on show for an arena tour of Australia and New Zealand and features an eight-piece band led by musical director Lestyn Griffiths.

For this tour Glenn Adamson plays Strat, Katie Tonkinson as Raven, Rob Fowler as Falco and Sharon Sexton as Sloane to cover some mighty big rock anthems. I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That), Paradise By The Dashboard Light, Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad, Dead Ringer For Love, You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night), and of course, Bat Out of Hell would all be showstoppers in any stage production then Steinman added a new song for the stage What part Of My Body Hurts The Most.

The fantasy story set in futuristic Manhattan surrounds the Lost Boys fleeing below the city to avoid the ruler Falco, but his daughter Raven finds the forever young Strat and in an instant attraction scenario threatens to destroy both families. In its time the musical has toured Canada, Germany and the US with shows in New York and a Las Vegas residency. It won ‘Best Musical’ in the Evening Standard Awards and was nominated for eight WhatsOnStageaAwards including ‘Best New Musical.’