‘Bat Out of Hell’ kicks off it’s second UK Tour at the Edinburgh Playhouse, bringing a bold arena style vision to the hit Jim Steinman and Meat Loaf musical. Based loosely on J.M Barrie’s Peter Pan, the story follows Raven as she escapes the grips of her corporate father (Falco), and escapes to join The Lost, headed by their rock n roll leader – Strat. ‘Bat Out of Hell’ plays the Edinburgh Playhouse till Saturday 11th January 2025.
Glenn Adamson returns in all his glory to play Strat. The performer has become synonymous with the role, having made an impression on audiences in the previous tour and now returning to continue to bring the beat to audiences in 2025. His performances of hits such as the title number ‘Bat Out of Hell’ and ‘I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That)’ are show stopping moments where Glenn gives every ounce of energy he has to bring a stunning rendition of these iconic hits. Glenn is accompanied on stage by Katie Tonkinson as Raven. Katie brings naivety and a desire for more in her life. A highlight of her performance is her powerhouse rendition of ‘It’s All Coming Back To Me Now’, with the audience captivated throughout.
Our two protagonists have a mighty antagonist to defeat in the form of Rob Fowler as the devilishly devious Falco. Rob radiates sleaze and a controlling nature to bring this antagonist to life, whilst also supplying killer vocals to amplify the character. Sharon Sexton portrays Sloane, Falco’s long-suffering wife, her comedic portrayal is highly enjoyable to behold. The comedic nuance doesn’t stop Sharon from getting stuck into the incredible music featured in this production. Her performances in ‘Paradise By The Dashboard Light’ and ‘It’s All Coming Back To Me Now’ showcase Sharon’s incredible vocals.
Assisting Glenn in heading up The Lost is Georgia Bradshaw as Zahara and Ryan Carter as Jagwire. The pair do a great job in bringing a truly rocking couple to life which is very much radiated during their incredible performance of ‘Dead Ringer For Love’. Carla Bertran is cheeky, naive and a killer dancer as Tink – inspired by Tinkerbell, there is more so an inspiration to the source material than seen in the previous tour.
The ensemble of this production embody Falco’s guards and members of the lost whilst delivering energetic choreography and sublime vocals. The ensemble for this production are as follows; Luke Street (Ledoux), Carly Burns (Valkyrie), Leo Abad (Denim), Peter Camilleri (O’Dessasuite), Joshua Dever (Hoffman), Reece Duncan (Esquivel/Swing), Georgia Holland (Goddesilla/Swing), Georgia Iudica-Davies (Liebeshwoosh), Natalie Pilkington (Kwaidan), Harriet Richardson-Cockerline (Spinotti). Sophie-Rose Emery (Scherzzo), Catherine Saunders (Mordema/Swing/Dance Captain) Craig Watson (Astroganger/Swing/Resident Director & Fight Captain) and Ethan Tanner (Markevitch).
Jay Scheib returns to direct ‘Bat Out of Hell’ – this second UK tour has been formatted as a arena tour. Whilst this is a bold concept, for a musical to take an arena style tour on it’s second outing, it doesn’t have the concrete foundation to do so. The musical’s original tour was a strong concept with an impressive set and gritty storyline, this production has removed a chunk of the dialogue and also cut some musical numbers, with the tower block set piece also removed. This removes the grit and context that the audience need for first time viewing which makes it inaccessible for new audience members to grasp the storyline. Jim Steinman’s original book although flimsy at points, it still brought audiences great entertainment, in this version, it has been cut back too heavily with the audience struggling at points to keep track of what is going on. However, Scheib knows the power of Steinman’s music and lyrics, he turns up the volume with Iestyn Griffiths’ musical direction to let the music be the emphasis in this new vision. The music has never sounded better, especially with this incredibly talented cast, however in terms of a musical rather than a concert, without the narrative to back it up, it seems hollow. The decision to have the actors use hand held microphones rather than head mics is also a choice which leans into the arena style, however it seems clunky and restrictive at points.
Jon Bausor’s set and costume design is brilliant bringing a futuristic dystopian world whilst also embracing the rock and roll aura of the production. Patrick Woodroffe’s original lighting design has been amplified by Dan Light and Rob Casey, the two bring more energy to musical numbers truly amplifying the visuals of each number accompanied by Finn Ross’ video design. One critique would be that the follow stops are movers on this production and struggled at points to follow the actor’s track. This could be teething issues at the start of the tour, however it is something which was distracting for myself and other audience members.
Xena Gusthart’s adapted choreography brings loads of energy to numbers and utilises the ensemble well, it is a feast for the eyes, utilising the space well to bring a lot of action to these iconic rock hits.
‘Bat Out of Hell’ is a bold production which brings Jim Steinman and Meat Loafs music to stage with incredibly talented performers. However, creative decisions have cut back the context of this musical making the narrative inaccessible and losing some of the quality of the original UK tour.
Get tickets here – https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/bat-out-of-hell/edinburgh-playhouse/
Theatre Scotland 
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