Bat Boy: The Musical

While many musicals are known for having memorable songs, there’s more to a musical than catchy tunes. Stories, for instance. Most of the great musicals have plots and characters that are as engaging as the music and lyrics. The plots come from many sources, including movies, novels, biographies and plays. In the case of Bat Boy: The Musical, the story is ripped from the headlines of a supermarket tabloid. CGOA Stages’ latest production opens May 3rd at the Columbia Center for the Arts and, in the words of director Ashly Will, it’s both “ridiculous and touching.”

Bat Boy: The Musical is based on a Weekly World News story from 1992 about a half-boy, half-bat found living in a cave. Many people will remember the eye-catching tabloid image of the wide-eyed, sharp-fanged creature. The musical, premiered in 1997, expanded and invented the story of the bat boy, who learns to speak and wants to be accepted by mainstream society. In other words, the story goes from being a tabloid-selling headline to a narrative with many themes, including hypocrisy, acceptance, forgiveness, racism, revenge and scapegoating. 

If that sounds way too heavy for a simple rock musical with a ridiculous premise, audiences should be rest assured that the messages are tucked safely away inside infectious pop music, traditional Broadway-style tunes, comedy and at least as much laughter as the occasional tear. Like the tabloid headline that inspired it, Bat Boy: The Musical embraces the weird, whacky and colorfully exaggerated characters and situations.

CGOA Stages’ production of Bat Boy: The Musical is the latest show in a long-running series of musicals that has included Pirates of Penzance, Spamalot, The Last Five Years, Fun Home, Mamma Mia, Chicago, West Side Story, Rent and Little Shop of Horrors. The show is directed by veteran actor and director Ashly Will, who recently directed The Rocky Horror Show for Big Britches at the Bingen Theatre. The cast is made up of familiar local actors and quite a few new faces joining Stages for the first time.

Bat Boy: The Musical is being staged at the Columbia Center for the Arts, whose theatre has long been the home for outstanding musicals and other performing arts events. Bat Boy: The Musical is the first CGOA Stages production at CCA, and is the result of an exciting new partnership. Speaking of partnerships, the musical is being funded in part by season sponsor Columbia Gorge Toyota and Honda, as well as hundreds of CGOA members, donors and sponsors.

Bat Boy: The Musical runs May 3,4,10,11,17 and 18 at 7:30 PM and May 5 and 12 at 2 PM. Tickets are $30 for adults, $20 for CGOA members and $10 for youth age 17 and under.   Tickets are available at gorgeorchestra.org. Bat Boy: The Musical is rated “PG-13” for violence and references to sexual assault.

Bat Boy: The Musical is not the end of the CGOA season of performances. On June 14,15 and 16, the Gorge Sinfonietta presents Our American Home, with music by Aaron Copland, Samuel Barber and George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with guest soloist Mitchell Jett Spencer. The concerts also include the world premiere of Nicole Buetti’s Spirit of Wind and Water. On June 23, the CGOA Jazz Collective Big Band presents a special concert at Columbia Gorge Toyota and Honda in The Dalles. 

Tickets and information about all events can be found at gorgeorchestra.org.  

The Columbia Gorge Orchestra Association is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and presenting musical performances of the highest quality in the Columbia River Gorge region. With a commitment to artistic excellence and education, the Association brings the joy of music to audiences of all ages.