‘Father of the Power Ballad’, sublime athematic songwriter (“Total Eclipse of the Heart”, “Holding Out For A Hero”, “Falling Into You”, most of Meat Loaf’s catalogue) Jim Steinman’s 50-year-old dystopian Peter Pan rock opera vision, shelved to instead become the theatrical and unique Bat Out Of Hell album, finally came to fruition in 2017 snatching awards galore and is already back around on a sell-out tour.
The storyline hardly bears scrutiny, lost in a muddle of '80s B-movies, '50s American Dream, Rocky Horror Show, Rock Of Ages, kitsch and J M Barrie as mutant Lost Teens maraud through pipes and tunnels connecting the dismal Deep End with the seemingly post-apocalyptic city run by tyrant Falco (Rob Fowler, Mamma Mia!). Why the kids are lost or frozen is unexplained, although swift nods at orphanages and domestic violence provide an unsatisfactory back-story here and there.
Jon Bausor’s staging is brooding and dark, Rob Casey / Patrick Woodroffe’s lighting atmospheric and there is plenty of fire and shiny confetti as the band of youths strut in fishnets, leathers and tulle.
Rebel leader Strat (a divisively and disturbingly wild-eyed and manic American Idiot’s Glenn Adamson, whose voice is superb and more than capable of thrilling through the iconic pieces with first-half closer “Bat Out Of Hell” a triumph) is obsessed by Falco’s daughter Raven (Kate Tonkinson—Bonnie in the UK tour of Bonnie and Clyde). He has that question to ask on a summer’s night hot enough to warrant scant costuming by Bausor / Meentje Nielsen and bare-chested motorbiking.
Meanwhile, ex-stud Dad dishes out anti-dream meds (what’s that about?) and is deadset on thwarting (and out-thrusting) the gesticulating bad boy while mum (a show-stealing performance by the electrifying and ubiquitous Sharon Sexton) puts aside the booze for long enough to remember those teenage urges—cue “Paradise By the Dashboard Light” explicit nostalgia—and pass down her treasured biker’s jacket.
Zahara (Georgia Bradshaw: A Night With Janis Joplin, Sunset Boulevard) and Jagwire (Motown the Musical’s Ryan Carter) ooze the chemistry missing in the other couples with “Two out of Three Ain’t Bad” convincing and nicely balanced, while Luke Street (Jesus Christ Superstar and alternate Strat) and Carly Burns (Blood Brothers) catch the eye and ear with captivating vocals and sensitivity, particularly in “Objects In the Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer Than They Are”.
Carla Bertran is a diminutive, consumed-with-jealousy Tink, betrayed despite a handshake, while the company are high-octane and add depth to the choruses and execute Xena Gusthart’s choreography with great verve and enthusiasm. Several line up as very weird servants-cheerleaders at a disastrous birthday party, perhaps to relieve the incessant gloom and tension with a comedic interlude.
The live band tucked into the backdrop and part-hidden in Raven’s bedroom adds palpable dimension and keeps the iconic soundtrack coming, with “I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That)”, “Dead Ringer For Love” and “You Took The Words Right Out of My Mouth” particularly invoking much silent sing-a-longs.
Two large screens allow scene-shifting projections and focus with an on-stage videographer filming the action (or inaction) in Raven’s room.
Interesting and frustrating, but the take-home is the fabulous score and tremendous voices.