Review: Batboy has identity crisis at TLP

“It was good!” “It was funny!” “That was different!” Those were the audience members reactions after opening night of Bat Boy, The Musical at Timber Lake Playhouse. The show begins with 3 siblings spelunking deeper in a cave than they ever have before. Suddenly one of them sees something moving. They think it’s a cave monster but then discover it’s part boy – part bat. It’s Batboy! Dr. Parker’s family decides to take him in and they begin to bond with him. He is a quick learner and he becomes more boy than bat. But when 22 cows turn up dead the townspeople of Hope Falls, West Virginia aren’t so accepting of Batboy and Dr. Parker’s jealousy isn’t helping any.

The live band was great. The acting was good; nobody did a really outstanding acting performance. The singing went from some great performances to good performances. I’d say the best musical performance goes to Bat Boy played by Jay Reynolds, Jr. He has a great “musical” voice. Best supporting musical and acting performance goes to David Murray, who plays Mrs. Taylor (the siblings’ mother) and Reverend Hightower. As the Reverend he sings a soulful “A Joyful Noise” that everyone in the audience loved and was the best musical performance. The Company performances were more rock-n-roll than the individuals and I really liked their songs. The night we were there, several of the audience members were adolescent theater goers and they really enjoyed the show. With intermission, total time was just over 2 hours.

I thought the audience really enjoyed the show but I think it suffers from an identity crisis. It starts out as a rock-n-roll musical like Hair, and when it shows its funny side I started to think this could be a really great show. I even liked the introduction of rap by Zach Powell. Then BatBoy, The Musical turns into an old fashioned musical with a lot of drama. Finally it tries to be a spoof by having men dress as women as it makes fun.

I would have liked it to have been funnier especially in the middle of the first act when it begins to drag a bit. More contemporary music would have made it more upbeat. The show was good and when it was funny, it was laugh-out-loud funny. Act II does get better and the ending has lots of twists and turns. If you like musicals go see Bat Boy, The Musical now through July 8. If you want to see a comedy, make your reservation for Funny Money beginning July 12.

Remember, “don’t deny your beast inside”.

(by Barb Benson, Guest Columnist)