Bat Out Of Hell

Curve Leicester

9th June 2025

For rock fans wanting to take a trip to Hell, or for the diehard fanatics wanting to make a return visit, cult hit ‘Bat Out Of Hell’ has been touring the country since the start of the year. Previously a hit in its Manchester tryout and successful London run in 2017, the musical brings a string of Meat Loaf hits written by Jim Steinman to the stage in a show which has divided critics but enraptured audiences, especially those who like their music loud. Now about halfway through its tour, the show plays Leicester’s Curve this week.

To recap the plot is…. Well, largely unnecessary as there isn’t really much of one going on any more. Previous productions told a (slightly) more detailed story of a group of teenagers (‘The Lost’), forever frozen at 18 years old because of a chemical leak, and their turf war rebellion spearheaded by Strat (played by Glenn Adamson) against a tyrannical ruler (Falco, understudied on Press Night by Joshua Dever), with a forbidden love story involving Falco’s daughter Raven (understudied by Sophie-Rose Emery) at the centre of it. Following significant changes to Steinman’s book, now only shadows of that story exist, and only returning audiences will have much of an idea of what’s going on. In essence, it’s a spin on ‘Peter Pan’ with themes of mortality and eternal love, but with the much-reduced book and narrative, new audiences won’t get much of a sense of that.

‘Bat Out Of Hell’ was previously known for its stage spectacle, much of which has been toned down (inevitably for touring), and Jay Scheib’s new production definitely lacks the “wow” factor that it had previously. The stage (design by Jon Bausor) now comprises little more than scaffolding and a tunnel, along with two large video screens which either display generic backdrops of cityscapes or fire, or are used to live-stream closeups of the cast, which achieves little, perhaps meant to distract from the lack of substance happening onstage. The cast also perform with hand-held microphones, presumably to give the production a “rockier” feel, but instead it just reminds us that this is a stage show and these are actors, and it constantly breaks the spell. It’s a show that absolutely puts the music first, perhaps rightly, but at the detriment of everything else. We never get to learn much about the characters, who they are, or what they want. According to the programme, most of the secondary characters have names, but they’re barely mentioned, if at all. Some of the audience won’t mind too much about this, they only want the next song. But for others, it makes for a hugely unsatisfying theatrical experience.

The score is, without question, theatrically epic and thrilling throughout. The original ‘Bat Out Of Hell’ was originally developed from a musical entitled ‘Neverland’ by Steinman back in 1974, so it’s no surprise that musically it translates so well to the stage. The gothic richness in the music bursts out from every number, guitars thrash and drums crash and the orchestra (led by MD Iestyn Griffiths) really do bring it to hellish life. Likewise, the accompanying vocals are uniformly excellent, with all of the leading performers hitting no shortage of high notes with an enviable effortlessness. It’s dramatic, decadent and dangerous, and sure to set pulses aflame.

With little to work with in terms of characters, the cast are instead forced to pour all of their energies into their vocals, which are undeniably outstanding. Glenn Adamson pours his soul onto the stage and displays a vocal range that should rightly keep him in throat sweets for the rest of his life, but he makes it look easy. Luke Street (playing Ledoux but also performing as the alternate Strat at certain performances) also makes a standout impression and adds some fine pipes to the proceedings, as do Georgia Bradshaw and Ryan Carter as Zahara and Jagwire respectively. Sharon Sexton also continues her long association with the show and continues to impress as Falco’s wife Sloane, finding new ways to keep the role fresh and consistently delivering.

If all you’re looking for is a string of Meat Loaf covers sung incredibly well and backed by an orchestra you can feel in your chest, then ‘Bat Out Of Hell’ absolutely delivers that. But it falls far, far short of the “musical” it purports to be, especially in light of the narrative reductions from former productions, and anyone looking for a deeper piece of theatre may instead feel like they’re trapped in the ninth circle looking for the way out.

‘Bat Out Of Hell’ runs at Leicester’s Curve until Saturday 14th June 2025 before continuing on its UK tour. Details at https://batoutofhellmusical.com/#tickets

Performance runtime 2 hours 25 minutes including interval.