Bat Boy @New York City Center

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The Play: Bat Boy; a fully-staged version of the horror comedy inspired by the old supermarket tabloid headlines about the discovery of a boy who is half human and half bat that is both a morality tale about how society treats outsiders and a loving send-up of musical tropes from the montage-like transformation of a waif (the intentional shout-out here is to My Fair Lady’s “Rain in Spain”) to the rousing gospel number sung by a heavyset black person (this show has two of those)  

Story & book by: Keythe Farley & Brian Flemming    Music & lyrics by: Laurence O’Keefe      Directed by: Alex Timbers

One good thing: Encores! always puts together a top-shelf cast and this one is packed with scene stealers—Andrew Durand, Jacob-Ming Trent, Alex Newell, Christopher Sieber, Marissa Jaret Winokur and Kerry Butler who appeared as the ingenue in the original 1997 production and is now back in a terrific turn in the vital role of that character’s mom—but the true stand out is Taylor Trensch who, wearing a bald cap and Spock ears, not only aces the title character’s awkward physicality while hitting all the role's demanding comedy and musical notes but also brings out a sweet earnestness in the character that may turn off fans who have made this show a cult favorite but that unexpectedly charmed me

One not-so-great thing: No musicians onstage. I know that the orchestrations for this show call for a small band but having the players onstage is part of what makes Encores! special and I missed seeing them here 

 

 


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