Starting this Thursday, Blacksburg will have a monster on its hands (accompanied by a sharp musical theme and a healthy dose of comedy.) The Performing Arts Center of Virginia Tech is showing ?Bat Boy: The Musical? at Squires Studio Theater.
In this unique play, the elements of comedy, music and horror intertwine to create a musical that makes fun of musicals, a comedy that laughs with its characters and a horror tale with real social implications.
The story takes place in Hope Falls, W.Va., as a few townies stumble upon Bat Boy while spelunking in a cave. The characters? sense of ?Christian charity? persuades them to keep Bat Boy alive, but also allows them to exclude Bat Boy from their notions of civilized humanity.
A family adopts the Bat Boy, renames him Edgar and tries to assimilate him into society. But Edgar?s sinister origins cannot be escaped, due to his undying thirst for blood. His quest for love, identity and acceptance in small-town life reveals the full spectrum of humanity?s implications, even its darkest underbelly.
Edgar?s monologues and solos echo the tragedy of ?The Phantom of the Opera,? wavering between a desperate hopefulness and angry despair. The Bat Boy exposes the hidden impulses of the town members: the sexuality, fear and shame that they hide under their cloaks of Christian goodness.
Doug Zschiegner, director of the production, said it has been an international phenomenon.
?It?s becoming a cult musical,? Zschiegner said.
Zschiegner employs the story written by Keythe Farley and Brian Flemming, which is based on a Bat Boy gimmick in the headlines of Weekly World News. A five-piece rock band booms out the music and lyrics written by Laurence O?Keefe.
?It references a very wide range of existing stories, especially iconic horror stories about ?the monster.? A lot of the conventions of horror are built in,? Zschiegner said.
Zschiegner explains that the play references ?Dracula? and ?Frankenstein? as well as several musicals such as ?West Side Story? and ?My Fair Lady.? But underneath all of the spoofing there are thought-provoking psychological concepts, particularly the Jungian idea of ?the beast inside.?
?This is a play that?s edgy and adult, with some serious ideas in it. But it?s also fun to watch for college students,? Zscheigner said.
Scott Kelly, a stage manager for ?Bat Boy: The Musical? and graduate student working on his master in fine arts, said that it has been five years since the Performing Arts Center at Tech has done a musical.
?We?re trying to appeal to people who usually roll their eyes at musicals ? It?s an adult musical with adult themes,? Kelly said. ?There are a number of issues that speak to our community: issues of tolerance addressing some of the attitudes that tend to be prevalent in the South.?
?Bat Boy: The Musical? will be playing at Squires Studio Theater at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 2-4, Nov. 7-11 and Nov. 14-16, and there will be 2 p.m. shows on Nov. 5 and Nov. 12. Tickets are available at Squires Ticket Office, open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. General admission tickets are $9 and student tickets are $7. Flighty audience members should take heed: the play includes violence, adult language and sexual situations.