I remember vividly the first time I saw Meat Loaf on television. It was over the Christmas holiday in 1978 when my wife, her sister and her husband and my mother-in-law, were watching the Old Grey Whistle Test Review of the Year. Whilst not prudes, my relatives were hardly down and dirty, so the atmosphere created during Paradise By The Dashboard Light could be cut with a knife, bums shuffled on seats, eyes were averted and the kettle put on for a nice cup of tea as an excuse to take a break until the danger had passed and maybe James Taylor might follow. To see what I am talking about go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rghYaxOtIY . Remember, it was 1978 and the Christmas No.1 was Mary’s Boy Child by Boney M!

Even with all of the stuff available nowadays (there were still only three tv channels back then) it still seems pretty raw, and, try as they might, the cast of this musical, could not replicate the electricity of the original. Please don’t get me wrong, this is a great show, featuring the songs of Jim Steinman, but the eroticism, although much in evidence, seemed a bit too sanitised. The strategic tears in the fishnet tights and the grime smeared on the faces of The Lost gang, can’t properly recreate the primal sweat and sleaze of Mr Aday’s OGWT performance, but I suppose that there being a large cast who need to be meticulously choreographed, by Xena Gusthart, the opportunities for spontaneity were limited.

The cast, featuring No.31 Ryan Carter as Jagwire, No.28 Carla Bertran as Tink, and, at the front, Georgia Bradshaw as Zahara.

The story is pretty irrelevant, but, being by Jim Steinman, highly convoluted, and simply a means by which to stage the brilliant songs. It is (very loosely) based on Peter Pan – no, really – and someone else who may be familiar. Set in the dystopian city of Obsidian, formerly, Manhattan, where a subterranean-living gang, known as The Lost, are protesting against Falco, (Rob Fowler) the despotic leader of the city, outside his home, Falco Towers in Falco Square. Ring any bells? Would it help if I said he had an eccentric hairstyle? There is a scuffle between Falco’s uniformed soldiers and The Lost, during which Strat, (Luke Street) the leader of the gang, has his shirt ripped off. Falco’s daughter, Raven, played by Katie Tonkinson, goes outside to see what the commotion is and comes across the garment, her eyes meet Strat’s and they are drawn to one another.

Katie Tonkinson as Raven

After the demo has been brutally quelled, Falco returns home and grounds Raven for ever. He then discusses with his wife, Sloane (Harriet Richardson-Cockerline) how he wants to make Obsidian great again – now you’ve got it – by building new housing where The Lost’s tunnels are, thus necessitating their destruction. Meanwhile, Raven is trying on Strat’s shirt, when he climbs in through her bedroom window and steals a magazine with her photograph on it. She sees him but he makes his getaway just as Sloane comes in. Raven asks Sloane about The Lost and she says that there was a chemical warfare incident and an earthquake 25 years previously during which a group of teenagers were trapped in a poison-filled tunnel, and while not killing them, their genes were frozen, meaning they would be eighteen forever. It being Raven’s eighteenth birthday – what a coincidence, Sloane gives her her old biker jacket as a present. She also imparts a piece of advice in that she should not make the same mistake as she did and should break free to find true love.

The following day, there is an altercation between two of The Lost; Tink (Carla Bertran) and Zahara, (Georgia Bradshaw) who is both a gang member and a nurse at Falco Towers, when they each try to come on to Strat. The result is that they have a fall out. Zahara, who is in a dwindling relationship with another gang member, Jagwire, (Ryan Carter) advises Strat to forget Raven but he declines and decides to see her again.

Rob Fowler as Falco

It is party time at Falco Towers and Raven is once again denied being able to leave the premises to hang out with the gang so a row ensues, eventually calmed by Sloane, who proceeds to get jiggy with it while duetting with her husband on Paradise By The Dashboard Light, causing Raven to leave in disgust. I don’t think that it was to put the kettle on for a nice cup of tea though.

The parents enter her room to apologise and tuck her into bed, which is handy as Strat then arrived via the window, so it saved him a job. They have a talk during which Strat tells her what it is like to be one of The Lost and she confides in him that she can’t dream as Falco has given her dream suppressant medication. They agree to go out for one night, but, as they are about to make use of her being in a recumbent position, Zahara bursts in to warn them that Falco is coming. If you think I am following that up with some salacious comment, you were nearly right, but I decided to let you make up your own joke. They disappear out of the window and flee on Jagwire’s motorbike but Raven changes her mind, afraid of what her father would do to Strat, and jumps off. Strat gets back on the bike and drives like a Bat out of Hell, crashing it. Zahara and Tink discover his ‘body’ and call the emergency services who take him away.

Katie Tonkinson as Raven pictured with Glenn Adamson as Strat who was played by Luke Street on the night.

Raven sees Falco with Strat’s shirt and accuses him of murder but he just reminds her of the consequences he pointed out in her hanging out with The Lost.

Zahara takes Raven to where she and Twink have secretly been looking after Strat, who has miraculously survived the crash. She gives Raven an antidote to the dream suppressants and the lovers are reunited.

The following day, Falco and Sloane have a blazing row, after which Sloane walks out on him and goes with Zahara to where Strat and Raven are hiding. The rest of The Lost arrive and a wedding is held. Sloane accepts Strat into the family and all is well. Raven admits that she can now dream for the first time. They are just about to consummate the marriage when Tink arrives and urges Raven to go home as Falco is on the warpath. As Tink still has a thing for Strat, she takes Falco to where he is hiding out, stipulating that no one should get hurt. Obviously Falco reneges on his promise and during the celebrations they burst in with his militia. During the violence, Strat accidentally shoots Tink. He orders Raven to go away so she returns to Falco Towers, blaming her father for everything, and becomes a recluse.

Glenn Adamson as Strat, who was played by Luke Street on the night, and Katie Tonkinson as Raven.

Six months later Strat utilises Raven’s bedroom window in Falco Towers again and the two reconcile, as do Sloane and Falco, when she realises that she can’t recapture her lost youth. Although Raven is not frozen in time, Strat says he will love her forever, even though she will age. It all ends happily with Falco, having discovered redemption through rock and roll, being back with Sloane, Raven with Strat and Zahara with Jagwire. Ahhhh!

All of that, of course, doesn’t matter one little bit, we were all there to hear the songs of the brilliant storyteller, Jim Steinman. Not only were there Meat Loaf’s Greatest Hits, but others, made famous by Celine Dion – It’s All Coming Back To Me Now, and one of my all-time favourite ‘our songs’ – Making Love Out Of Nothing At All by Air Supply, which still brings a tear to an old man’s eye. You should have seen the other half of ‘our’.

The staging lived up to the restrained performances of Mr Loaf, with the kitchen sink, cooker and dishwasher all thrown at it. There were frequent explosions causing showers of gold and silver metallic effect paper strips to cover the audience in the first few rows of the stalls, and two huge flame machines employed at strategic points during one song. I was in Row F and could feel the heat. There were also subtle effects with a beautiful light show projecting small coloured ‘dancing’ beams onto the amazing ornate ceiling of the auditorium.

The flame throwers, video screens and the band

The set was very imaginatively laid out, with the main area being Falco Square, the interior of Falco Towers, or the home of The Lost, with a tunnel down which they kept disappearing. Raven’s room was an open-fronted structure above the stage with bed, dressing table etc. There was also a superb video technique employed with a cameraman taking close ups of the action which were displayed on two large screens to the back of the stage. This became as much a feature of the production as did the storyline.

Something else incorporated into the action, was the band, who were raised above the stage to the same elevation as Raven’s room but on the other side. This gave a true rock concert feel to the set pieces. The singing was done superbly, but the voices were a little over trained to have the growl and depth of the Loaf.

The only thing I couldn’t get on with was the way in which the actors had hand-held microphones for singing and, sometimes dialogue. The eroticism of the interaction during the numbers was diluted by them obviously addressing an audience with the songs, rather than their co actors, even though the implements were phallic in shape.

Sharon Sexton as Sloane, who was played by Harriet Richardson-Cockerline on the night and Rob Fowler as Falco, who was played by Rob Fowler on the night! An intimate moment with a glass of wine and two hand mics. I suppose all of that loud rock music affects your hearing.

So, the set was great, the effects were breathtaking but the microphones were a disappointment, still, in the words of another Jim Steinman song, covered by the hunky rock god, Barry Manilow, Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad!

A couple of observations to end with: first, there was a young lady sitting on a chair raised above the stage in front of the band, who was casually leafing through the score while those around were either fighting or ‘getting together,’ seemingly oblivious to the shenanigans. Second was during Bat out of Hell when Strat and Raven were on a motorcycle apparently causing a sonic boom down the highway. The front wheel of the chopper was revolving slower than a lazy Susan on a restaurant table. I assume it had a speed limiter for British performances so as not to get a ticket in a 20mph Zone.

For a night of rock and roll and raunch, get your tickets at https://leedsheritagetheatres.com/whats-on/bat-out-of-hell-2025/ but disable your speed limiter as it is only on until Saturday, 26th April.

For other shows at Leeds Heritage Theatres it is https://leedsheritagetheatres.com/whats-on

Details of the dates on the rest of the tour can be found at https://batoutofhellmusical.com/ where you can see more about the cast and creatives.

Photographs by Chris Davis Studio

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