The legendary Meat Loaf album, Bat Out of Hell , has been turned into a musical and will debut in New York City for a limited run. The play will feature music from the original album as well as its subsequent sequels, Bat Out of Hell 2: Back Into Hell and Bat Out of Hell 3: The Monster Is Loose .
Deadline reported that the production is scheduled for a six-week run beginning in August at New York City Center.
The cast includes Christina Bennington, who originated the role of Raven in London, Bradley Dean, Avionce Hoyles, Danielle Steers, and Tyrick Wiltez Jones. Additional cast members will continue to be announced as the dates draw near.
Deadline reported the musical is the story of Strat, the immortal leader of The Lost, who has fallen in love with Raven, the beautiful daughter of the tyrannical ruler Falco. The story somewhat mirrors the tale of two lovers told in Meat Loaf’s epic rock anthem “Paradise By the Dashboard Light,” where two young people in love and decide whether or not to take their physical relationship to the next level.
Deadline revealed that the following Meat Loaf classics will be featured in the musical — “You Took The Words Right Out of My Mouth,” “Bat Out Of Hell,” “I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That),” and “Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad,” as well as two previously unreleased songs, “What Part of My Body Hurts the Most” and “Not Allowed to Love.”
Prince Harry appeared solo at a performance of the play in England in December 2018 in support of the Invictus Games Foundation at London’s West End.
People Magazine reported that the royal delivered the following speech as he took the stage after the performance.
“I really wanted to come on the stage and say an enormous thank you to Bat Out of Hell for putting tonight on and to all of you for buying tickets and for any of you that didn’t know that this was for the Invictus Foundation, you now know and you have all played a part in making sure that we can continue the work that we do.”
Meat Loaf, otherwise known as Michael Lee Aday, was one of the biggest rock and roll stars of the 1970s. The Biography Channel reported that the concept album, which still sells over 200,000 copies a year, was written around the same time that Meat Loaf was cast in the iconic role of Eddie in the camp play The Rocky Horror Picture Show . The play, which originated in London, would eventually be made into a feature film starring Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick, Richard O’Brien, Patricia Quinn, Nell Campbell, Jonathan Adams, Peter Hinwood, Charles Gray, Jeremy Newson, Hilary Farr, and Meat Loaf himself.
Meat Loaf, alongside friend and songwriter Jim Steinman, would work on Bat Out Of Hell and search for a record deal, which led to the release of the album four years after it was originally conceived.
Meat Loaf and Steinman would reunite in 1993 for Bat Out Of Hell II , 16 years after the original album was released. It was a smash hit, selling over 15 million copies, reported Biography . The album’s lead single, titled “I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That),” reached the No. 1 spot in 28 countries.