If you were in the supermarket in the early 90s, chances are you would recognize Bat Boy’s face; he did grace the cover of several Weekly World News magazines, and went on quite a journey. Now, this winged creature is the star of an incredible musical. Though I missed the original off-Broadway run years ago, I was thrilled to get a chance to see BAT BOY: THE MUSICAL from Open Fist Productions at the Atwater Village Theater.

In a story that seems awfully relevant to the world today, a young bat boy is taken from a cave and into the world, where he has to learn how to be a proper human, and deal with all the hate he is getting from the misguided townsfolk. The show is as timely now as it was when it first debuted. If the message of love and acceptance is what they are trying to get across, they succeeded…especially because  it came wrapped in a hilarious musical package.

Bat Boy: The Musical throws a million jokes at your face every minute, from the dialogue, to the side characters arguing as they walk off stage, to every single song. Everything has a touch of absurdity to it, really leaning into it, and the story is even better for it.

Ben Raanan as the titular character was quite literally a force; from his melodic vocalizations when we first meet him, to his full-fledged transformation of a “human” belting out lyrics, we were seriously impressed! Hell, he even sang upside down at one point, hitting a note that was truly a sight to behold. Standing by his side was Bethany Koulias as Shelly, Bat Boy’s friend, who was equally as good. The story came alive whenever she was on stage. Even little things she did on stage, unnoticed by most, deepened her connection to the character and really made Shelly feel real.

In fact, the entire cast was incredible. If you ever heard the phrase “they made a meal out of it,” it definitely applies here. Even with the most minor of stage directions, every single person in the cast had several stand-out moments. The characters were larger than life, really making the town of slack-jawed yokels stand out. The local cow farmers? Hilarious. The Mayor and her associates? Delightful. The Sheriff and the towns folks? I couldn’t get enough of.

Honestly, I want to say so much more about this show, but I don’t want to spoil the fun. It gets more ridiculous and off the wall as it goes one, with some pretty shocking reveals and moments at the end that had us gasping for air both out of surprise and from laughing so hard.

Open Fist Theatre Company put on one hell of a show, and I highly recommend going to see this. Bat Boy: The Musical is delightfully hilarious from start to finish.
The show runs through April 6th at the Atwater Village Theater. Please see their website for more details at: https://openfist.org/