Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country
Founded 05-05-05
March 29, 2007 issue
Bat Boy: The Musical Comes to ASU’s Valborg Theater April 18 to 22
Story by David Brewer
Lock up your children and draw the blinds. Several reports have recently been made of Boone sightings of the infamous Bat Boy. The fanged monster from West Virginia that feasts on the blood of anything in its path has been featured many times since the early 1990s in the pages of the Weekly World News tabloid and is now roaming the ASU campus.
From Wednesday, April 18 to Sunday, April 22, ASU’s Department of Theatre and Dance will present Bat Boy: The Musical in the Valborg Theatre. Show times are 8:00 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday, with a matinee performance on Sunday at 2:00.
Written by Keythe Farley, Brian Fleming and Laurence O’Keefe, Bat Boy: The Musical is a classic love story with a serious bite. This twist on the modern-day musical comedy tells the story of a strange boy with pointy ears, his struggle to find a place in a world that shuns him and the love that can create both miracles and madness.
Having recently directed ASU productions of Closets are for Clothes and Fool of the World, ASU’s Theater Education Program Coordinator Gordon Hensley said the play is a campy rock musical unlike any recent production at ASU.
“[The play] is very fun loving with that cult-classic feeling,” said Hensley. “It has that Jekyll/Hyde theme: the inner beast.”
Though the play contains adult themes considered inappropriate for children, Hensley said that the production opts for tasteful treatment of the material instead of the graphic violence that has been typical of productions of the play.
Premiering on October 31, 1997, at Tim Robbins’ Actors’ Gang Theatre, Bat Boy has since been produced Off-Broadway, in London’s West End, at the Edinburgh Festival and in scores of productions throughout the world. The musical was awarded best Off-Broadway musical by both the Lucille Lortel Award and the Outer Critics Circle Award in 2001. A movie version is planned for production this year.
ASU’s production features set design by Jeromy Hopgood and intelligent lighting by John Marty. The rest of the design team includes theatre students Matt Tyson on props, costume design by Kahlyn Stoltzfus and makeup by Tim Ames. Theatre major Kelsey Head is the stage manager; James Houston and Brandy Cantrell are assistant stage managers.
Cast members for Bat Boy: The Musical include Ira Sargent as Bat Boy, Mykal Smith as Shelly, Corley May as Meredith, Kyle Baird as Parker and Brian Seagroves as the sheriff. Rounding out the ensemble in multiple roles are Jordan Lance, Corey Monk, Andrew Parcell, Chase McNeill, Justin Attkisson, Mary Beth Hoots, Samantha Corey, Amanda Phillips and Desiree Ricker.
Tickets for the play are $6 for students and $10 for the general public and can be purchased by calling 828-262-3063. For more info, click to www.theatre.appstate.edu.
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Want To Go?
Date: Wednesday, April 18 to Sunday, April 22
Time: 8:00 p.m./2:00 p.m. on Sunday
Location: Valborg Theatre, ASU
Cost: $6 for students/$10 for general public