Commemorating the passing of its creators, Bat Out of Hell tours the UK, stopping at The Alhambra where Leo Owen caught the show

From its opening, Bat Out of Hell throws the audience straight into Jim Steinman’s warped dystopian rock opera. Raven’s first lines, like much of the show’s narration has the ethereal quality of Jim Morrison’s spoken word but is delivered with ferocity: “I was barely 17 and I once killed a boy with a fender guitar”. This reflective start takes us back in time to Raven’s awakening to the world beyond her protective bubble.

Steinman’s post-apocalyptic vision, imagines life after a chemical war where gangs of youths branded “The Lost” live in subway tunnels, their DNA frozen at 18. Raven is one of the lucky ones, able to age and guarded by her powerful father, she lives a privileged indoor existence, even sheltered from bad dreams by nightly suppressants. Desperate to befriend the “wasted youth” her father seeks to obliterate, she sneaks out and meets Strat (Glenn Adamson) one of the “lost” teens forever adolescent, prompting both the show’s love story and central conflict.

Unable to secure the blessing of J.M Barrie’s estate to develop a rock ‘n’ roll version of Peter Pan entitled Neverland, Steinman instead produced Bat Out of Hell, still keeping obvious elements of Barrie’s story. A real passion project, first conceived in the 1970s, Bat Out of Hell the stage show took 40 years to come to fruition, only after Meat Loaf and Steinman earlier released songs originally written for the show as an album trilogy.

Fans of Meat Loaf will relish the familiar numbers with whole ensemble renditions of “Anything for Love” and “Bat Out of Hell”. Luckily, all principal singers expertly carry Steinman’s challenging songs with an especially impressive “Heaven Can Wait” solo from Martha Kirby as Raven, powerhouse duets in “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now” and a glitzy rendition of “Dead Ringer for Love”, including a memorable duet from Joelle Moses as Zahara and James Chisholm as Jagwire. “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” is a playful rather seductive number, sung by Raven’s parents splayed out on a blue convertible with Rob Fowler as the tyrannical Falco and Laura Johnson as Sloane. “Objects in the Rear View Mirror May Appear Closer Than They Are” is a particularly touching song, mourning lost times and friends.

The company are dressed in revealing punky attire, motorbikes feature heavily on stage and the set is split with the rear segment behind a screen, depicting inside Raven’s bedroom. On stage filming of the cast is played onto a screen in real time, creating a retro vibe like an old skool music video and also an eerie feeling of being watched, perhaps by the less fortunate “Lost”. The screen is also cleverly used for blurred cityscapes and a crash effect that visually wows.

Sexually-charged eye-popping performances with stunning vocals and melodrama make Bat Out of Hell like a sinister panto. Adamson gives an impressive performance, feverish and slightly crazed, clearly inspired by Meat Loaf’s manic energy. Expect a wall of sound, full sensory overload and to be on your feet at the end for a cast who undoubtedly deserve their standing ovation.

Bat Out of Hell showed at The Alhambra until Saturday June 11th before continuing its tour of the UK: batoutofhellmusical.com/uk-tour