Umbrella cast, crew sinking their teeth into ‘Bat Boy’

Five gallons of stage blood have landed at Umbrella Arts Center for its next musical, but director Jeremy Johnson hopes audiences leave thinking about more than the carnage.

“Bat Boy: The Musical” is a mix of comedy, horror, and tragedy that follows a creature discovered in a West Virginia cave who’s brought into a community and taught to speak and act like a human, but who eventually becomes the target of the town’s fear and anger.

Johnson sees the theme of an outsider being blamed for a community’s problems as the heart of the production, which opens September 25.

“We’ve heard a lot of sort of dehumanizing language around immigrants and people of color and people in the LGBTQ community,” Johnson said. “There’s a lot of people in power who are blaming things around them to avoid looking at the deeper structural problems that we have.”

The musical, which premiered off-Broadway in 2001, mixes its darker themes with the sensibilities of a 1950s science-fiction B movie. Johnson described it as part outsider story, part Frankenstein, and part Dracula, with plenty of absurdity along the way.

A tricky balance 

That combination has made finding the right tone one of the biggest challenges of bringing the show to Umbrella.

“If it’s too tragic, it gets too heavy and you lose that comedy,” Johnson said. “If it’s too sort of wacky, then we kind of lose the stakes of what’s happening.”

Instead, the production aims to keep audiences guessing what comes next. A scene that starts out lightheartedly can turn serious or frightening before the show moves on.

For Johnny Shea, who plays Edgar, the title character, the show’s unusual mix of humor and tragedy was part of the appeal. 

Edgar becomes more human as he integrates into the community, and Shea has been watching animal videos to help him develop the character’s physicality. 

Johnson said the production successfully leans into its unpredictability from the start. Rather than beginning with a traditional musical number, “Bat Boy” opens in darkness.

Then there’s the abundant blood, which Shea said is used in some fight scenes. 

“I guess it’s always good to have more,” he said. 

The show also features intentionally ridiculous props, including a giant hypodermic needle and an oversize cow head.

The emotional core

Beneath the gore and bizarre humor, Johnson said, the production has a “ton of heart.”

He hopes audiences will become invested in the characters and their fates, rather than viewing the musical simply as an absurd sideshow.

“I think there’s an emotional connection that you can make,” Johnson said.

Audience members’ reactions may vary dramatically: Johnson said Laurence O’Keefe, the show’s composer, has described the possibility of one person crying during a scene while the theatergoer in the next seat laughs hysterically.

“Bat Boy” has developed a cult following but never made it to Broadway. O’Keefe went on to write the scores for “Legally Blonde” and “Heathers.”

Johnson said that while the show may be a bit different from others commonly found at the Umbrella Arts Center, he hopes its blend of musical theater, comedy, and horror gives different audiences a reason to take a chance on it.

Shea believes it’s just a great show. 

“I think the audiences will definitely have a fun time seeing it,” he said.

For information on performance dates and times, tickets, KidCare performances, dinner-and-a-show nights, and post-show talkbacks, visit theumbrellaarts.org.