The streets around stoke were graced with a huge roaring sound as the pavements were lined with Harley Davidson’s and excited musical theatre fans alike in honour of the Meatloaf inspired musical Bat out of Hell speeding on to the Regent theatre stage. Having grown up with a father who loved Meatloaf’s iconic music I knew the power of the songs I was about to hear but I didn’t know the extent of just what an electrifying show I’d let myself in for.
The auditorium on entrance was hazy and dystopian setting an eery ambience of what was to come. The set upon entrance was striking. Gloomy but engaging. The show used a mix of traditional and virtual set which really added to the futuristic tones in the show. I must compliment the lighting in the show too it was unbelievable some moments I found myself in awe of how stunning the theatre looked especially when the on-stage disco ball was used. The use of an onstage camera person was something to behold. This really heightened the sense of dystopia and the difference between the Lost and those that worked at Falco. I thought the fact most of this was featured on the family was extremely clever showing that sometimes happy families are all for show. It also really heightened the emotions the actors were portraying as it was quite literally projected to the masses.
I found myself struggling to gage the storyline until I grasped that it is a play on the beloved classic story Peter Pan. It then started to make a lot more sense to me. Did not understanding what was going ruin my enjoyment of the show? Absolutely not. In fact, I feel it engaged me more as I wanted nothing more than to know what extremely well staged chaos was coming next. The use of roaming mics I thought was really interesting it blurred the lines between a show and a concert. The concert vibe really brings the audience in.
The iconic Harley Davidson scene used on most promotional material for the show was an absolute spectacle to behold. The vocals provided in this scene were in a word mind-blowing. Glenn Adamson is a powerhouse of a performer. His charisma, voice and passion are worth the ticket price and more. This is a performance to shout about. I wasn’t at all surprised to see he’d played this role multiple times as quite frankly it appears it was written for him. It was really heart-warming to note just how many of the cast were returning to these roles as you could tell just how much they loved the material they were performing.
A true stand-out song in the show is ‘It’s All Coming Back to me Now.’ This a song known by most but the show tackles this with crisp harmonies and even crisper emotions. If you think Celine’s version of this song is the best, you’ll hear, you’ve not heard this.
This really is not a show to be missed, it’ll be flying out of the Regent Theatre on the 5th July so get you tickets now. You’ll be a real Dead Ringer for Love by the end of the show. https://www.atgtickets.com/venues/regent-theatre/
Reviewer: Leanne Rushton
Reviewed: 30th June 2025
North West End UK Rating: