Theater Three opened Bat Boy: The Musical, the off-Broadway horror musical, on April 24, 2003. A spoof based loosely on a newspaper account of a half-boy, half-bat creature discovered in a West Virginia cave and dubbed Bat Boy, the story depicts how he longs desperately to be accepted by 'normal' people. Patrons in Dallas' theatrt loop know that director Kyle McClaran will take this musical over-the-top. Those expecting a traditional musical are quickly disavowed of their expectations. T3's press release describes the show as "a cross between Little Shop of Horrors and Greater Tuna." If you add to those a touch of "Saturday Night Live" and Dan Evers's Adam Sandler imitation, you get the full flavor of this show, which also conjures up images of your high school's Freshman Follies. The bat boy is soon dubbed “Edgar.” One of the more humorous shticks happens when Edgar, who initially is mute and can only manage guttural utterings, becomes a quick study and begins spouting forth an impeccable King's English, thanks to his lessons with BBC language tapes. We ultimately learn of Bat Boy's origin in a hilarious, X-rated conception scene that defies description. You had to be there. Robert Brewer, a recent Vocal Performance graduate of Southern Methodist University, is making his professional debut in the lead role. He is superb in both the acting and singing departments. He moves with precision and agility and captures one's imagination. I predict a promising stage career for him. (But just in case the going gets tough, he has his dual degree in Electrical Engineering to fall back on.) The entire cast is uniformly good. McClaran has obviously adhered to the show business adage that 90 percent of the success of a show is good casting. The music is fabulous, albeit way too loud for T3s intimate space. The show's only other drawback is length: two hours and 45 minutes with intermission. A half-hour could easily be cut from the first act without the show missing a beat.
