Reports are streaming in about sightings of a mutant bat-child in the Denver metro area. Apparently, he likes to sing and dance.
According to initial coverage, the half-boy, half-bat has strayed far from his rural home in West Virginia. The creature, known simply as “Bat Boy” or “Bat Child” in reports, has popped up in the West to pursue an unlikely career. A story published in the Weekly World News affirms, “the Equinox Theatre has managed to train the Bat-Child to sing, dance, and act, with almost no threat to the safety of the audience.”
Of course, the story is solidly based in fiction. The article appeared in a newspaper known for its campy and highly imaginative articles about Yeti sightings, alien invasions and American presidents turning into zombies. The Weekly World News may lack journalistic credibility, but the creative team at the Equinox Theatre Company couldn’t be happier about the coverage.
Indeed, considering the tone of “Bat Boy: The Musical,” as well as the campy feel of the rest of the company’s 2013-14 season, the notice might as well be on the front page of the New York Times. After all, the show penned by Keythe Farley, Brian Flemming and Laurence O’Keefe is based on one of the Weekly World News’ most durable stories. The story of Bat Boy, a mutant bat-child who’s been chased by scientists and top brass from the U.S. government, is one of the publication’s proudest staples.
“They contacted us to get our poster art and they just loved it,” said Deb Flomberg, a founding member of the Equinox Theatre Company who lives in Aurora. “They were crazy supportive of us, and they set us up with some merchandising. When the show opens, we’ll be selling T-shirts and bobble heads.”
It’s an ideal launch for a season that revels in cult and camp. In addition to “Bat Boy: The Musical,” the lineup features regional premieres of musical adaptations of the horror cult classics “Evil Dead” and “Carrie.” What’s more, the company will stage the regional premiere of “A Night at Fawlty Towers,” a comedy based on the 1970s British TV series that starred John Cleese.
All of these shows will run in a fitting venue. The Bug Theatre was originally built in 1912 and its narrow auditorium, its deep reach and its humbly sized stage still boast the feel of an antique playhouse.
“With the Bug having the following it has and the amazing response we had to ‘Reefer Madness,’ we realized that the cult genre was something that worked really well for us,” Flomberg said, referring to a production last year that was based on an anti-marijuana film from 1936. “We decided this year to just focus on cult. We spent a lot of time trying to find what shows really spoke to that following.”
“Bat Boy: The Musical” was one of the troupe’s first choices. Based on the character created by former Weekly World News Editor Dick Kulpa in 1992, the show loosely follows the plot of the 1990 film “Edward Scissorhands.” Bat Boy journeys from his isolated rural cave to a suburban setting, where he’s accepted and then rejected by civilization. According to James O’Hagan Murphy, who plays Dr. Parker in the show, the surface silliness of the show comes along with some deeper themes.
“It’s the kind of thing where we
all have humanity in us, and we all have a little monster in us too. It’s up to us to decide who we’re listening to and who we’re going to be,” said O’Hagan Murphy, who will come to the show after a critically acclaimed lead performance in “RFK” at the Vintage Theater in Aurora.
The transition from playing a historic presidential candidate to joining the “Bat Boy” troupe has offered its own challenges, he said.
“It’s definitely not as naturalistic or realistic,” said O’Hagan Murphy, who starred in last year’s production of “Reefer Madness.” “It definitely gets me to stretch sides of myself. I don’t usually get to play the campy side or the comic side … I don’t necessarily get that often.”
Granting actors and audiences those comic and campy opportunities has become a considerable part of the Equinox mission since the troupe launched five years ago. Artistic Director Colin Roybal said this season’s selection of shows is about more than garnering cheap laughs or poking fun at easy targets. Mounting “Carrie: The Musical,” for example, was a creative challenge. The show, based on the book by Stephen King, famously bombed on Broadway in 1988, closing two weeks after opening night.
“I’ve always had a fascination with that show … It struck me that something that gruesome and that twisted could make for a really funny stage production,” Roybal said. “We like to do things different here at Equinox. We were thinking that our Equinox twist on that one would be to make it good.”
During one of the final dress rehearsals before the debut of “Bat Boy: The Musical” on Feb. 15, it was impossible to miss an air of twisted humor. Adam Perkes, the actor who plays the title character, sat in a chair backstage, getting touched up by a make-up artist for his performance as Bat Boy. With a bald head, darkened eyes and pointed ears, Perkes looked the part of a monster pulled from science fiction.
But as he spoke of his role and the show’s deeper themes, the silliness of the plot seemed to dim.
“It’s about tolerance for people who are different, and not allowing ourselves to scapegoat groups or individuals,” he said, just before the makeup crew helped him put in his sharpened vampire teeth.
“Bat Boy: The Musical”
Will run through March 9 at The Bug Theatre, 3654 Navajo Street in Denver.
Tickets start at $20.
The show is recommended for mature audiences.
For more information about the show and other selections in the 2013 season, visit equinoxtheatredenver.com.
Reach reporter Adam Goldstein at agoldstein@aurorasentinel.com or 720-449-9707