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A reimagining of Bat Boy: The Musical

So, for those who don't know, Bat Boy: The Musical is a real "American horror rock musical with a book by Keythe Farley and Brian Flemming and music and lyrics by Laurence O'Keefe, based on a June 23, 1992 Weekly World News story about a half-boy, half-bat, dubbed "Bat Boy", who grew up living in a cave." After seeing Jekyll & Hyde, the Musical (based on the story by Robert Louis Stevenson, conceived for the stage by Frank Wildhorn and Steve Cuden, book & lyrics by Leslie Bricusse, and music by Frank Wildhorn), my friend and I were talking about Bat Boy: The Musical. She challenged me to look up the list of songs and then make up my own tale for how the story progressed through these numbers. Per the Wikipedia page on the musical, there are three different song lists. I'm using the list for "The Directors Company, The Directors Company Theatre 3, August 2000" simply because it was the first set listed. Enjoy!

Act I

  1. Hold Me, Bat Boy
    1. A flash forward to the end of the story. Bat Boy has become a town hero. This song is about how he is now popular, but also reveals that it's been quite a journey to get there.
  2. Christian Charity
    1. We're now at the beginning of the story. Bat Boy staggers to town seeking help. This song is his cry for help.
  3. Poor Little Dirty Little
    1. A local woman takes pity on Bat Boy. This song is her reaching out to him and, then, bringing him under her wing.
  4. Ugly Boy
    1. Bat Boy's mentor starts introducing Bat Boy to the rest of the town. This song is them being quite unkind.
  5. A Home for You
    1. Bat Boy's mentor reassures him that her home is open to him. This song is her welcoming him to her home (along with the animals she cares for--which includes a cow) and inviting a few friends over who also welcome him.
  6. Dance With Me, Darling
    1. Bat Boy goes out into town and finds a dance for young people his age. He stands on the sidelines, singing this song in hopes that someone will ask him to dance.
  7. Ugly Boy (reprise)
    1. No one has asked Bat Boy to dance. He sings this song to lament feeling out of place.
  8. Show You a Thing or Two
    1. A boy Bat Boy's age sees Bat Boy standing on the sidelines of the dance floor and asks him to dance. Initially hesitant, explaining he doesn't know how, the boy offers to teach Bat Boy some moves. This song is the two growing closer and learning from each other.
  9. Christian Charity (reprise)
    1. Other teens the age of the boy and Bat Boy see them dancing together and determine that it must be an act of pity. This song is them mocking the boy's genuine interest in Bat Boy and suggesting Bat Boy will never be cared for as more than an act of charity.
  10. A Home for You (reprise)
    1. Bat Boy flees the dance, but the boy follows him. The boy sings of his interest in Bat Boy and reassures him that this town could, one day, be a home for Bat Boy.
  11. Comfort and Joy
    1. Bat Boy and the teen boy journey through town as Christmas decorations start to go up. This song is them growing closer, ultimately ending Act I with a kiss.
Act II
  1. A Joyful Noise
    1. The woman who took Bat Boy under her wing hears him laughing outside her door as he parts ways with the other teen boy. She and Bat Boy sing of the joy Bat Boy has found and how he has begun to feel at home in town and in her home.
  2. Let Me Walk Among You
    1. Bat Boy hesitantly begins to get to know more of the folks in town. Initially, they are frightened by his bat-like appearance, but begin to warm to his charms. This song is that journey.
  3. Three Bedroom House
    1. The woman who took Bat Boy under her wing tells him that she dreams of buying a bigger house that will have room for her, him, and, perhaps, a younger sibling for Bat Boy. This song is the two of them relishing in that dream.
  4. Children, Children
    1. Bat Boy tells his love interest of the woman's dreams and how, ultimately, he hopes to have children too. The two teens share this dream of one day having children and they are overheard by the teens who had ostracized Bat Boy at the dance. The mean teens spread this news. This song is both the teen boys singing of their dreams for the future as well as the town growing concerned at the idea of Bat Boy spreading his "mutated" genes.
  5. More Blood/Kill the Bat Boy!
    1. The town has whipped itself into a frenzy to run Bat Boy out of town. This song is the angry mob gathering while Bat Boy, his romantic interest, and his mentor becoming afraid and starting to hatch a plan to turn the tide.
  6. Let It Be Me
    1. Bat Boy's mentor offers to be his advocate to the crowd and, if necessary, sacrifice herself for his escape with his romantic interest. Bat Boy refuses this plan, offering to give himself to the crowd. The other teen boy suggests an alternate plan involving Bat Boy's mentor's cow.
  7. Apology To A Cow
    1. Ultimately, the trio decides to dress up the cow as a new local menace to draw the angry mob away from Bat Boy and for Bat Boy to then rescue them from. This song is them apologizing to the cow that they know will likely not survive the mob.
  8. Revelations
    1. Bat Boy rescues the mob from the seemingly menacing cow. The town then sings of their revelation that Bat Boy should be celebrated as a hero. The trio of heroes sing of their own revelation that it should not have taken this ruse for the town to accept Bat Boy.
  9. I Imagine You're Upset / Hold Me, Bat Boy (reprise)
    1. While the town sings of their admiration for Bat Boy, Bat Boy sings to his mentor and romantic interest about how they must be upset for letting him into their lives. In turn, the mentor and romantic interest sing how they are not upset with Bat Boy, but they imagine he's upset with them for staying in this town filled with unkind people. The three agree to leave town. The play ends.

(Prompt by Kimisha Cassidy)

Photo by endişe açıkel on Unsplash


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