Campy Dark Musical – Bat Boy Returns to NYC

Nov 10, 2025 by Two Sues On the Aisle

By Two Sues on the Aisle, Susie Rosenbluth and Sue Weston

Bat Boy: The Musical  returned to New York after its  2001 off-Broadway run was cut short by 9/11, for a two-week run at New York City Center. This cult classic features a star-studded cast, which includes Taylor Trensch (Tony nominee for his performance in Floyd Collins) as Edgar, a half-human, half-bat teen who is found in a cave and taken in by the Parker family. Dr. Parker, played by Tony nominee Christopher Sieber (Death Becomes Her), Gabi Carrubba (Just In Time) as Shelley Parker, and Kerry Butler (Heathers The Musical, who played Shelly in the 2001 production) as Meredith Parker.

Bat Boy delivers a high-energy, pop-rock performance. The story and book are by Keythe Farley and Brian Flemming, with music and lyrics by Heathers and Legally Blonde composer Laurence O’Keefe. The show contains shocking twists and turns during the two Acts, all of which are efficiently wrapped up in an unusual love story. Bat Boy challenges our inner child’s fascination with blood, group behavior thinly guised as Christian Charity, and culminates with a tragic ending. It provides entertainment while mocking the traditional happily-ever-after story.

Ripped from the Headlines

On Halloween 1997, Bat Boy made its world premiere at the Actors’ Gang Theatre in Los Angeles. It was inspired by a 1992 tabloid series in the Weekly World News, claiming a half-human, half-bat boy had been discovered in a cave in rural West Virginia.

The story, which provides a commentary on prejudice and humanity, was felt to be inappropriate post 9/11 when fear of otherness was on the rise, especially in NYC. Yet, now as we watch a rise of antisemitism, fueled by misinformation, its message resonates, showing the shallowness of religious fervor, how innuendo leads to fear, and its potential consequences.

In the show, Edgar acknowledges the dark side of his inclinations, the need to control his inner beast, his craving for blood. But the community does not give him a chance. They fear him because of his physical appearance, fangs, and pointed ears, and only remember the condition they found him in, living alone in a cave. They fail to acknowledge that he has transformed from a feral beast into a civilized and educated, well-groomed man who speaks with a British accent and dresses in a refined manner, all of which appears at odds in their backwater community.

They ask him to stay away, but instead, he attends a Church gathering and appeals for someone to acknowledge him, and shake his hand, offering to do their chores, or even prepare their taxes (he has become a CPA). But when Dr. Parker rushes in and informs the gathering that Bat Boy is a killer, they are quick to turn the other cheek. They go from shaking his hand to rushing to hunt him down like a beast.

A Performance to Remember

We attended the finale performance of their two-week run at City Center, and we were thrilled by how each of these extraordinary performers was perfectly cast. Their talent drew the audience in, and the vocals were pitch-perfect. We marveled at the synchronization between Shelly and Meredith, especially in their performance of Three Bedroom House. The audience responded enthuasticly to the flawless acting and incredible performances, by Gabi Carrubba, The God Pan (Alex Newell, recent Tony Award win for Shucker), Reverend Hightower (Jacob Ming-Trent), the incomparable Taylor Trensch, as Edgar/ Bat Boy, who brought a level of refinement and humanity to the beast, and the powerful Christopher Sieber, as Dr. Parker who brings the show to an unexpected dark ending.

The ensemble connected on many levels, bringing believability to the duplicity, as the Taylor family attempts to cash in on their discovery of the Bat Boy and breeds fear in their rural community. The level of energy carried the performance rapidly forward, past the few minor plot bumps, a too-late Act 2 reveal of Bat Boy’s parentage, and the complicated Parker family dynamics.

Bat Boy delivers an enjoyable mix of dark humor and horror, as it directs us to look deeper into xenophobic tendencies, the fear of otherness, which drives communities to develop deep hatred based on rumors and conjecture, rather than fact and actions.

We hope that this two-week run is just the beginning of a rebirth for Bat Boy, elevating and bringing this complex story back to the stage in NYC.