Jim Steinman and Meat Loaf’s hit musical, Bat Out Of Hell - featuring songs from the latter’s same-named album - visits Birmingham theatre The Alexandra this month. Telling a post-apocalyptic story, the show stars Glenn Adamson as forever-young wild child Strat, a character who is based on an ageless thrill-seeker from a classic children’s story - as Glenn explains to What’s On…

The songs that made Meat Loaf’s name seem ready-made for a rock musical. Epic and theatrical, the album Bat Out Of Hell - bursting with a sense of rebellious youth - begins to tell the story of a biker romance even before you’ve got past the song titles (how about Paradise By The Dashboard Light, or All Revved Up With No Place To Go?). It’s unsurprising, therefore, that songwriter Jim Steinman’s stage show, Bat Out Of Hell: The Musical, takes that energy and runs - or maybe that should be rides - with it.

The show’s story takes place in a futuristic, post-apocalyptic Manhattan, where a group of teenagers called The Lost were once caught in the crossfire of chemical warfare. The poison to which they were exposed froze their genes and stopped them from getting any older than 18.

A permanently youthful gang of ‘Lost’ boys (and girls) sounds rather familiar - and so it should: Steinman based his story on Peter Pan - and then added in a rock & roll twist!

The Lost are led by Strat, played on the current tour by Glenn Adamson.

“Strat is the Peter Pan character,” explains Glenn, “stuck at 18 forever. Raven, the female lead in the show, it’s her 18th birthday. She’s managed to make it to the point of 18, and her parents have kept her locked away until that point. On her 18th birthday, she decides to break out of her home to go and interact with The Lost - who she’s been fascinated by but kept away from, in case she caught whatever’s keeping them 18. She meets Strat, who has admired her from afar. She leaves her bedroom window open one night, and just like Peter Pan, he comes through. They fall madly in love. She runs away with him, to be with the Lost Boys, and we see the fallout of that - her family doesn’t want that life for her...

“And it’s all set to the backing track of the incredible Jim Steinman and Meat Loaf.”

Hints of Peter Pan might be obvious in Bat Out Of Hell’s storyline, but aesthetically the show offers something completely different.

“It’s a dystopian, punk-rock Peter Pan... We’ve got a Tinkerbell, but he’s just called Tink in the show. We’ve got these characters that you know and love, but it’s very much a rock version of Peter Pan, with the eccentricity of Jim Steinman.”

A new addition to the UK production puts Steinman’s music right at the heart of the action: the live band has been brought up onto the stage, alongside the actors. The idea was first implemented during the show’s Australian arena tour, to create an epic fusion of blockbuster musical and lavish live concert.

“It’s something we really wanted to do when the show came back to the UK,” says Glenn, “to get the band involved rather than putting them in a pit like you would in a traditional musical - having them be part of the action… They’re the most incredible musicians, and we’ve always known that, but it’s nice for them to be seen and celebrated. A lot of these songs are so huge that people expect it to be on CD almost, or a much smaller band than we have. It’s great to have them on stage, in costume, joining in with us - not like the traditional West End orchestra!”

Steinman’s music certainly has a theatrical flavour, with a back catalogue including massive hits performed by Bonnie Tyler and Celine Dion, and of course, reflecting his partnership with Meat Loaf. Bat Out Of Hell, Glenn explains, had its origin in the world of theatre.

“Jim always intended this to be a musical - he actually wrote this musical and all this music back in the 60s. He cast Meat Loaf in the part that I play. It was actually JM Barry’s estate which wouldn’t let him have the Peter Pan reference at the time, so the musical fell by the wayside, but they released the music. People think it’s a jukebox musical, but they don’t realise that actually the musical came before the songs… It was always Jim’s dream to put the show on. Meat’s as well - he got to see it, just before he died, when it was finally realised in the West End.”

Bat Out Of Hell: The Musical features a host of Steinman’s huge hits - including Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad and Dead Ringer For Love - and also has its fair share of bombastic moments.

“The end of Bat Out Of Hell is pretty epic, with fire and confetti going off and all the blood. But I think the most epic moment is the beginning of It’s All Coming Back To Me Now. When you hear the piano, the audience gives this intake of breath: “Oh my god, it’s this song, the one I love”… And the beginning of Anything For Love is amazing.”

Glenn is building up a serious portfolio of performances in rock musicals, and music has never been too far away throughout his life - even though he primarily trained as an actor.

“I did Battle of the Bands and things like that - I was in a band and sang with them, but I didn’t actually merge the two things together. Then I went to LIPA in Liverpool, which is Paul McCartney’s school, and there was such a musical heritage. Paul would be in the building, there was sheet music, The Beatles’ original copies framed everywhere - you were just submerged… I dipped my toe back into band life, then came out again with acting but also this need to sing rock & roll. I was really lucky to land American Idiot [the Green Day musical]. I did that here, then went over to New Zealand. I came back and got Bat Out Of Hell. I’ve also done We Will Rock You. I’m carving my way out as the rock & roll go-to, not a traditional musical theatre boy!”

It was during his time performing in American Idiot that Glenn first saw and fell in love with Bat Out Of Hell: The Musical. The show was running in London’s West End, and Glenn auditioned for the upcoming US tour - but unfortunately it wasn’t all plain sailing.

“I was originally cast in the 2020 US tour, but Covid hit basically two weeks later. I did the rehearsals, and we were one day away from the tech - all our suitcases were in America - and then they closed the theatres. We never opened and were sent home. It wasn’t until the end of 2021 that I actually got to do the show. It’s been a long period of my life, waiting to do it.”

Happily, the wait is over, and fans of Steinman’s music can now see Glenn strut his stuff as wild child Strat. The role is both physically and vocally demanding, testing Glenn to the limits.

“He’s a lot wilder and more reckless than I am. He’s got no fear at all. He’s probably the antithesis of me. He takes a lot of energy, he’s so physical. We looked at what it would be like to be left for a thousand years at age 18, without your parents and without family, living a feral life… There’s a lot of stamina required. The music does it for you as well. There’s something about the music that gives you the energy.”

Bat Out Of Hell: The Musical shows at The Alexandra, Birmingham, from Monday 10 to Saturday 22 February; Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent, from Monday 30 June - Saturday 5 July, and Wolverhampton Grand Theatre, Monday 14 - Saturday 19 July

By Jess Clixby