Bat Boy: The Musical opens on Friday to help celebrate Halloween on campus.
Performances will be at 8 p.m. and midnight Friday, 8 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday.
The show is based on a fictitious story claiming to have discovered a half boy, half bat creature that ran in the June 1992 edition of the World Weekly News tabloid.
“It has a very silly-jazz hands-musical theater-campy exterior, but once you really dig into the show, it’s really quite complicated, and it’s got much deeper levels,” said Director Courtney DiBello, adjunct professor of stage management.
“It delves into human nature and our need to belong, our need to turn folks into pariahs when they don’t suit our definition of ourselves.”
Keeping with the Halloween theme, the audience is encouraged to attend the midnight performance on Friday in costume to compete in a costume contest.
Russell McCook, music theater senior, plays Bat Boy, whose name is “Edgar.”
“There is a really interesting mix of genres,” McCook said. “There are moments when the audience will laugh and moments when they’ll be scared.”
Leslie Marie Coffman, acting junior, said she is excited for the Halloween performance.
“It’s going to be a really fun time for the audience, and it’s on Halloween, so it’s really festive,” she said.
Coffmann plays “Clem” and the “Doctor” in the production.
The Opera Music Theater Company produces the Spotlight series. Spotlight shows typically have a smaller budget than Mainstage productions and focus on the acting, singing, and dancing.
The show is a more heightened Spotlight production, featuring various costumes and special effects makeup, McCook said.
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