Click here to watch an audio slideshow of “Bat Boy”

“Bat Boy,” a play being performed in Sacramento State’s Shasta Hall, delivers ghoulish giggles just in time for Halloween.

The play is written by Keythe Farley and Brian Flemming, with music and lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe. It was first performed on Halloween in 1997 at Tim Robbins’ Actor’s Gang Theatre in Los Angeles.

“Bat Boy” tells the story of a half-man, half-bat found in caves near Hope Falls, W.Va. After biting a spelunker who was exploring the caves, the creature is captured and taken to the local veterinarian, Dr. Thomas Parker, and his family. The family teaches the bat boy, whom they name Edgar, to speak and act like a civilized adult. However, he faces prejudice from the townspeople, who blame Edgar for their rapidly declining cow population.

“Bat Boy,” first produced as an off-Broadway play, was revived in 2001 after alterations were made by the original writers. Peter Carroll, sophomore theater major, plays the role of Bat Boy. Carroll, who had acted in two previous musicals, was aware that “Bat Boy” was going to be this season’s main play, so he did research on the project.

“Right when I heard that we were doing “Bat Boy,” I didn’t know what it was,” Carroll said. “I went on YouTube, listened to the songs and fell in love with it instantly. I totally related to the character and I prepared all summer long, learning the songs, working on physicality. I got the script, I had lines memorized, (and) I was ready to go, so if I didn’t get the part, it would be pretty disappointing. But I did.”

“Bat Boy” was chosen by a committee to which directors submit scripts of plays, and the theme is generally chosen to fit the season. Ed Brazo, associate professor and Sac State’s director for “Bat Boy,” said the play was also chosen to provide variety.

“It is a rock musical, and (we) hadn’t done anything like that in a while,” Brazo said. “For theater majors who are here for four, five years, we want them to have variety in what they learn.”

Brazo decided to step back a bit in directing and let the cast members make the play.

“We use a word here; it’s called ‘organic,’ and, I think from the time I had the auditions, I looked at the people that I thought of using in the show and I allowed what they brought from their audition(s) into my head to create the characters that they are,” Brazo said.

Amanda Morish, senior theater and psychology major, plays Meredith Parker, Edgar’s foster mother whose marriage to Thomas is on the rocks.

Morish, who has been part of Sac State’s musicals for two years, modeled after the typical 1960s housewife, albeit one with conflicted interests.

“She comes off as a ’60s housewife, very June Cleaver-like,” Morish said. “I kind of try to draw my inspiration from those old housewife-mothers, trying to stay positive even when everything seems to be falling apart around you.”

Joseph Leser Baldridge, senior theater major, plays Dr. Thomas Parker, Edgar’s foster father. Leser Baldridge said he was excited when he was cast in “Bat Boy.”

“When we first had the auditions, my forte was not in musical theater at all,” Leser-Baldrige said. “It was amazing to get the opportunity for a new experience.”

Leser Baldridge said that in the play, Thomas is perceived as the villain and is jealous of the love Meredith shows Edgar and not him. Originally, Thomas hopes that Bat Boy will save the failed relationship, but instead, he begins blaming Edgar, leading him to kill others in the name of Bat Boy.

“When I started to look at Parker, (I saw that) there are many places where it says he has voices in his head,” Leser Baldridge said. “I began to think of the more sinister (aspects), and the fact that he is labeled the villain of the show. I started off there and then with some direction, I came to realize that I couldn’t just play the villain. I needed to make him much more relatable to the audience. That is, if the audience does not care about Parker from the beginning, then they won’t care about the story, about this ensemble piece.”

Brazo said the play has been compared to the musical “Rent.” He compared the two rock musicals and noted that only one achieved mainstream success.

“It was done at a time where, actually, the rock musical “Rent” had happened, so this was a time when, wow, another rock musical, and it’s too bad it wasn’t more well-received,” Brazo said. “But then again, I know a lot of people that saw it, and they said that it was controversial. It was something new and everybody loved it, but it’s not for everyone.”

Brazo believes the concept of the story is what scared away most playgoers.

“You tell them about a boy born half-bat and half-human and it’s like, ‘why would somebody write a show about that?'” Brazo said. “I think it’s because we were starting to place on the fact, ‘What’s normal?’ Everybody’s different. That’s the concept I’ve kind of used in my thinking about that show. Let people be who they are, and be the best they can be, and that’s what the show is all about.”

Cole Mayer can be reached at [email protected]