Interview: Meghan Ripchik's All Encompassing For BAT BOY: THE MUSICAL

Next up for Morgan-Wixson, straight from the tabloids, Bat Boy: The Musical opens September 28, 2024. Meghan Ripchik directs and choreographs the cast of: Ashton Bianchi, Diana Cabell, Cassandra Caruso, Jack Colyer, Aaron Ellis, Nico Fisher, Connor Tyler Gray, Lauren Josephs, Kalani Lopez, Lorne, Tommi Jo Mongold, Johnathan O’Neal, Carter Santos, Norman Thatch, Abigail Torrence, Roni Renee Williams and Javon Willis. Meghan found time in between all her various duties to answer a few of my queries.

Thank you for taking the time for this interview, Meghan!

Bat Boy: The Musical hasn’t been produced in Los Angeles for almost ten years. What inspired you to put on Bat Boy now?

Bat Boy: The Musical is wonderfully crafted to provide an entertaining story, but also prompts viewers to subconsciously reflect on their own intolerance. With this major election coming up, I can’t think of a better time to get folks to look inwardly on these topics of hypocrisy, and just how easy it can be to be influenced by religious and/or political powers. Not only is this story so timely, but the opportunity it gives for creativeness and experimentation is one that I have been craving, and I think audiences will leave having that hunger satisfied as well. I have taken some directorial and choreographic liberties within the world of this script to help bring forth both the comedic and entertaining aspects of this story in a new way, as well as highlight the relevant themes, and I think people will be thought-provoked and amused by the choices our whole team and cast has made to elevate this story. It just also happens to be a plus that it’s a spooky, silly story told in the Halloween season. I think anybody coming to the show will find something to enjoy.

What would your three-line pitch for Bat Boy be?

Dancing demons, an evil veterinarian, a half-bat/half-boy with a voice of gold, a vibrant but prejudice town, and a special appearance by the demigod Pan presents to you Bat Boy: The Musical. Where ridiculous humor meets bloody horror, we invite you to a show that you will never soon forget, for better or worse. With secrets unveiled at every corner, prepare to be seduced into this blood-sucking tale about a filthy freak… who’s just like you.

As the press contact for Morgan-Wixson, do you have first dibs for directing or choreographing a show?

I don’t! I interviewed for the board and the director position for Bat Boy almost simultaneously last November. The board is renewed every year, and the board from the previous year voted me onto the board team for 2024 and as the director for Bat Boy! The interview process is with the entire board, but whenever current board members pitch, they are not allowed to sit in on other interviews and have no say in the voting process. The decisions are made based on the pitch itself!

Does Morgan-Wixson have a main core of actors to cast from?

The Morgan-Wixson re-auditions each show! In fact, the majority of the Bat Boy cast is brand new to the Morgan-Wixson Theatre. We post auditions on our social media @morganwixson, Backstage, Actor’s Access, and our website! People can stay updated on our auditions by signing up for our newsletter on our website https://www.morgan-wixson.org/auditions.

Who in the cast and the creatives have you worked with before?

I have worked with most of the creative team before, however most of the cast, I have not! On the Production Team, I’ve worked with Eden Evans (vocal director), Ashley Marie Macalino (stage manager), Paloma Cortes (assistant director/prop designer), Erica Kahn (producer), Russell Chow (lighting designer), Ethan Strubbe (sound designer), Lex Verdayes (hair/makeup designer), and Olivia Leyva (dramaturg). Evidently, all of them are new to the Morgan-Wixson Theatre, as am I, except for Olivia, who starred in In the Heights last summer! The cast members I have worked with are Aaron Ellis (Bat Boy), Lauren Josephs (Meredith), Tommi Jo Mongold (Mrs. Taylor, Rick u/s), Rachel Yoffe (Ned, Featured Dancer, Shelley u/s), and Nico Fisher (Lorraine, Featured Dancer, Ron u/s), after having worked with them at the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center.

Is there a character in Bat Boy that you recognize as you?

I’m not sure there’s a specific character, however, I resonate with certain aspects of multiple of them. I think all of us can relate to the feeling of isolation and longing for acceptance that Bat Boy exudes and the overwhelming shock of betrayal he endures. I also think many folks, including myself, can resonate with Meredith’s desire for a close family, clashing with her deeper traumas and the battle that takes on her mentally. All of the characters are relatable in ways, but each of them have attributes that are also wildly un-relatable and theatrically shocking. 

Besides handling press, what other hats do you wear for Morgan-Wixson?

The Morgan-Wixson is a volunteer-led non-profit organization run by a team of 12 board members! Each of us leads a different factor of the organization, in addition to being the decision-makers for the Morgan-Wixson, all collaborating on programming, general management decisions, and financial choices. I am the v. p. of marketing on the board, leading in press, digital marketing, and community outreach & engagement. I also teach some of the Youth dance workshops. We all dabble in every area of running the organization, volunteering where we can, and I’ve been really honored to be part of a team that genuinely cares about uplifting live theatre in Los Angeles.

Isn’t it amazing that a tabloid like World Weekly News would produce a story in 1992 that would become a musical on Off-Broadway in 1997. I guess someone saw the validity in this tall tale and thought it would make for good theatre. What elements of Bat Boy do you see as good theatre?

I may be biased, but I believe Bat Boy is the perfect story for a musical. Musical theatre in itself is campy, bursting into song at any moment. This show is filled with fictional characters that have larger than life and often unrealistic circumstances and emotions, and it paves the way perfectly for this genre of storytelling. These characters are caricatures of people we all actually experience, taking everything to the maximum level of emotion. This is reflected in the music, and in my vision of this story, we use movement-based storytelling to accentuate these features even more so. The story works for every aspect of theatricality: movement, singing, physical design, and plays into this to still tell a very human story, from a not-so human character, yet one that we all can relate to.

Would you name some success stories from Morgan-Wixson’s YES Youth Workshops?

There are so many success stories from our YES program Workshops and shows! In addition to our MainStage series, which Bat Boy is a part of, The Morgan-Wixson’s YES program provides workshops for students to grow their skills without committing to a whole show. Our YES program also puts on youth productions that are free for students to participate in and they are audition-based! The production quality is fantastic, and the kids are treated like professionals, which has led to many success stories. One of our Bat Boy cast members grew up in the YES program, Nico Fisher, and there were four current YES students and three YES alumni in our summer MainStage production of Footloose playing teenagers in the show!

Why was 17 chosen as the breakoff point in joining YES?

The break-off point for our YES program is 8-18! It’s catered towards kids currently in school. Each show is different based on the casting needs; some are for the older aged students, and some for the younger students.

Will you be involved in Morgan-Wixson’s next show The Prom in any capacity?

I am not involved in The Prom! The Prom is our next Youth Musical, and the team is truly incredible. We are so excited to share this story with our Youth Musical audiences and give these kids this wonderful opportunity to tell a story about queer love and acceptance.

What’s in the future for Meghan Ripchik?

Well, in addition to volunteering here at The Morgan-Wixson, I currently work full-time at The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts as their artistic coordinator. So, the next moment after Bat Boy, I will be focusing on The Wallis’ incredible upcoming season and my work there. However, I do have some directing and choreography plans around Los Angeles in the works for 2025 that I cannot announce yet, but I am excited to share with our L.A. theatre community when the time comes. I will also be co-producing Morgan-Wixson’s New Works Festival next year, which will be a fresh take of the Morgan-Wixson’s bi-annual tradition!

Thank you again, Meghan! I look forward to being scared by your Bat Boy.

Thank you for this great opportunity to interview with you, and I'm looking forward to having you at our show!! 

For Bat Boy tickets through October 13, 2024: click on the button below:

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