Foothill Sinks Its Teeth Into BAT BOY THE MUSICAL Starting 2/27

Multi-award winning Foothill Music Theatre presents the hilarious Off-Broadway musical comedy hit, BAT BOY, THE MUSICAL. This campy, off-the-wall parody inspired by a supermarket tabloid story of a half-boy, half-bat keeps both tongue and fang firmly in cheek. The exuberant score mixes rock, Broadway, gospel, and country music in a smart, witty, self-aware comical confection. Award-winning director Jay Manley helms this fabulous cult hit with musical direction by Spencer Williams, and choreography by Andrew Ceglio (also the production's star).

Called "exuberant, campy fun" by the San Francisco Chronicle, BAT BOY, THE MUSICAL, ripped from the headlines of The Weekly World News tabloid, is a dark but whimsical parable on the secret desires and depravities of a small West Virginia town. While visiting the caves outside of Hope Falls, West Virginia, three young explorers find a bat-boy hiding among the caverns. The local sheriff, unsure of what to do with the dangerous captive, who could be connected to the strange illness killing off the local cows, takes the bat-boy to the veterinarian. While the townspeople clamor for his destruction, Bat Boy, who is taken in by the veterinarian and his family, learns to read, speak, and even fall in love. A wickedly slick satire that spoofs convention, BAT BOY chronicles the struggles of a boy with fangs who just wants to be loved.

The show premiered at Tim Robbins' Actors Gang Theatre on October 31, 1997, and has since been produced Off-Broadway, in London's West End, at the Edinburgh Festival and in scores of productions throughout the world. The New York Times declared, "It's remarkable what intelligent wit can accomplish, even within an outlandish frame," of this Outer Critics Circle Award-winner for Best Off-Broadway Musical.

The talented cast of BAT BOY, THE MUSICAL includes Andrew Ceglio as both Bat Boy and the production choreographer (credits include Pippin at Foothill Music Theatre, Marquee Productions at Childrens Musical Theater San Jose, Theater on San Pedro, and Forever Plaid at Cabrillo Stage as director and choreographer); Kateri McRae returns to the Foothill stage as Bat Boy's young love, Shelley (previously seen as Mae in Foothill Music Theatre's The Pajama Game, other credits include Broadway By the Bay and the Palo Alto Players); Ariel Buck as Shelley's mother and Bat Boy's tutor (credits include North Shore Music Theatre, MA, Marquee Productions at CMSTSJ, and an international tour with Tokyo Disney Sea); Tim Reynolds as the veterinarian, Dr. Parker (credits include Bobby in Company at Foothill Music Theatre, and roles at TheatreWorks and Broadway By the Bay); Todd Wright returns to Foothill as the Sherriff (previous roles include Alfie Doolittle in My Fair Lady and Mr. Hasler in The Pajama Game and numerous roles with the Los Gatos Shakespeare Festival). Also featured in the cast of BAT BOY, THE MUSICAL are David Cates, RaMond Thomas, Michael Rhone, Sarah B. Griner, and Monique Hafen in rotating roles as the various citizens of Hope Falls, West Virigina.

The three authors of BAT BOY, THE MUSICAL, Keythe Farley and Brian Flemming (book), and Laurence O'Keefe (music and lyrics) bring eclectic credits to their off-Broadway debuts. A member of LA's Actors' Gang, Keythe Farley directs character voices on the animated series "As Told By Ginger" and "Rugrats," for which he has also written and produced and was a regular contributor to the Independent Film Channel's newsmagazine "Split Screen." As an actor, Farley has appeared in the HBO movie "...And the Band Played On," as well as on numerous television series including "High Incident," "Star Trek Voyager," "Full House," and "Beverly Hills 90210."

Los Angeles director/producer/playwright Brian Flemming's most recent works include the 2005 release of the documentary "The God Who Wasn't There," and the 2002 Sundance Film Festival release of his film, "Nothing So Strange," a faux documentary about the death of Microsoft icon Bill Gates. He is currently working on an untitled independent film project. Laurence O'Keefe's recent work includes the smash Broadway hit, Legally Blonde:The Musical, for which he and co-writer/wife Nell Benjamin received Drama Desk nominations and a Tony Award nomination for Best Score. Together, he and his wife have also written two musicals for TheatreWorks USA: Cam Jansen and Sarah Plain and Tall. Previously, he acted as music director of Putting it Together, and the Theatre LA Ovation Award-winning production of City of Angels, both at Los Angeles' Colony Theatre. He also won an Ovation for his music and lyrics for the Actors' Gang production of Moliere's Imaginary Invalid.

Foothill Music Theatre, under the artistic direction of Jay Manley, has won Bay Area Theatre Critics' Circle Awards for Outstanding Production, Outstanding Ensemble Production, and Best Direction, among others. The company has also garnered numerous Dean Goodman Choice Awards, awards from the Los Angeles-based Drama-Logue, and kudos from myriad Bay Area critics for its sharp, handsomely mounted productions of The Pajama Game, My Fail Lady, Annie Get Your Gun, Brigadoon, Ragtime, Sweeney Todd, Guys and Dolls, Showboat, West Side Story, Oklahoma! and other classic musicals.

BAT BOY, THE MUSICAL plays February 27 (press opening February 28, 8pm & March 1, 2pm) through March 22, 2009 at the Lohman Theatre at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills. For tickets ($18-26) and information, the public may visit www.foothillmusicals.com, or phone the box office at 650 949-7360.

 

 

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