Bat Out of Hell at The Bristol Hippodrome - 2025
Posted on: 2025-09-02
Our rating:
Long story short - go and see it!
Bat Out Of Hell The Musical is showing at The Bristol Hippodrome until Saturday 13 September 2025 and 365Bristol sent along our theatre reviewer Xavier Ellis to get his take on the latest production.
Now this is a review I’ve been quite looking forward to giving my two pence on. I first saw Bat Out Of Hell in it’s 2017 pre-west end Manchester run, followed by a visit to London to see it on the big stage. And yes, I saw it in Bristol back in 2022 when the show was last touring. I’ve turned into a bit of an incognito Meat Loaf mega fan thanks to this show.
Now for those of you who haven’t seen this show before - the “on the fence” sort. Suffice to say, it’s outstanding. It boasts a powerhouse of an Album behind it – and this remake has lived to the high standards I hold this show to.
That being said. Story line… I wouldn’t say it’s this productions strong suit. Go for the vocals and to be filled with raw emotion. Don’t go for a story line.
This is one of the few shows I’d really recommend reading a bit of a synopsis for ahead of time. It can be quite hard to follow along without that prior knowledge because this isn’t a Wicked/Les Mis/Hamilton like show. Think more We Will Rock You. Incredible songs, story line’s a bit to the wind.
The stage setting was a point of slight contention. Bat Out Of Hell has always had a camera man onstage following a specific character throughout each scene – live streaming it to a big screen. Now some claim this messes with the “musical effect”, I’ve always felt it’s an appropriate nod to the rock and roll, music video, Meat Loaf aesthetic. There were a couple of elements though, that had been changed for the traveling production that felt like a slight miss hit. Now yes this wouldn’t effect a new watcher and would only go noticed by the return audience. But the exploding motorbike had no explosion to it – the effect was alluded to on screens. And while there was no sinking effect possible, they still had the 80’s style car for the Paradise By The Dashboard light sequence.
Now to the microphones. Probably the most major change to the show. Hand held microphones. It gave the show a bit of a concert feel to it – again, moving away from that musical aesthetic. I didn’t love it or hate it, I was in fact rather indifferent to it. I was far more put off by the fact Who Needs the Young, In The Land Of The Pig The Butcher Is King & Not Allowed To Love were cut from the production. But again, these are qualms for the die hard fans alone. I can put my objections to the cuts… to one side, as the genius blending of turning Meat Loafs solo songs into duets is skillful, precise and oh so effective – Two Out Of Three ain’t bad has to be my standout.
To cast. Sharon Sexton – Originator of the role. This is the third time I’ve seen her and my goodness, she just gets better and better and better. From her comedic whit bringing in the laughs – to every soul felt note hit with ease and perfection. She’s on this tour with her husband Robert Fowler, who’s starring as Franco. Fun fact – they met in the 2017 run of the show while playing husband and wife and are now both reprising their role.
Now we didn’t see Fowler last night, as we had Joshua Dever perform. And my goodness – they really proved their ability to display talent and chemistry across the board (Though I am looking forward to catching the husband and wife duo next week when I go back for round two on Friday)!
Long story Long. Get tickets and go. It’s not a story line you’ll be talking about for days, but from rock n roll to ballads, this is a musical I’ll always make the effort to see.
Article by:
Xavier - born in Italy, raised in Spain, and now calls the UK home. Co-owner of La Scala, an Italian Deli-Coffee hub in Bristol. Sommelier trained with a passion for the West End.
