With the summer season nearly in the rear-view, theater companies are getting busy this month.

Civic Theatre are gearing up for Rocky Horror Show, First Presbyterian are doing Beauty & The Beast, all for One productions is set for Father Brown, and Indiana Musical Theatre Foundation have Chicago: The Musical. Among the crowded field, it’s hard not to take notice of Three Rivers Music Theatre’s upcoming production — Bat Boy: The Musical.

Inspired by the tongue-in-cheek 1992 tabloid story in Weekly World News of a half-boy, half-bat, the Three Rivers show opens Friday, Sept. 13, and will run three weekends through Sunday, Sept. 29.

Deeper meaning

Though the story is inspired by the fictional Bat Boy, who reportedly was called upon to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan due to his talent inside caves and auditioned on American Idol, Bat Boy: The Musical goes a bit deeper than that.

“What happens in the musical has nothing to do with the tabloid stories,” director Andy Planck said. “What we do in the musical is really find out the origins of Bat Boy and his discovery.”

And those origins stem from his discovery in a Hope Falls, West Virginia, cave. Bat Boy is taken in by the Parker family, who accept him. However, to others in the community, acceptance does not come so easy.

“It felt timely,” Planck said of the story. “On its face, it’s a campy, parody, fun little thing derived from the tabloids. But when you look a little deeper at it, it really is about acceptance and tolerance and the way our contemporary society deals with prejudice, and how communities sort of strive to maintain their superiority by creating fear around people that are different. 

“We really wanted to capitalize on those themes that felt especially relevant. And it’s just a fabulous show. It’s really fun. The score is awesome. It’s from the same guy (Laurence O’Keefe) that wrote Legally Blonde: The Musical and Heathers: The Musical.”

Along with being relevant, it’s also a show Planck has wanted to do for quite a while.

“This title has been our list since we founded in 2016,” he said. “In the prep for founding the company, I always had 10-15 musicals that have stayed on our dream list. 

“I did the show when I was a senior at Ball State (in October 2004). It was like brand new, had just been released for publishing. It was a big deal to be one of the first productions after it had been published. I’ve always held onto that. It was by far my favorite experience at Ball State. 

“I sort of held onto that, thinking, ‘Ah, I want to do that. I want to direct it some day. I want to tell that story.’”

A favorite

Like for Planck, Bat Boy: The Musical is a favorite of Ren Moore, who will be playing Bat Boy/Edgar in the show.

However, instead of being a part of the show, Moore discovered it by accident.

“Halloween is my favorite holiday,” he said. “One day, I was looking through (my streaming service) wondering if there were any Halloween musical theater playlists. I heard one of these songs, and I thought, ‘Where is this from? Why have I never heard this before?’ From then, I started listening to the (Bat Boy) soundtrack and started watching all the different bootlegs online of different productions.”

Not long after discovering the show, he saw an opportunity to be a part of it.

“I was in Cats last February, and that was my first real production with Three Rivers Music Theatre,” he said. “After that, I started voice lessons with Andy, and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, you’re doing this musical that I love.’ 

“I love this show so much. I think the music is fantastic. It’s just so much fun because it’s so jarring, and the whole time, you’re going, ‘What is going on?’ And that’s how you’re supposed to feel. It’s odd that it’s so lovable.”

Like Moore, many people may have never heard of the show written by Keythe Farley and Brian Flemming that premiered at Tim Robbins’ Actors’ Gang Theatre on Oct. 31, 1997. In 2001, it made its way off-Broadway, where it ran from March 21-Dec. 2. As we all know, in the middle of that run were the Sept. 11 attacks, which flipped New York on its head.

“It sort of fell into cult status a little bit because it had unfortunate timing when it opened,” Planck said.

“New York theater in 2001, it really took a hit. This is one of those shows that didn’t survive the challenge that the whole New York arts community went through.”

Unique show with unique message

Arena Dinner Theatre performed the show to kick off their 2015-16 season, and the show seems to be gaining more momentum.

That momentum is being driven by the show’s message.

“The Bat Boy story is kind of similar to Quasimodo from Hunchback (of Notre Dame) in a way,” Moore said. “He’s someone that has been outcast from the world around him because of the way he looks. And, fundamentally, what makes him him, makes him not part of the world around him, and that’s what he wants more than anything. 

“It’s a story of acceptance and finding the good in someone who doesn’t seem to be all that.”

Along with humor and fantastic songs, Moore believes the characters make this show unique.

“All the characters are so interesting and have so much depth to them beyond what’s on the surface level,” he said. “They’re so well written. The music is fantastic, the songs are great. It’s really a fun show, and it’s such a shame that it didn’t get to go anywhere. It’s my favorite show of all time.”

To play those characters, Planck was confident in the wealth of talent in Fort Wayne.

“I knew we had cultivated the talent to do it, because (the music) is deceptively difficult,” he said. “This score is very, very hard, and it takes artists that are capable of that level of difficulty. I knew we had cultivated that kind of talent. The artistry was in place to execute it.”

Stepping up to the plate alongside Moore in the show are Cass Rentfrow, Renee Gonzales, Clayton Gaham, Momo Lamping, Lee Martin, Tegan Dostel, Martel Harris, Greyson Barnett, Abby Romulus, Melissa Rentfrow, Jennifer Poiry Prough, Kaleb Busche, Ella Moore, and Jakob Michael, who will also be making his debut as a choreographer.

“It really does feel like an honor to get to walk into every rehearsal and look around,” Moore said of his cast mates. “I’m like, ‘You are not only big Fort Wayne names, but big, beautiful voices.’ It’s a gift. Every rehearsal is.”

Along with watching the cast during the show, Planck chose the alley seating format so audiences could see each other’s reactions.

“I wanted something that felt intimate and something that would give an audience experience that people had not experienced before,” Planck said.

“And I loved the idea, with this piece in particular, that the audience can see each other and they feel they’re part of the story. There are reveals upon reveals upon reveals. As they’re watching the story unfold, they’re seeing other people’s reactions to it. I love that.”

“Seeing people’s faces is going to be a part of the show,” Moore said.