I’d forgotten the buzz around a Sitzprobe. The first time that the cast and the band get together and run through the score. Literally a “seated rehearsal” it follows many hours of rehearsal and note bashing to a piano in a cramped studio. And then suddenly the band turns up and the magic starts to happen!
So imagine my joy at being invited to the Sitzprobe for the 2025 touring production of Bat Out Of Hell!
Yes, my prayers to the gods of…
..had been answered.
Bat Out of Hell originally came to these shores in 2017 and right from the start the journey was a shared one.
Then came the opening in Manchester and the audience went wild!
So with more tinsel than is usual for a Sitzprobe (and with a glass of festive fizz,) we sat down, eight years on, to listen to ten or so songs of Jim Steinman’s finest in preparation for the 2025 UK tour of Bat Out of Hell – the musical
From Out of the Frying Pan to I Would Do Anything for Love we were entertained by a full band – two keyboards, kit, percussion, three guitars and bass (listen out for the killer bass line in Dead Ringer) – and the super talented cast.
I know the director (Jay Scheib), choreographer (Xena Gusthart), set and costume designer (Jon Bausor), wig designers (Linda McKnight), video designer, lighting designer, theatre manager, ice cream sellers et al, will not appreciate me saying so, but to just sit down and concentrate on the music , without any distraction, in the raw state of the rehearsal room, was a real treat.
Hats off to the whole cast – Glenn Adamson as Strat, Katie Tonkinson as Raven, Rob Fowler as Falco and Sharon Sexton as Sloane will be Georgia Bradshaw (A Night With Janis Joplin, Peacock Theatre) as Zahara, Ryan Carter (Ain’t too Proud, West End) as Jagwire, Carla Bertran (Jesus Christ Superstar, UK Tour) as Tink, Luke Street (Jesus Christ Superstar, UK Tour) as Ledoux and Carly Burns (Rehab The Musical) as Valkyrie. Leo Abad (Hello Dolly, West End), Peter Camilleri (MAMMA MIA! UK and International Tour), Joshua Dever (Mrs Doubtfire, West End), Reece Duncan (Rock of Ages, UK Tour), Georgia Holland (We Will Rock You, UK Tour), Georgia Iudica-Davies (Heathers, The Other Palace), Natalie Pilkington (SIX the Musical, UK Tour), Harriet Richardson-Cockerline (ITV’s Starstruck), Sophie-Rose Emery (Lead vocalist for Aida Cruises), Catherine Saunders (SuperYou, Leicester Curve), Ethan Tanner (The Boybands, UK Tour), Craig Watson (Cruel Intentions, The Other Palace) , James Wilkinson-Jones (An Officer and a Gentleman The Musical, UK and Ireland Tour)
and Beth Woodcock (The Rocky Horror Show, International Tour).
What a cast! For crying out loud, I think I love them!
A special mention too to Joshua Dever who covered for Falco at the Sitzprobe. I am guessing that the swings and covers and deps (who are every bit as good as the stars) will also be just as important to this show: in part due to the technical demands of the score and also due to the gruelling tour schedule (below). After all, not even Meat Loaf could be Meat Loaf for 8 performances a week for 9 months!!!
So, when do you guys get your treats?
We will have Bat Out Of Hell hotel packages in London when it comes to The Peacock in May – a day after my 60th birthday, so yes, I am old enough to have been around when Meat did his thing AND I we even hung out together in a field in Hertfordshire, but that story is for another time!
Here is the tour schedule. My brother in law has is in Edinburgh, I’ve got mine for London and probably Milton Keynes… when will you book yours?
Bat Out Of Hell 2025 UK TOUR SCHEDULE
6 – 11 January Edinburgh Playhouse
13 – 18 January Portsmouth Kings Theatre
20 – 25 January Liverpool Empire Theatre
27 January – 1 February Bromley, Churchill Theatre
3 – 8 February Cardiff New Theatre
10 – 22 February Birmingham The Alexandra
24 February – 8 March Manchester Palace
10 – 15 March Aberdeen His Majesty’s Theatre
17 – 22 March Peterborough New Theatre
31 March – 5 April Cheltenham Everyman
7 – 19 April Glasgow King’s Theatre
21 – 26 April Leeds Grand Theatre
28 April – 3 May Sheffield Lyceum On Sale Soon
5 – 10 May Woking New Victoria Theatre
12 – 17 May Plymouth Theatre Royal
21 May – 7 June London Peacock Theatre
9 – 14 June Leicester Curve
16 – 28 June Milton Keynes Theatre
30 June – 5 July Stoke Regent Theatre
atgtickets.com/stoke
21 – 26 July Wycombe Swan
4 – 9 August Southend Cliffs Pavilion
18 – 23 August Sunderland Empire
25 – 30 August Dartford Orchard Theatre
1 – 13 September Bristol Hippodrome
15 – 20 September Northampton Royal and Derngate
