No expense has been spared in this production. Motorcycles glide back and forth, towering video screens present alternate views of the action, and a convertible car is driven straight into the orchestra pit after a hypersexual performance of "Paradise by the Dashboard Light." Jay Scheib's massive staging is next on tap for Toronto this winter, and a New York mounting is probably not too far behind — hopefully, they'll pick up a dramaturg along the way. Whatever happens, it would be advisable to keep magnetic leading man Andrew Polec — an American whose only major credit is off-Broadway's The Fantasticks — front and center for a lot longer than he is in this current version. It's a true star-is-born performance, and his rendition of the title number is as epic as it gets.
Theatermania: David Gordon • London • Jul 27, 2017
http://www.theatermania.com/london-theater/news/eye-on-broadway-ferryman-girl-ladies-bat_81871.html
- in leading man and newcomer
Andrew Polec, a true star is born.
From his menacing opening monologue on stage, Polec brings an unnerving and intoxicating intensity to the role of Strat, the lost boy leader of a sub-culture where wild teen rebels stay 18 forever in the post-apocolyptic landscape of Obsidian.
With flashes of Sid Vicious, Iggy Pop, and the flamboyant strut of Meat Loaf himself, the raw, pulsating energy and vocal dexterity of Polec in this role is quite extraordinary. His love story with Christina Bennington as Raven bristles with electricity and delivers stunning vocal duets on those big, meaty Meat Loaf masterpieces.
Manchester Evening News:
Review: Bat Out of Hell The Musical
at Manchester Opera House
Impressive staging, clever production and a back catalogue of hits ensure the Meat Loaf musical is a smash hit
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09:26, 15 MAR 2017
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UPDATED09:46, 17 MAR 2017
Andrew Polec’s Strat leads ‘The Lost’, a band of misfits rebelling against the tyrannical rule of Falco (Rob Fowler). Polec’s performance is reminiscent of the rock front men from yesteryear; a blend of Axel Rose and David Bowie, brimming with charisma and sex appeal, while smoothly meandering through the famed melodies.
The Sweet Life London:
REVIEW: “UNADULTERATED ESCAPISM” ★★★★
BAT OUT OF HELL – THE MUSICAL, LONDON COLISEUM
Posted on June 22, 2017 in London Reviews, Musical Theatre, Reviews, Theatre
The hero of “Bat Out of Hell,” directed with technological sturm und drang by the American Jay Scheib, is also irony-free, but in the mode of a heavily emoting lover from grand opera. His name is Strat, and he is played with beguiling epicene virility and lungs of steel by the willowy Andrew Polec. Strat is the leader of a gang of resourceful street urchins known as the Lost, a tribe frozen for eternity at the age of 17.
New York Times:
Regressing in London With Meat Loaf and Adrian Mole
BRANTLEY IN BRITAIN AUG. 15, 2017
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/15/theater/london-meat-loaf-adrian-mole-nostalgia.html
