Thomas Jefferson High School alum Meat Loaf has always been a hell raiser, and now his life is a musical. The production based off of his best-selling album Bat out of Hell made its debut in a preview last weekend. The musical takes songs from the seminal 70’s rock album by Meatloaf and creates a futuristic dystopian production.
When Jim Steinman and Meat Loaf first began working on Bat out of Hell, they envisioned it as a rock musical for the stage. However, that didn’t really pan out, leaving record-producer and musician Todd Rundgren to step in, creating one of the best-selling albums of all time. But now, the original dreams for the music are coming true, taking a new life with a stage production that leaves die-hard Meat Loaf fans excited.
Fans of the TJ High School alum took to the streets, heading to West 55th Street in a motorcycle procession to celebrate the first preview of the new musical.
Led by the show’s star, Andrew Polec, the motorcade caused a traffic snarl in the busy street. The group of proud hellions raised their voices, howling the title song over some disgruntled driver’s honking. Page Six reported that “No fewer than three women were spotted lifting their shirts to flash Polec,” though the young actor was apparently unfazed by the display. Andrew Polec plays the starring role of Strat, an eternal teenager in a fantastical, futuristic world, who belts out the show-stopping numbers.
Meat Loaf, who was inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame in 2012, has garnered major attention for his over-the-top theatricality and rocking music. Songs like Paradise by the Dashboard Light have been covered and revisited by fans. In 2015, Meat Loaf returned to Preston Hollow to receive one of the TJ High School Distinguished Alumni Awards.
