It makes a perfect kind of sense that former Meatloaf collaborator Jim Steinman is busy writing a musical version of "Batman." Steinman -- who penned Meatloaf's "Bat Out of Hell" album and has since gone to court to battle over his copyright of the album's title -- made his first foray into musical theater by writing the lyrics to Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Whistle Down the Wind" and found mainstream success, in Germany at least, with his own musical, "Tanz der Vampire" ("Dance of the Vampires"). (When "Vampire" came to Broadway, though, it was an instant flop, reportedly losing a grisly $17 million.)
Steinman has long been rumored to be collaborating with Tim Burton on a Broadway retelling of the caped crusader, and while Burton now seems to have dropped out of the picture, Steinman's been writing about the project on his blog recently, where he also describes the opening scene of "Batman: The Musical": "And from the darkness, amidst gargoyles and turrets and spires (OH MY!), suddenly we see a gargoyle come alive -- it's Batman, watching all before & below him. He sings THE GRAVEYARD SHIFT, on the Gothic rooftops, a human, watchful, vengeful dark presence. Then HES GONE! During his aria, below, a parade of characters pass by: Selena Kyle/Catwoman, The Joker, various city dwellers and 'villains' we'll meet later on..." He's also put up the first musical number -- a tacky, cheeseball romp that's the Joker's big song, with a title taken straight from Jack Nicholson's lips:
"Where Does He Get Those Wonderful Toys?" (mp3)
-- Scott Lamb
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