When a stage musical’s inspired by a campy, 1990s tabloid story about a half-human, half-bat boy who’s discovered in a West Virginia cave—I mean, you just go in expecting a weird show, right?

But nothing can truly prepare you for the level of weird achieved by Bat Boy, staged October 10-20 by U-M’s musical theatre department at the Encore Theatre in Dexter.

With music and lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe, and a book by Keythe Farley and Brian Flemming, Bat Boy follows the titular character as he’s housed, and socialized by, a local veterinarian’s family. Buttoned-up wife and mother Meredith Parker (Aquila Sol) is the first to emotionally connect with Bat Boy (Aaron Syi), naming him Edgar and teaching him to speak. Teen daughter Shelley Parker (Stephanie Reuning-Scherer) is initially disgusted by Edgar but comes to love him, too, while her father, Dr. Parker (Jamie Martin Mann), jealously watches his emotionally distant wife lavish maternal love upon Edgar. 

The show, particularly the first act, has been somewhat streamlined (a good thing) since I first saw it many years ago, but its high body count, black tragicomedy core—think Heathers crossed with a bewildering nature documentary—remains intact. 

Yes, at times, I caught myself questioning the story’s progression (“Why has Shelley suddenly fallen in love with Bat Boy, exactly, and vice versa?” “Would jealousy rankle Dr. Parker so much that he’d suddenly go on a killing spree of young people in his town?”), but then I also kept returning to this thought: I’m thinking way, way too hard about what is ultimately an absurdly silly show.

And while Bat Boy is simply too dark and strange for my taste, it’s hard to not be wowed by U-M’s talented students nonetheless. There were ensemble numbers like “Hold Me Bat Boy” and “Joyful Noise” that gave me chills, thanks to their soaring, epic harmonies. And while the source material is intentionally ridiculous, director Vincent J. Cardinal has his actors play the roles straight. There’s no “in on the joke” winking here; the characters are earnest and all-in—as one must be for camp to work.

Syi, terrific as Edgar, carries the heaviest load, not only devising the movements and sounds of a hybrid human bat but also tracking the huge emotional and developmental changes that Edgar undergoes. Meanwhile, Sol and Mann, despite playing roles significantly older than their age (an inevitable challenge in university productions), manage to give their semi-stock characters heart and dimension, and Reuning-Scherer, as the show progresses, steals scenes with her wicked comic timing and killer vocals.

But another reason the production sounds great is music director Jason DeBord, who was also assistant music director for the original off-Broadway production of Bat Boy, and thus has a masterful handle on the score. Sarah Tanner’s set is spare and versatile, allowing for quick changes of scene, while Joseph R. Walls’ lighting, and Chris Goosman’s sound design, makes the show feel (appropriately) creepy. Costume designer Shelby Newport makes the pre-Edgar plainness of the Parker family, and their lives, evident by their vanilla clothes—but with an accessory as subtle as Dr. Parker’s Dahmer glasses, hints at the violence to come. Finally, student choreographer Nicola Troschinetz effectively uses movement to tell the story of what’s happening between characters while also always staying within the bounds of the show’s offbeat tone.

So U-M’s production of Bat Boy has an awful lot of talent behind it—it’s just the show itself that might leave you cold.

Jenn McKee is a former staff arts reporter for The Ann Arbor News, where she primarily covered theater and film events, and also wrote general features and occasional articles on books and music.