Exclusive: Bat Boy
Dan Tarker, Senior
Correspondent
Last month, an ad in the Personals
section of several
SM Human/Bat hybrid with great sense
of humor seeking sensitive, fun-loving SF who enjoys taking moonlight strolls,
spelunking into subterranean caves, and eating raw meat (preferably red) by
candlelight. Me: Your very own Quasimodo. You: My very own Esmeralda.
Transgressive romance almost certain.
Since moving to “The Salad Bowl of
the World” earlier this year, sources tell us that Edgar has desperately tried
to bring some normalcy to his life. He’s enrolled in college, found a job a
Starbucks, and now appears to be searching for a girlfriend.
Yet, if the comments of Bruce
Palmer, a retired Monterey County Sheriff, are any indication, Edgar’s quest for
companionship will not be easy. “If
I learned one thing in all my years in law enforcement,” says Palmer, “people
with pointy ears and razor sharp fangs always spell trouble. I’d take a shotgun
to that kid before I’d let him take my daughter out.”
According to Donna Federico, an
actor at The Western Stage in Salinas, where they are producing Bat Boy the Musical in honor of their
newest celebrity resident, there is not a lot of difference between what Edgar
now faces in Salinas and what the play depicts when he was first discovered in a
cave in Hope Falls, West Virginia. “I think it’s natural for people to be afraid
when a person looks a little bit funny.”
Federico compares Bat Boy’s plight
to that of other notable creatures like Frankenstein and the Phantom in Phantom of the Opera. Yet, she is
hopeful that someone will respond to Edgar’s ad. “Once they get past that eating
small animals habit of his, they’ll find him to be an absolute sweetheart.”
A Bat Boy romance would not be
unprecedented. During the height of his fame, when Bat Boy the Musical was selling out
houses in
According to reliable sources, it
was Bat Boy playwright Keythe Farley
who recommended Edgar move to
Yet, wherever he goes, Edgar always
proves to be a controversial figure. Some members of this community have already
formed a Minuteman group to patrol the neighborhood where Edgar lives and ensure
that he does not steal anyone’s pet or, worse, date anybody’s daughter.
Bat Boy co-director Jeff McGrath thinks
this development is unfortunate. According to him, there is a line in the play
that says everyone has a Bat Boy inside them. “We shouldn’t be terrorizing this
kid,” he says. “We should be rooting for him. If he can get a girlfriend, then,
I guarantee, anyone can.”
Who knows? Perhaps