“Bat Out of Hell” to Close at Paris

By Scott Roeben, on December 23 2022
2 min read 5 comments
Las Vegas Las Vegas Shows

“Bat Out of Hell” is being put out of its misery at Paris Las Vegas.

The show is set to close on Jan. 1, 2023 after just a couple of months of heavily-papered performances.

The Meat Loaf-infused production opened Oct. 7, 2022.

A last-ditch suggestion to change the show’s name to “Pangolin Out of Hell” was wisely rejected.

We feel for the cast and crew of the show, but the writing was on the wall given the show’s shaky history elsewhere and paper-thin concept (Meat Loaf songs shoehorned into a baffling story inspired by Peter Pan), among other challenges.

The writing wasn’t just on the wall, it was also on our Twitter account back in November. Following our Tweet, we were invited to appear in a walk-on role on Jan. 2, 2023.

Novel approach, but awkward nonetheless.

We never got to see “Bat Out of Hell,” but it got some reasonably good reviews from people who like that sort of thing. Reviews were mostly mixed, however. A good number of the raves on TripAdvisor appear to have been written by people who have only submitted one review to TripAdvisor, a frowned-upon tactic that telegraphs desperation on the part of a show and its employees.

“Bat Out of Hell” has suffered the fate of a number of other shows in the Paris Theater, including a couple of good ones.

Following a solid run by the excellent “Jersey Boys” (which closed in Sep. 2016), a string of flops followed, including “Marilyn,” “Circus 1903” (we enjoyed it) and “Inferno.”

Some say Broadway-style shows are done in Las Vegas, but we’re not sure that’s true. They just need to be Broadway quality.

Others say the Paris Theater is cursed. That’s not it, of course, but it’s been awhile since Paris has paired with a show that can deliver the goods.

Las Vegas oddsmakers are calling the favorite for the next effort at Paris: A variety show with irreverent comedy. (Please refer to “Absinthe” at Caesars Palace.)

There’s no word yet about what might replace “Bat Out of Hell” at Paris.

Word of the closure of “Bat Out of Hell” was first shared by the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s John Katsilometes.

We trust most of the performers in “Bat Out of Hell” will move on to other gigs, perhaps even a show worthy of their talent.