The roots of Bat Out of Hell—The Musical date back decades before its arrival to the Strip, where Travis Cormier’s casting in the starring role was the final step before the musical could rev its engines in rehearsal. As Strat, Cormier helps bring Meat Loaf’s mega-selling 1977 album Bat Out of Hell to life onstage at Paris in a production inspired by producer Jim Steinman’s original vision for what the songwriter-producer-playwright described as “Wagnerian rock.”

It’s a role the Canadian performer is fully prepared for. In addition to handling vocals on songs originally interpreted by one of the most powerful rock singers of all time such as “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad,” “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” and the album’s title track, Cormier is responsible for delivering iconic dialogue spoken by Steinman himself in the introduction to “You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night).” “It is my favorite line to say in the musical,” says Cormier. “It’s such an honor because it’s such a famous, kind of legendary line.”

Cormier proved he had a way with legendary lyrics when he performed a cover of Aerosmith’s “Dream On” on the Canadian version of The Voice in 2016, astounding audience and judges alike when he hit the song’s climactic high notes. Cormier had discovered his parents’ stash of classic rock CDs as an adolescent, where Bat Out of Hell was shelved alongside Appetite for Destruction.

“There was nothing like that before,” says Cormier. “Music that was made for a musical, that tells such a story. The songs are 10-minute songs with such different melodies and emotions.”

Meat Loaf and Steinman met at a Shakespeare festival and were reunited in 1975 when both were cast in a touring musical as replacements for cast members departing for Saturday Night Live. The singer was impressed with Steinman’s songwriting and concept for a musical titled Neverland that evolved into an album project, and the two began working together in earnest. After a long recording journey, navigated in large part by producer Todd Rundgren, Bat Out of Hell became a sleeper hit.

The Manchester Opera House debut of Bat Out of Hell—The Musical in 2017 brought Steinman’s original vision full circle, going on to play London’s West End and touring internationally before coming to Vegas. Cormier joins a cast that includes Sin City stage veterans Travis Cloer (Jersey Boys) and Anne Martinez (Baz—A Musical Tour de Force) as the parents of Strat’s romantic interest Raven, played by Vegas native Alize Cruz.

Cormier describes his chemistry with co-star Cruz as “very real and natural,” which he thinks audiences will be looking for. Two people that have been inspiring him in rehearsals can’t be in the audience, as Steinman and Meat Loaf passed away in 2021 and January of this year, respectively.

“The whole time, I keep thinking, ‘If they were sitting in the room right now and they were looking at us, this is the performance I would want to be delivering,’” says Cormier. “I really want to put everything into this.”

Paris, batoutofhellvegas.com

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