Meat Loaf’s ‘Bat Out Of Hell’ Being Turned Into A Musical [Video]

Meat Loaf’s classic album, “Bat Out Of Hell,” is headed for the stage. Jim Steinman, the man who wrote the songs on the album, is developing a rock opera based on the popular release, which is celebrating its 40^th anniversary. 

The musical is expected to incorporate songs like "Paradise by the Dashboard Light," "You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night)," "Bat Out Of Hell," and "Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad," as well as the Meat Loaf hit “I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)" which was featured on the album’s sequel, “Bat Out of Hell II.”

“Bat Out of Hell: The Musical,” described as “a romantic adventure about rebellious youth and passionate love, set against the backdrop of a post-cataclysmic city adrift from the mainland,” will begin previews on February 17^th at England’s Manchester Opera House, before eventually moving to Canada.

The down side for Meat Loaf fans, is the big guy himself is currently not involved. There's no word if he'll have anything to do with it.  Previews will begin in February in the U.K., and the show will then move to Canada.  There's no word yet on it coming to the U.S.

"I love Jimmy," the singer said in a statement provided to Billboard. "He and I have been friends and worked together for over 40 years so it’s incredible for me to see his dream of over 50 years finally come to fruition."

Meat Loaf's latest album, Braver Than We Are, comes out Sept. 9 in Europe and Sept. 16 in the U.S. All the songs were written by Steinman.

Here's an interesting sidebar to this story. The song 'Total Eclipse of the Heart' was written for Meat Loaf, but a disagreement over the direction of the album he was recording at the time led it to be picked up by Bonnie Tyler, who made it a HUGE international hit. Watch this clip about it from the Showtime documentary 'Meat Loaf: In And Out of Hell'.