Q is for Quantent

sickos Yes >:) ... ha ha ha ...

Sickos!! (i went "isn't this just like marble hornets. i'd better check" so just in case like: i don't know who around here is also automatically nodding in familiarity w/screenshots but. Your Fault)

thank you for The Message like i'm very glad to know When It's My Fault for going on about stuff & things & actually conveying any information including any vague sense of why/how/that something could be Of Interest. going & entirely Watching The Musical is a great step one pulled there like congratulations also. it's so wild like The Compellingness Of This Show is such that, besides my already knowing Of the real life floyd collins subject & being interested in The Idea of a musical about that, 1) step one Really was seeing the score as a printed book & flipping to see in what way they wrote An Ending & put it in A Song to boot, & even Reading that was so like "oh okay. wow???" that then after steeping in intrigue for a while i 2) checked out the 1996 version album & over months of occasional revisits listening to the entire album it was Already like wowwww this musical is pretty staggering like do people know about this??? i know that they do actually & speak highly of it but like, oh my god. then 3) Watching The Musical like holy shit i can't believe the album alone gave such amazing material as a version of the span of the show. where i was like "i wonder what scenes skeets gets :) won't that be interesting since there's only so much of his dialogue in the songs on the album" like ohh my god. all the Sights & Sounds & Storylines of the full show are like wow yep of course it's Never like anyone purports that an album of a musical is encapsulating what that full show is but like. not that i expected skeets miller to be an insignificant role but wow. Wow!!!

the Themes were already bowling me over & Are & will be forever, every time i listen to the album it's a familiar but also brand new Singular time listening to how glory goes....all this and that the Real Events that went on around this incident are just so interesting that yeah it's like. rewards await from Looking Into This....what research threads did you end up on. that this is like yeah something so Known / Famous but also like known/famous as Being An Event & specific & accurate info of details about what was going on can be surprisingly limited for it, i would have figured like oh there's bound to be plenty of books about this retrospectively!! but there's the One definitive one in Trapped! & that was like decades later courtesy of someone interested in caving to come along like hmm more about this....that like real person floyd collins left behind very little firsthand accounts & info (really more like, it's all secondhand descriptions prior to The Event/s surrounding his death & being quoted then, & then it's some official forms & records, & his name / initials carved into rocks / cave walls) but it's like wow i'm here in 2026 to be able to be like oh totally reaching back like your autistic swag for real for sure, And More. that this guy IS considered like sure greatest cave explorer ever known, but it's not only that we know him b/c of how he died but also that it's agreed like oh that wouldn't have been Known if it weren't for this specific reporter who was actually small enough & determined in earnest to help enough to be like part reporter but mostly rescuer. stories where mortality is a big theme, electric homoeroticism, stories themselves as a theme....all this and that the music & sound of the show is like it is???

hold me, bat boy is very similar while also having a lot of Lyrics Changes which to me i liked b/c it was simply clearer about The Theme & the way characters relate to it / its relevance in the storyline. i don't think I'm expressing myself clearly here & i could get more specific. i'll also go back & say how a lot of times it feels like "oh yeah there's marked differences here" like the ton of lyrics changes to this number, or where other songs are completely different (absent, new) or plot points / Action & Dialogue changed while generally going "but oh yeah this is also very similar." it definitely seems like it was changed mostly Around thee bat boy / edgar, by which i do not mean that his material was most changed, but rather that it wasn't, & other things Around this central thread of [actual character: bat boy] were what tended to be changed. most of it changing in the first half of act one i would say, when characters are Introduced & shit, makes sense. & yet then i would also tend to reflect on the stuff changed & be like yeah that's sure basically doing the same thing as it was, but differently. didn't seem to me like anything was really being like oh we're throwing this whole major element out, just adjusting it. like let's just jump ahead & be like: it's gone from [there are a bunch of cows in town & they're languishing & dying] to [there's one cow in town & they're Expecting, we learn] & it's like okay see i see how it's about The Same Thing re: cows are The Hope / Future of this languishing struggling town / its livelihood. gonna get around w/arguing with how someone was like [This way of doing it in 2025 is less effective b/c Xyz] when we get to that point

anyway yeah in hold me, bat boy the Greek Chorusing is still there & emphasized more i think. still singing about Watch & Learn to the audience, singing about Bat Boy both as character & metaphor as like a haunting specter who is also Watching & Learning & that tension between feeling this Surely Unacceptable Or Is He & Don't Call Him Shirley figure is a threat but also &/or salvation. you know. it's hard for me to monologue (my full-time job getting overtime also (but it's hard still, sure)) like. we need a dozen tries to start distilling & clarifying ideas into words. but also it does feel like this The Beast Inside concept of The Emotional Parts Of Oneself That Are Othered / Alienated is of course kept pretty loose & flexible. like i think it does plenty that this whole thing Comes Out Of "what if there was a child who was half-bat" rather than like, working backwards to the "what if there was a bat child" from starting off going Allegorical Cats about [beast within....] concepts or anything. even when like yeah clearly from the jump when it's even more casually like "how to make a musical about a bat child" it goes in a direction about The Themes. but like i think it keeps it plenty Capacious as a story & its themes when it's like yeah absolutely so relevant at all times like "how do people Other (verb) people, which also necessarily relates to & influences how they Other (verb) themselves" but then like even if/when all metaphors or models break down, this story isn't like committing to trying to be One possible experience of Othering which this might all be trying to Resolve Into / Align With, b/c instead what it is is about a bat boy. even when also it's not Most concerned with that as a Literal Thing either. it's just also like, moving towards being Whatever / touching on many things at once. trying to be more general about it not being helpful perhaps to have the idea that there's versions of people who are Other to be Rejected

how about some actual lyrics. i'm obsessed with simply "his tragedy broke us / we need you to focus". telling the audience [you are] Easily Changed But We Are Stuck / Standing In Our Graveyard / Facing The Truth Is Going To Suck / And He Sucks Hard / Sucks Hard; bat boy the musical my treasure lmao. lot of staging ft this like Batlike Arrangement of the company in a V shape, shelley is generally Centered & Focused on throughout, such as at the downstage center & forefront of this V shape, company's arms Up/Out to emphasize Bat Wings, shelley crossing her arms with her hands against her neck while everyone else covers the inner elbow/forearm of an extended arm w/their opposite hand during the Sucks Hard part. a stanza like Did He See when i fought with my wife / Did He See why i sleep with a knife....first Bat Boy appearance quick backing into a center spotlight pose seen only From Behind, looking up at shelley in the overhead platform / catwalk Center Stage, also lit, reaching down to him as she's singing. also the scene with The Local Teens Trio coming across him is pretty succinct & woven into Hold Me, Bat Boy, part of the song they're like kicking his ass while the Kicking His Ass / beating him lyrics happen, we tricked him we trapped him we kicked him & slapped him we all live in guilt for the blood that was spilt. no like Prior Quiet Establishing scene really say with dialogue w/the teens or bat boy literally singing to echoes & all alone, no offering him fritos, he bites ruthie's leg amidst scuffling, i remember another moment like seeing him Briefly lighting him up while he's crouched stage left as though the teens have momentarily glimpsed him with their flashlights. i do not mind like oh making it Clearer what these Themes / Instructions For The Audience / Metaphors are and might be? subtlety is for suckers; no earnest uncritical [explaining is an admission of failure] nor that either you Understand / Are Understood immediately, or simply with Further Thought, or else you or the audience are Stupid(tm). no complaining about Holding The Audience's Hand like jesus. take my hand. shelley reaching down dramatically during this number. shelley is so everything too & having her very literally front & center prominent here too is everything as well. maybe she usually is, i'm not sure. Yay Shelley, a point we will also be returning to

similar dialogue to what i remember between shelley & meredith in the conversation about calling rick / he'll like you (want to call / talk to you more?) more if he hears from you less / aw mom rick already knows i like him / don't talk like a slut, shelley / [quick only Just not stepping on meredith's line / flat] Sorry [turning away]....shelley Making Faces as meredith is like you have to dust so that it doesn't GET dirty & then as meredith is getting tense over how since A Young Lady doesn't Suffer from the out-of-control hormonal issues of her Boy Friend it's her job to provide the friction; shelley's incredulous "friction???" & then going like >:o at meredith's stressed like Jerkoff Motion with a glass she's drying while she's staring out intensely lecturing about Sexual Dynamics. "so you'll bear the responsibility If Something Happens" "like what?" the meredith brightening her delivery for "the wages of sin is death, sweetheart, that's all i'm saying!" & then knock on the door it's the sheriff & A Storm as he delivers the titular character

edgar with coveralls & a "BITES" labeled sack over his head, a creature, a prisoner....marked change again re: Introducing Characters was that The Taylors (there's so many of them....) barge into the middle of this. What's Different is changing up like so mrs. taylor wants revenge / wants to get rid of This Dangerous Creature That Attacked My Child/ren, there's Not the aspect of the bite on ruthie not healing as fast as expected, it's more like she's fairly Fine / lightly wounded & then from the jump that's more so being played up as leverage to also Claim ownership of The Bat Boy. clear opportunistic angle here & deemphasizing like oh genuine Concern For Her Children as the main thing, emphasizing that edgar could be exploited for gain (monetary), which in turn is used to emphasize the reference of edgar staying with dr. parker specifically as this refuge b/c we need A Veterinarian & not you randos to decide if edgar is even like A Stray Animal you can find or claim ownership of, rather than a human, you gonna claim you own a human? if he says it's a creature well then i know where to reach ya / but if you try to jump the gun, that you will regret, so back up, son....sheriff giving His Word Of Honor that the taylors will get the credit & compensation over bat boy If dr. parker rules he's A Creature, but being like genuinely protective enough of edgar in the meantime & a bit less threatening even, the line about "& if he turns into a pain, call me, i've got stun guns & a chain / oh / whoa!" becomes about "meanwhile, i believe you've got a cage?" re: another reason for bringing edgar here specifically. change also "i'm coming up for reelection / & i'm their sheriff, not their nurse / but 'these folks fear infection so they won't like his complexion / hey, their fears can get a bit perverse / a bat child's guaranteed to make it worse"

meanwhile that then naturally we have shelley going A Bat Child?? Mom, We Gotta Keep It!!! like fun lowering growlier bit of yelling; her having that general like somewhat repulsed but entertained reaction, literally poking at him having fun with it like a game while the [shelley please don't poke / provoke] lyrics are happening of course; fun bit where the sheriff's saying to her to keep back, it bit one of the taylor kids, shelley goes "rick??" / "no, ruthie" / again comically quick flat "Oh." of immediate disinterest lol. she's doing comedy too when The Taylors crash in, since rick is there, & she's just like to one side while Commotion is going on & trying to Pose a bit while stumbling / having to scoot around b/c that much is happening & like repeatedly attempting to flip her hair in case rick is looking Now (he largely doesn't seem to be, though when he leaves the scene he does do some offhanded like Flirting Acknowledgment before jumping up on / off a table Stompingly enough to frighten The Bat Child) which, parenthetical, we Don't have the songs or quite Same Songs as Ugly Boy / Whatcha Wanna Do? or the london version's Hey Freek (i do not know why this is the spelling i'm repeatedly seeing. why not i guess) which is quite similar except that since the Love Song which reprises this part is different, we have shelley either like "such an ugly boy" reprised "such a lovely boy" or "just don't call him mine, he's your freak, not mine" reprised w/Mine, All Mine, & yknow, they're still different in other ways. & like, again it's like oh well things are Executed Differently. shelley doesn't sing about how gross the bat boy(tm) & Just Rick doesn't show up to visit Just Her & sing about how he should be violent to the bat boy(tm) w/shelley joining it. but we Do The Same Stuff In Effect in a different way, I Think. having to jump around here to say how like yeah see, you don't have Rick & Shelley like with the whatcha wanna do / hey freek sequence together, but there's the same like info & dynamic Enough (I Think) through the discussion w/meredith establishing having this bf, through shelley struggling to Be The Desireable Gf across the room while rick is more preoccupied w/Violence Time At Edgar even as all the taylors are present & mrs. taylor is driving that. also we're now jumping over to the note of that the sheriff like physically stands in front of edgar during this & puts an arm up both like shielding him & then when edgar kind of huddles up against him there, the sheriff like is reaching back patting his head some (through the Bites sack still). anyways and Then the out & out conflict / splitting point Between rick & shelley over edgar doesn't happen in this One Scene & rather is done like emphasizing this as An Arc For Shelley in terms of a) having it happen later after more time with her arc with edgar & b) having it be all about rick & shelley & edgar; she doesn't have meredith intervene. another thing to come back to imminently

a home for you.........so similar like possibly totally lyrically unchanged. let me just grab the text i typed last night: "the vividest things. i can replay this closeup shot like, meredith is singing at first sitting down nearby, then sings while carefully opening the cage door & holding on to that, then you have edgar slowly exiting & starting to look around. & then thinking of cats & their like Sharing A Space & Not Looking Directly At A Person when they're hanging out comfortably (& people like "cats are so rude the way they'll come be in the same place as you & then make a point of not looking at you to be like fuck you") anyway & that edgar is just kind of poking around not actually facing meredith when there's that first moment of him singing the melody to complete her line. & kerry butler meredith making such a like stricken <8c face staring at him in reaction. then that she sings the next line imitating Him & edgar kind of Then looks at her like realizing oh yeah we're doing something together here aren't we? what a song & scene this is. the lyrics & her talking about what he can & should have here wrt Home & Family...." it's so sweet augh. edgar like so alarmed & horrified by The Stew he scrambles back inside the cage And shuts its door again lmao, when meredith carefully resumes singing And Somehow If You Make It Through while turning to lean against the cage right up against where edgar is leaning against it, fairly back to back....the character that meredith is also lol like truly. this song is so much even without knowing the full context for her & then it's so much. we're not here to harm you or make you feel ashamed, you can make mistakes here & you won't be blamed; family's a place where your trust is earned by folks who are happy they kept you, we'll find a family that won't let you down, i swear, 'cause [going <8c b/c edgar has just begun singing to himself completing her melody] things that are nonstop weird playful funny Moving Earnest these aren't opposites these aren't contradictory

interestingly!! dr. parker is another element like tamped down / grounded but also up to so much of the same. like getting a christopher sieber contrasting like, this "timid, pusillanimous, villainous, unscrupulous, cowardly, craven, unprincipled, dastardly" being in a more understated & worn down & wry Comedic way than how like other dr. parkers have been more intense bigger like just barging in a Little bit reined in okay regular wearied guy but going sicko mode pretty immediately into villainy & just like haven't we killed this guy already, my god lmao. whereas this guy is a bit more tamped down & more pain in the ass & a bit less running meredith over But! still doing a ton of the same actually, akin to like. probably worth its own post comparing This adjusted role / personality / dynamic with the difference in rick & shelley's, for now i'm marinating & thinking along the way....anyways but like hey he's Also pretty much immediately doing the same ol "i'll kill this Bat Child unless hey you sleep with me? tonight?" & again like making the horror [same thing, still there] delivered more with the Comedic side of the elevation & dissonance, same coin other side, a humorously sort of understated delivery of his repeated question "tonight? tonight? tonight?" with the Dramatics of his like expressive intensity of simply 8| while also arms outstretched one hand w/the syringe held up over edgar one holding a drink out to meredith. this after also the similar entrance with a spin again of this [i was quoting merriam-webster synonyms for "nebbishy" prior] like mid-sentence pivot kind of Lively Weariedness talking to himself & Hypothetically Anyone Else with enthusiasm about cooking geese before being like "And—Ah Why Is The Big Cage Out" not missing a beat in that pivot just like ah jeez. then like up to the same My God, This Guy antics but again w/it seeming less like he's just rampaging through things As Usual just as per having less of that entire delivery, even as he's just Still also immediately gonna kill edgar & then leveraging Not doing that to have meredith sleep with him

again this difference is also realized with: we Do get "dance with me, darling" Kinda, as the same scene & a Similar song but briefer & a little more like. i did note it as kinda bossa nova & i think that's actually accurate, different from the like. [the French / Parisian Sound Cues accordion? the musette, im seeing] of dance with me darling, & i think it's a more major key other otherwise just more like Whee Yay vs being pretty clearly like villainy menacing in key & delivery originally again. & it's probably somewhat briefer? & wait i forgot to also say it's called Fly With Me, a shift i take to be more about the Romance in general than that this increasingly ominous Dancing is like necessarily simply standing in for / implying Sexual Intercourse. like same deal in many ways, this is not Not still in the context of him leveraging edgar's life & meredith being overtly unhappy & begrudging here, great expressions the entire time as the choreography is about her playing along trying to get to Take the syringe away vs dr. parker offering Drinks. she's still definitely like overall unhappy & Dealing With Him, very similar, doing it a different way, he's just like less of that Ominous Key-ed Villainy Crashing Through even while he's crashing & villainying & shit w/plenty of the very same dialogue & actions & stuff, there were lyrics changes too but quite similar if not precisely the same, akin to the Key being a bit more lively, less menacing. his combo dialogue like "there's no way that this turns out well" re: edgar & "now you have all this love in your heard, where'd you find all this room for love in your heart, tell me who you love, it's me, right?" like Comedic Dissonance in these same like Dramatic kinds of words but the still more understated delivery of them, still kind of this weariedness & like [the general Personality being more about Suppression] than this like. more so nonstop radiating villainy guy just already walking in like who can i kill today. more about this, of course

marked moment at the end of this song where there's an interrupting Chord when meredith turns her face out / away from a kiss, a pause, dr. parker still going "things are really turning around for us, aren't they, dear?" & meredith's humoringly pleasant "that's right" before still clearly kind of scowling as she turns away. expressions & deliveries constantly fun from everyone. edgar holding his arms kind of curled / folded like bat wings oftentimes, by the way. i might jump to any detail at any time. recollections wild ride

felt again like moving the element contained in Ugly Boy | Whatcha Wanna Do | Hey Freek of shelley like differing from / splitting with rick over [being That violent to the bat boy in practice rather than in theory of being like Haha Yeah but not actually meaning to go about any of it] & again like having just more of her & extending her arc alongside / interacting w/edgar's, in this like I Guess This Is My Life Now scene which is new / different: first shelley being like oh my god that Now He's Out Of The Cage when he startles her by a) she hasn't encountered him having free rein yet & b) he is going dog mode for this meet & greet not as per any like [omg. a puppy] but rather like it is only More like "can you not do that" re: a creature trying to exchange calling cards through your ass/crotch scents, More startling probably if it was a person (but: or a creature??) & so she does flip out like immediately omg Stop Creeping On Me Bat Boy >:( & but then he's also immediately startled & like again Overtly Afraid Cowering for her to shift up like oh wait no buck up sorry. like that getting up close 1 on 1 & able to interact unbuffered she's able to Also go sympathetic mode rather than be like well this thing is gross & weird & at first i was just kind of fascinated & messing with it but we should kill it. though this moment of her choosing the [Not being violent at him or relishing any feeling of getting anything over on him] is also Not the be all end all of the dynamic, she's humorously like, again, So This Is My Life Now a bit flatly as they already have Edgar At The Breakfast table. one of the locals Lorraine drops in for an emergency house call w/her cat (hand puppet in her arms) to also go "oh my god you have it eat with you" lmao. & then like my cat is hurt :( to dr. parker while they're sitting on a couch across the room from the breakfast table, & the humorously emphasized in volume dialogue instances of like i'm worried about the BLEEDING. yes that's quite a lot of lost BLOOD for a cat this age. with a beat taken afterwards & the literal percussion Pulse-Evocative [BEAT BEAT.] motif of this score as the Backdrop has a red Lighting pulse in time with this percussion & edgar is clearly responding like [!]. then making his way over to be like [I WANT TO EAT THAT] startling lorraine & cat & everyone & then dr. parker goes GET BACK IN THE CHAIR. GET BACK IN THE CHAIR. five times in a row herding him back edgar is frightened off back into the chair no one is having a good time shelley just covering her ears leaning forward lorraine like D8 about all this & the cat (hand puppet) also trembling dr. parker like STAY i told you STAY. sorry about that. it's like again dramatic & [oh god, this guy] & but also like of course "here's a new scene though where sure now the bat boy Didn't cause a mysteriously-unhealing bite wound for a local child (which i always interpreted to be like, vampire bat type Anticoagulants, but More So b/c he large & b/c this is all elevated)" but yknow still have these instances of like uh oh watch out for this guy, people are scared!! & of course making it clear like, The Blood Thing. & also presenting that like yeah we've got edgar sort of dropped into place indeed as though He's Part Of This Family but it's not that simple, there's more to be wrangled, i Do think there was a moment of him like. playing Imitating eating a piece of bread but while Not Actually Doing So. re: the whole "can Only eat blood" issue & then here's a fresh pizza pie delivery (figurative) (literally: fresh blood) & like yeah i should also say it's again entirely comedic the like outburst chaos dr. parker Yelling to wrangle edgar even as it's also like yes everyone is like Oh My God I'm Suffering & Stressed. it does feel like you Don't have to really upend things much to just nudge dr. parker from like, being this immediate outright source of conflict & antagonism who is Horrifying to one who is pretty similar but just does come off more comedically & Is overall comparatively subdued

also adding a bullet point b/c i think like Another thing this new scene does is show Edgar Learns To Be Afraid Of / Ashamed Of / Learns That He Has To Suppress Needing To Eat (Blood) vs no like clear instance of that otherwise where he ends up Understanding even before reading the bible that like oh this is Wrong(tm) to seek out blood for himself like that

also then i think it does set up Show You A Thing Or Two, a sort of Interval scene where we have edgar like just dropped into things & yet he's gonna try to eat wounded cats & get Loudly Aggressively Shouted Away from this. in contrast to shelley kneejerk yelling at edgar for freaking her out but then also being upset / trying to comfort him when she realizes she's scared him. meredith Having To Teach Him More Things, here's how to behave Properly(tm) & this way definitely NOT scare everyone despite it all, while this also means like "time to teach him shame!" wrt these Themes lol & rejecting the way he was even with her indeed not being cruel to him, while then also it's Important as per [this is also in the dance/fly with me (darling) scene] dr. parker being the one keeping edgar from completely starving by supplying him with blood. another very unchanged number, the eternal classics, upending the tea tray getting scared meredith with the "don't cry, it's okay, dear / rome's not built in a day, dear" [edgar crying Sniff, Snort on the beat] like It's Funny It's Moving at once. oh wait! don't eat it :) it never gets old. which, immediately funny time to bring up that in the Rapid Succession Of Identifying Flashcards bit at the end of the number, there were some Newer cultural references in there, but only such as like. this was a 2001 ocr & here in 2025 it's like [throw in a "lord of the rings"] like already Known but a bit More So from 2000-03. but kept largely the same too, we still end on And Elvis Costello! in that one stretch. edgar doing the birth of venus pose for Botticelli, crossing his body w/mimed Punches for larry, curly, & moe 'em. just appreciating this number too like an extra fun & Stylish & elevated one in & of itself for an extra elevated idea of having edgar go from moving & sounding more A Vampire Bat Creature to moving & sounding Properly(tm), it's Remarkable like going [oh!] as he starts to Just Basically Talk in the song he started out Learning to talk through parroting the noises, but like, doing it Within The Same Extra Playful Elevated Song does make it that much more possible to just go with a dramatic shift & unbelievable idea even amidst "you're playing along with there being a bat child" premises. also that this begins, preceding the "you are such a smart boy!!" with meredith having successfully shown edgar how to imitate Hello. him excited to have done this too & excited she's excited & also mirroring back / copying her "Hel-lo!" Oh You / Go On / Get Out hands gesture that she's done out of that excitement. going from simply imitating her Applauding Him to going :0 at His Own Applauding in front of himself. he's also masterpiece theatre / bbc again As Usual, setting him apart, he's not Quite "normal" even when otherwise Speaking basically completely normally(tm), with an accent & occasional formality & just otherwise like, still otheringness / reminder he has Learned to be Like This. as has everyone else, is the point, but. denying the [everyone learns to be the way that they are] & it's never actually either so simple as Ostensibly Incorrect(tm) & Weird vs Correct & Normal :)

noting my own notes like i didn't even realize until During This Song that like oh right there was no Ugly Boy / Whatcha Wanna Do? / Hey Freak number. & Then realizing like oh right no Another Dead Cow! either. like that i enjoy all the songs on every preexisting album (2001 ocr, west end ocr. afaik!! secret bat boy album i don't know about....) but with the changes i wasn't getting any obvious sense of oh something's lost or missing or like it wasn't flowing along. & like these aren't songs i would kill myself if they were cut though i like them & am also like i wouldn't kill myself if they were there either, obviously, or that i think anyone's like "never touch anything about Dance With Me, Darling" though it'd be wild to lose that scene having a whole song. vs that i don't think, relatedly, it's like so crucial to give rick a specific if fairly brief Song there, we still get a very similar deal in effect anyway, sorry to your solo though rick but you know what they say about it: sometimes your bit of a solo has been cut, side character :( but it's not all about Solos Or Nothing out here. anyway we still get his general personality, being at odds with / violent towards The Bat Boy & having that conflict already, that his dynamic w/shelley is not amazing & deep, & just having more focus on mrs. taylor as that antagonist with less sort of sympathetic grudges against the bat boy for absorbing that role, & have the antagonizing number still for dr. parker, & we do like soften the intensity of shelley being even More at odds with The Bat Boy early on that way but like again In Essence she's still starting out in the same place but although that arc is one in which like, there's not any sung verses that are Mean & Rejecting of Edgar to later reprise in her love song for him, but this arc is drawn out / deepened with like. well there's a whole other song & scene for them so like. in fact is that coming up next. is it deer in the headlights time

no! another Different Way Of Doing What Was Done In A Cut Earlier Act One Song/Scene: the song is called, i believe, He Is Here. launched into right after the end of Show You A Thing Or Two, very dramatic sort of ominous Slow Tempo, Strong Repeated One Reverberating Deep Drum Beat, kind of a chanting number, the Another Dead Cow redo but like musically quite different b/c the scene is also a whole shifted premise too. from singing about Another Dead Cow amongst their many perhaps plague-stricken Cows they've Been trying to raise, & starting to overtly suspect That Little Bat Boy They Found In The Bag? as what's threatening their livelihood (sidenote: like IS there some mystery bat boy recording the way various Lyrics Lookups have this one line i swear is "it Is like they've been bled" as "maybe it's this rotten plague" like. i checked w/the london recording like maybe it's That, There? but no, even clearlier It Is Like They've Been Bled there. which i think makes more sense. is it even really Hey Freek. can't believe anything) Anyway! from That, to that there is One cow, gertie, a [somewhat mobile head which can be puppeted from someone standing abreast, otherwise fixed position, on wheels] puppet, introduced earlier head through the house window being shooed away. & this is like this Slow Tempo, Dramatic Sort Of Chanted Number Still Melodic, definitely also ominous like, jeez maybe this is about impending death to be sure, also language about impending Moment Of Marriage in the beginning for more [the whole show is mixing stuff together]ness, but this like sort of Ritual is for whether gertie is successfully impregnated & will have cowlings or calves if you like as The Vulnerable Future Of This Town/'s Livelihood, we have dr. parker here suiting up for his role in the ritual with the help of meredith, Everyone Is Serious & Somber, & this suiting up looks like: putting on an arm's-length plastic glove, meredith dispensing a line of lubricant all along it, & indeed pushing his arm in there to assess that not only Is gertie pregnant but she's going to have twins!!!

okay days later we can do this. okay so yes like so it's a The Townspeople Song, there's no Another Dead Cow, it's like. they're both dramatic & humorous at the same time (like: the whole show throughout) but like He Is Here being more overtly dramatic, a meeting clearly kind of like a solemn ritual, which i am now connecting to also The Revival but then also this one being downtempo & nigh ominous & sure not celebratory. & Another Dead Cow more uptempo & lively & comedic despite being about the distress & suspicions about what's wrong with these cows: a plague? caused by that little bat child they found in a bag? i go like "do i simply enjoy the Different 2025 Experience b/c i was so ready to have a good time Despite being familiar w/the 2001 version & performances based most on that" but like, i think it is simply possible there can have been changes i would have been like "?? i feel this Definitely does not work" about, but i didn't really. while i also don't feel like "now it feels like 2001 / earlier differing versions Don't work" even when sometimes i Am outright like oh i prefer this b/c of Xyz Specific Element. & like where in general of course it's like this whole time not feeling like Comparing or Preferring or Arguing Things, B/c You Feel Like It has to be about a goal of hashing out who is truly correct b/c they are also better i guess. would that it goes without saying. i like seeing what people have to say about cats even without knowing the show at all or having my own Opinions thusly to contextualize things or compare opinions against, b/c it's just interesting & b/c i figure like people who want to talk about cats isn't gonna overlap the most with people who feel like they have to be seen as Above a world of bad unserious musicals or whatever. anyway okay just more words said describing this show

interesting also like. i dunno it felt like there was fairly Balances Kept when changes were made & things are shifted. like how okay the taylors are Trying To Take Advantage Of The Situation less sympathetic in that way but we also then just pull away from rick having a number about working himself up to kill The Bat Boy also, kind of a balance there. we have the townspeople less having this suspicion b/c these cows are dying & a scapegoat would be nice but there's simply a new situation of Vulnerability, one cow, awaiting 2 More Cows, being in the middle of this transition to raising cattle vs that that's been underway & perhaps already succeeding. but like as it so often goes, i can go Yeah Sure if someone is like "i prefer another dead cow / the previous cow setup b/c xyz" like yeah interesting. But Like See then also, let's just skip ahead, you might infer that if apology to a cow happens (it does) it's now about killing the One Cow the town had which also hasn't had successor cows now, probably, or they would've mentioned it. & someone in the [idk maybe Bat Boy The Musical forum discussions doesn't attract ppl who are like im the correct arbiter of Superior Musicals serious art at last amidst the frivolity. though i know Ppl Do Like It. anyways that even a post like I Didn't Like The New Version had something of a symposium of Varied Opinions & Nobody Dying To Be Superior going on] thread was like "i didn't like the change b/c then the townspeople are Correct rather than scapegoating b/c he did just ruin their future by killing the One Cow" like But. this doesn't happen until he has already been scapegoated & the town is trying to catch & kill him; also they have still Already been scapegoating him, christian charity reprise -style. & i think this might make it clearer that that [don't reject your bat boy] treatment of him which leads to him killing The One Cow is such that, you know, their One Cow probably wouldn't have been killed otherwise. vs that when edgar kills gertie as one cow amidst many, even if many have been languishing & dying, it's Maybe like [well Was he feeding on them before?] until meredith is like it's because we're raising them on the side of a mountain. makes edgar killing The One Cow more of a twist / we fucked up moment than like, escalation but considered confirmation of what he was already up to

a change i was definitely like Ohh yeah i like this very immediately simply was: having meredith as part of this Ritual was then present for how like, also b/c yes He Is Here is like there's this high stakes thing, the town is vulnerable, but Isn't abt them being outright suspicious & Thinking Of Blaming someone, & so then we do the scene into the christian charity reprise. where we're talking about the upcoming revival which is so spiritually And Financially important for our town, & that's Next Weekend. so yeah there's not time to have these calves before gertie dies. anyway & so it's like yep now's a good time to be like Don't Bring That Bat Child to the revival btw, i.e. christian charity reprise happens, & this time meredith is here & i like that change just out & out decided preference like yeah why not!! it doesn't really lose anything & it feels like it only strengthens things. being enough on the same page w/dr. parker, as in prior versions, then deciding against this / him. even when she's not enthused about deciding Better Not Take Him, Fine, Let's Go Camping Or Something Out Of Town Jesus Christ like well neither was dr. parker enthused about this really at this point, so. anyways it's her like "never said it was...." abt It's Not About This Dumb Election. which is then going "but half of my constitchens claim he's skulkin through their kitchens / & soon they may resort to force" "hell, i would string him up, with no remorse!" (<- from the scene with the cat & the Thump Thump / Red Light Flash / Blood instance, for further context for piping up w extra violence) "good lord!" "see?"

i forget the theme of this post isn't technically even like Discussing Changes. im just saying Wheeee Yayy but like going into detail & whew okay. words. continued

so then yeah like and. well hang on.

yeah no okay Now new scene new song deer in the headlights! change in the shelley & edgar arc, but also the same, but different. how it feels. we have different versions & im enjoying it all & interested. anyway. so it's like also connected to This Upcoming Revival & it starts w/shelley explaining the concepts of Living Life Outside & Aboutside Like The Other Townspeople Do & like edgar hasn't gotten to yet, at first like the comedy like oh haha he doesn't understand stuff or know how it works, even when she's not being like cruel about this, & but then it's a shift to like, somewhat criticizing / oh you're doing things wrong but with Encouragement behind it like get out & about & into these things vs Not. where the refrain comes in, no more deer in the headlights, no being overwhelmed by life vs like well this is yours to live too. talking about the impending revival further, edgar specifically mentioning The Healing Service as something of interest, shelley again w/like this humorous sort of quick flatness like says oh that's the boring part. it's the barn dance after that to look forward to; "it's where a nice young fella like yourself can really...have some fun, if ya know what i mean" like both facing out standing side by side & she's kinda leaning against him elbow propped on his shoulder like If Ya Know What I Mean like very what might be expected as From One Nice Young Fella To Another lol, not very proper gender conforming of her one way nor another to be providing the would-be perspective of An Boy even when of course like well she knows about Sex. but edgar quite doesn't or not about barn dances or anything at least b/c we go from "if ya know what i mean 😏" to seeing edgar giving a frowny wincey sort of [What?] cue of Huh genre. & he's confused about how a barn dance works, what about the animals. & she's like well the animals aren't in there for the dance. & edgar trying to work with the theme of the concept beyond [large enclosed space] & trying to understand what he could/should do at a dance like "i'd just—call out?" scampering up one of the stairs framing the stage, shelley goes again humorously somewhat understatedly like "Uh-oh" to herself but also not Fully to herself, it's an interaction still. edgar brightly acting it out, turning facing out again, "Listen here! =) which of you Fillies wants to dance with Me!!" two thumbs gesturing to himself bright fangy smile thank you gay boy; shelley going "no, don't—don't do that. don't do that." but it's still about Encouragement even as she starts out w/any degree of like yeah this weird guy & being at all exasperated, like, it's a song for their dynamic/relationship thread & individual arcs & like changing further / motivations entwined here. shelley like no that's not how it is that's not what you should do but you gotta get out there & Have These Experiences & not be scared like you have to know how to do things Correctly ahead of time, you just go to the dance & have fun & you don't have to do any announcement. & how to have Teen Fun vs learning to behave from masterpiece theatre & essays & flashcards & meredith. i see my note of "dancing together, gotta get out & about" as per what happens, & the gist & all. i do believe there's any practicing of How To Dance Together & i remember we do get a Shift wrt a classic like, successfully executing a move w/edgar catching / holding shelley in a dip, a beat, shelley like you're picking that up fast / getting pretty good at this. wrote down A Lyric of: "gotta show some pride" :) & wrt her as a force here like going beyond Hope I Can Act Acceptably & Be Accepted. no more deer in the headlights don't have to be Afraid, can live with / like everyone else & enjoy it.

also noting like, took me a minute like oh i probably could or would say this does sound somewhat more Modern? re: changes that might happen b/w 2001 & 2025. sure did consider like hmm is that a Problem somehow or like, just something not to do? but like say i adore how children children has an Orchestration / Style sound that is '90s / early '00s & i imagine it is that way b/c that is when it's written, i.e. it's More Modern of the time. & like you don't have to update things either necessarily but i don't Think it had quite the same like characteristic sort of reverb chimey keyboard use, say, in 2025, or maybe i just couldn't hear it. album release when!!! while like it's pop rock kind of situation like yeah all still close enough in time. & this number also has a like fiddley & harmonicay orchestration, idiosyncrasy & feeling tied to the Barn Dance topic some more here, & i like it, adore a harmonica. & i don't mind either like it feels like a choice of engaging in here a way of saying [how teens could express themselves in a musical] to be influenced by, say, musicals w/teens expressing themselves in musical songs in the past 25 yrs or so. and Again like, i don't dislike that some things do feel like moving further from Stylistic Elevation, b/c a) there's still always a ton of that / it will always be about what if there was a bat child & b) Reasons for moving further from that vs just for its own sake all around like elevation & style, who would do that? we always made a mistake doing that. & how like c) it Is still always like, elevated & stylish to be sure lmao like this show just never stops being like that, definitely. it feels like it can be considered to have like, a Rhythm to that too as helps anything be more effective, a breath / deescalation sometimes between more ramped up things, creating contrast & points of reference....anyways & it's a bop to me, it's cute & fun, i like giving them this song & scene for a moment of development, for shelley relating to him & vice versa where she's bringing this perspective & influence of getting to be an Unruly Teen & actively encouraging that vs that edgar will be kind of funnily out-of-touch & being polite & proper is his ticket out of here but also final form. show some pride get out there & find out through having fun living your life too. giving this relationship a whole other Moment here & like emphasizing this other Influence for edgar like that's like. beyond being cooped up as boring or anything, not that it feels like that was the only motivation going on, but Emphasizing otherwise....getting to go out & about & live Differently from all this & not have to approach things as Behave Properly & Know How To Do This Ahead Of Time & being scared of Not doing that....the Otherness. shelley getting to decidedly bring more of her As An Unruly Improper Peer influence & personality vs a more general moral support as per like during show you a thing or two, i like it

another surprise It's Taylorses Time from that changed arc, Now we get such a [rick specifically threatening The Bat Boy] that we also Now get some of that music from the hey freak / whatcha wanna do scene where something like this originally happened, vs that rick is now part of the scene when mrs taylor & kids arrive mid-christian charity. now interrupting This song's scene to barge in (without mrs. taylor, rick is leading things here. so i guess also he does get Some of this solo bit still kinda, nice) & rick is still on the "well if it's not / since it's not A Human we could sell it" & is trying to sell this idea too to shelley like we could get outta west virginia with the money we could make from this (the constituents / kitchens type of pushed Rhyme he pulls here w/"virginia" & something else lol, shelley does repeat this like [? / hmm], will i remember what it specifically is) & here his like Threat is that he has a like probably for cattle or other Large Animals tranquilizer dart gun of dr. parker's. & shelley's like obviously not having it but kind of more so incredulous at the start here & being like Uh No but also Really, come on. but like again similarly like we Are getting a bit of that song that prior was the [whatcha wanna do? / hey freak] scene as rick just is intent on being like this & doing that & only hyping himself up about it. except in the middle of getting all worked up with his own song & also like here now in This different version of the scene edgar is entirely Uncontained In The Cage to be more easily chased around & encroached upon so like. in the midst of this choreography & blocking of movement rick leaves the dart gun on the couch while he's just making the song bigger getting up on tables trying to sort of corner edgar but also mostly again just bully him here so like. in that part of the song shelley simply quietly slowly walks over & picks up the dart gun. to Then continue / reprise what She was singing, now who looks like a Deer In The Headlights as she's openly like pointing this at rick now, & she does just go ahead & shoot him with it, twice lol, and a This Ain't My Only Gun. such that of course the taylor trio there has to beat a retreat.

gendering again afterwards as edgar is being like. cheered up by the turn of events there & like so wow uh thank you yknow for shooting that guy & getting rid of them & doing all that just now? & shelley like well. they were gonna take you away. edgar like "...and you defended my honor." and shelley like "...yes."

maybe discussing the point like ah but re: shelley just shooting rick here like oh but let characters be weak vulnerable vs Strong(tm) like yeah sure god i wish. but it doesn't feel like "what if in whatcha wanna do? / hey freak shelley shoots rick instead of calling her mom for help" b/c that's not what it is b/c as ever like the changes aren't ever like changing One Thing & rather more involved shifts that do feel to me pretty balanced b/c other things shift too & to be doing the same thing in essence in a different way. here it's like, we're not asking "oh why didn't shelley just shoot him. as i simply would of but i guess i'm strong" b/c Here she does it b/c there Is a dart gun, b/c rick brought it into the scene, & then left it laying around. here we have less of any scene prior of rick & shelley mostly alone, but we still get their dynamic, which was: never supposed to be one that is incredibly deep. & we still get rick getting all violent & that's a break with shelley. here also at a point where shelley does have an entire dynamic going w/edgar & where rick's idea is sort of less like, the violence he lists in whatcha wanna do / hey freak numbers e.g. leading up to the threat of beating the bat boy up & killing him, but then is in a way more violent for like, the idea of turning edgar over to whomever for money while like, edgar is at this point Not in a cage, a member of This Parker Household, having a conversation actually when you barge in here like time to shoot & sell this guy. meanwhile like it seems in line w/the unruly personality shelley Always Had like sure yeah & she Could turn a dart gun around on somebody, sure, that doesn't require her to be a whole different character than she ever was, which it Would be like hey hmm if it Did seem like she just would never do something like that on a pretty fundamental level. & like, she sics her mom on him originally, b/c she has a mom, not a gun. & it's not like oh so meredith is weaker now b/c she's Not having that moment being summoned by shelley to barge in & banish rick.

so like yeah a whole additional scene about edgar & shelley & like emphasizing i think their Specific Dynamic already as an influence in. busting out & living more freely & Have Some Pride like rather than worrying he has to do things as Properly as possible; shelley specifically as that influence to like not have to Be Normal or wait for permission or behave or what all, to be motivated simply by Having Fun. all this & defending his honor(tm) after like taking on a From One Fella To Another perspective to also like basically tell him she figures he could get out there & hook up with people so she of course does See Him As A Person in case any soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend wanted to crash in like how about we run away from here on the money we can get cashing in on edgar as a Weird Thing

sure musing on the changes in shelley's arc. without that number with rick earlier she's like, less unpleasant to edgar at the start but like. again in that that was tied to rick also having that number, he's the driving force there, shelley's joining in until she's not. here, at the start we do have her with the same reactions / perspective / treatment of edgar otherwise, & other new scenes with these moments like, being averse & put off by him as this Weird New Presence, but then also that it's not really that serious, she doesn't want to upset or scare him as soon as it's her interacting w/him up close & personal w/an actual chance to do either of those things, she's unenthused about I Guess This Is My Life w/the bat boy playing along at breakfast but it actually isn't a huge deal, guess it Is her life now. like it's interesting like yeah i think how this song does feel like a [here's an expression of Teensness drawn from the past quarter century since this show originally happened] & that feels like a larger shift than like, the sound of one new song; how this in turn does kind of mean like grounding this [the central teens here] material some & giving it this bit extra focus / emphasis like, yeah, a song & scene with them which also shows how their dynamic is driving & influencing things. the unruly element. & they were already unruly, shelley was already unruly, she's not now Simply Nice & Pleasant, & like, again, it feels balanced like yeah sure now there's less of [shelley being Mean playing along with how Rick is driving things in whatcha wanna do / hey freak] but here, again, she's Unrulier for encouraging edgar to just expect to get to live to have fun & be unruly & that's fine & great vs anxiety that he Better Be Proper Or Else. feels genuine feels organic. where Again like. this is an Earnest Show above & before being elevated & stylistic even when that's a core part of it too

these characters are so fun like. edgar, a treasure, shelley, a treasure. both little sweetiepies & both unruly & biting someone & being like [both these ways] in different ways. fun funny little guys. also biting & killing for both, in this case, taylor trensch edgar bat boy parker & gabi carrubba shelley human girl parker. so funny also that in both cases it was like "oh hell yeah i know them from beautiful funny little performances" while largely forgetting anyone was in deh lol. anyways was like Yes Thank God w/their performances the entire time, but then also this makes me appreciate like Every Individual Performance was feeling so individual standout like yes this is a Character & they are so fun & funny & flairish, while also geling together just fine in any scene, from Shared to Crowd / Ensemble. everyone was so great. it's so wild not only that this party was a tantalizing like, not even two weeks?? but that they threw it together so fast lmao god bless. AND we get an album. when!!! but anyways like i was getting a kick out of / appreciating Every performance, everyone was great & standing out shining star & like thanks to The Writing Too like where Every character is some weird funny little guy. this show. yayyyyy shelley gabi carrubba edgar taylor trensch yayyyyyy & i want that album neowww announce the release date (guy who keeps saying Looking Forward To Something does not yet emotionally hit) i still would like to know. i would like to get that

also forgot a Specific Lyrics Note, funny, about dynamics, from deer in the headlights, from shelley of course, "girls customarily / don't love this needy energy" lol. time to Not be a customary girl....someone Said deer in the headlights just earlier & i was like this is just like bat boy the musical 2025 give me the album neow edgar shelley taylor gabi

that this can roll into A Home For Me (Reprise), edgar being encouraged & motivated all the more freshly to want to go to this weekend's revival & get to live like / with everyone else, no more deer in the headlights they said. sure remember it being said already & noting it again here that attending the revival would be A Nice Coming Out For Me. beautiful. the "they all walk in sunlight / i deserve a turn" like beautiful. this that & the other thing something queer afoot

i don't remember if it's Already The Case that shelley then had a pretty active role in this scene like on edgar's side obviously like, it would make sense if she already did, the way that when edgar is like "?? why not go camping Any Other Time when the revival is Only this weekend?" & getting the response like wellll it's not the right time, maybe another time, that shelley can be the one obviously displeased / resentful as like a teen who can be stifled too / is now feeling more connected genuinely w/edgar than ever to be like oh maybe later then 😒 so Maybe in a year? two years? maybe never? & like i sure remember that in other versions, as we do here, we have the delights of edgar's like [something was troubling me recently] verses & how he scampers up the stairs & punctuates the emphasized Look Here: I've Got A Navel! line by baring his stomach from that elevated platform. it means i'm someone's child.... which means i may be human, complete with family tree....

& then that when edgar is getting So Upset it's like yeah why Not have meredith have been there for the christian charity reprise so as to have the same info, at first make that same decision that oh edgar Shouldn't go it's Too Soon what with people threatening to kill him, & then still change her mind Despite dr. parker still wanting to put his foot down b/c she's that affected by edgar being this upset by this, it feeling life & death, if not for this now then when, ever? wait yeah shelley would've argued for it prior b/c "oh honey i apologize / you've really opened up my eyes"

augh thinking about it More like things are so always funny & inherently elevated for edgar's presence alone & so in earnest & so emotionally genuine & affecting. edgar's A Home For You reprise, that it's dramatic And funny when edgar goes to bite dr. parker when he's going off at meredith too hard & then like Stops Himself & everyone kind of like frozen by all of it for a moment like ah holy shit before meredith is just calmly quietly reassuringly again like okay it's okay just calm down back away....thinking about A Home For You again, it's so sweet & funny & Moving. you can make mistakes here & you won't be blamed / don't cry it's okay dear rome's not built in a day dear....this sweetness while there's still ever the issue of her feeling she still does have to teach him to Act A Most Proper Way & we're introduced seeing how a version of that dynamic is already like at not the most beautiful stage when she's lecturing shelley abt how to behave with sexual propriety & dusting rigor & shelley is exasperated / accustomed to this but still just having to rein in like Her Personality & Thoughts & Feelings Shared Here in the interaction for it. & then of course the issue of [and all the while you knew .... why bother giving me dad's old shirt / why even intervene / why bother washing off all the dirt / if i am still unclean] so the bat boy is being denied....

and of course. Comfort & Joy. plenty similar setup going into it, meredith focused on & comforting edgar like are you alright it's alright & dr. parker getting pissed off like ohh i have to Kill when he sees she's not talking to him lol it's me you love....get outta here!!! like that he's tamped down some / more even humorously restrained in affect Is like, even when he's already still up to largely the same in the revamped version of what was [dance with me darling] & coming in just like ah it's this bat child, time to immediately kill, like, it does kind of make it less like, i Could say maybe it's distracting he's just already going around like this intense a presence supervillian sicko mode just like his default energy. but i dunno it's also fine as it was. closing my eyes like It's Just Different okay let's just keep going here. you little creep you're gonna pay

the comfort & joy we know & flip out for. noted little changes like from [i still don't know how people pray / or what one does with one's hands / but, please, my thirst grows every day / i feel it burn in my glands] to [i still don't know why people pray / i'm not the kind who complains / but, please, my thirst grows every day / i feel it crawl through my veins] & the Summer Camp mention is now [in a suit & a tie / he's a regular guy] & if there were little differences in the townsfolk part i don't markedly remember them, though they were surely there, didn't write it down freshly enough

love the little flashes of like Horror Framing, plenty of it w/some simply rare usage of dramatic lighting & that of course there's thunder & lighting & dramatic choruses & shit, little rabbit hand puppet (or i don't know that it was a puppet technically rather than gently moved around for some Aliveness cues) with its head on an effective hinge to pull open for Scarlet Red 8-shape covering of shocking Suddenly This Nigh Beheading to then like have a blood-drinking moment & end the act with that centered blood-covered Shot after also dr. parker has gone over there to kill someone. comfort & joy!! bat boy the musical!!!!

even though i could just be talking about anything & this isn't primarily a Describing Differences angle here like, that does get focused on when plenty of the rest is about like: Oh My God Bat Boy: The Musical & Oh My God Everyone Individually In This Cast Was Bringing Being A Funny Earnest Weird Character Here beloveds....so sure is the case that Most of the more prominent Changes to versions previously known are in act one, so. maybe we'll finish this post in any lifetime

similar A Joyful Noise, the usual antics in just having edgar hop in like I Want To Be Healed!! as the reverend is like perfectly trying to roll with this while being like oh. my lord. jesus. son of god lmfaoo as like. Exclamations but it's never in vain ostensibly lol, hear our prayer....not new either i know but a treasure to see every time the simple [i know i'm strange / so help me change / Please 😬 {fangs bared}]

Let Me Walk Among You is incredible. it's so so funny continuously & continuously so so heartwrenching. My Fucking Guy. the performance that it will give every time, b/c already the concept, the writing, the music, the orchestration. just showing up to these people who might kill him for being here in his First Coming Out of the house in the town in an event & trying to present his case here & now to be accepted if he can be so proper & offer to move a mountain & do anything for you while also singing about what they might Let him do, that after people are like oh wait hmm eugh at the [& let me kiss the bride] exuberance of like, but is someone a person allowed to have legitimate marital relations?? tough one, & that of course one angle that is so like once again coming to mind being like Queerness even as of course there is no resolvable most truly relevant Metaphor here b/c it's not about any specific ways of being othered & Does stay as like, what if there was a guy who is literally part bat. nice coming out, that i could be so Normal AND trying to go above & beyond for what you all might want & how you might do things, begging pleading. edgar dialing back after that "overstepping it" the little Thank You All For Listening. That's. All I Have to Say....before having to turn around & launch into it as openly desperate as ever but please won't someone take my hand let just one person shake my hand, just pouring all the This Life Life Or Death Now Or Never one chance here & now like longing to Maybe get to live & while feeling like he Does have this sin to be healed of & has to go so above & beyond for everyone who maybe hopefully don't all hate & want to kill him forever. it's so completely funny so completely earnestly done & crushing like heart going so out to it oh my god. as stated like no surprise when fairly closeup shots in the middle of it were showing edgar taylor trensch bat boy In Tears while singing. i know. i Know. this show.

coming back to this post like wild that it's taking me like a week & a half! & then i see how long it is lol

okay!!!! i.e. A Joyful Noise (Reprise) is also How You Know It Goes. what a moment. edgar having Let Me Walk Among You. like it's so genuine & Everything like asking to live As A Person Rather Than Loathed & Locked Away Other while implicitly also asking to live as in don't all kill me right now but you might but i Have to put this all on the line & see if this world might be a home for me, home is a place where your trust is earned, home is where people accept you. doing this by both listing off the kinds of experiences he hopes to have & ones he thinks will make accepting him worthwhile to people, i will move a mountain....all while feeling also like there Is something wrong with him to be feared & hated & he Does need to be Healed from this Sin. getting so heartfelt all for maybe please let someone shake my hand, let just one person take my hand........

Okay!!!

all this for dr. parker to ruin it. that as far as edgar's aware it's the truth that his bite killed ruthie, & now maybe also rick....a really funny bit building off of the earlier christian charity "it bit one of the taylor kids" "rick???" "no, ruthie" "oh :/" where here dr. parker is like "edgar's bite is deadly!!" everyone: [gasp!!!] dr. parker: "deadly to ruthie!!" everyone: ["oh :/"-esque murmurs of diminished concern] dr. parker: "...and to cattle!!" everyone: [Aaaaa!!!]

that Hey Freak / Whatcha Wanna Do type verses for rick there as he's Again getting worked up & the again like encroaching & violent Action towards shelley (this also with that now, shelley shot him with darts....there's some Exchange earlier i believe? with these verses & rhymes where like. it's post-deer in the headlights & the taylor kids & possibly also mrs. taylor are going on about having to Get edgar b/c he's hurt Two of the taylor kids now, with the sheriff asking "what happened, now, be frank" & ronnie responding like "sheriff, shelley shot him with a tranq")

i can say like dr. parker's little monologue into villainous song I Will Kill Again! [... :/ ...] ....That's What He Would Say bit like? familiar & yet given this Specific & Funny Performance here as with so much of the material for him prior. same with Three Bedroom House being like another pretty unchanged thing i think but like yep these specific performances!! shelley being so funny & intense & so is meredith but in a different way & where being like Aligned on that is thwarted by how tending to like chastise shelley for being improper & shut her down means when you simply go "ew god no. don't say that" shelley doesn't go "oh why do you say something like that" rather than putting it in the context of typical / established meredith approaches to her & how she needs to dust things enough

i didn't really think we'd majorly change anything about Children, Children but it was like oh thank god every step of the way. this treasure & an all-time version of it.

but of course another Already Present Moment Thank God in the moment when they find each other in the woods, how did you find me, i see very well in this light, shelley overwhelmed turning & collapsing into tears, A Beat before edgar follows suit exactly

lighting up flashlights for Filling The Skies WIth Fireflies :o & fun Costumed approaches to being the Ensemble Of Animals. what if it was like "hey yeah god why would it be that, say, it's bad to be naked, but only if you Know about it, & it's bad to know about it but the fruit of knowing is right over there & you pointed it out but didn't let us know what was bad about knowing about it. & you made people's Naked Form In Your Image something to be ashamed of? but only if you Know? but You did?" and other such Themes about the idea of a Distinction / Transcedence of Humanity from other animals. & here's pan like no Welcome Back Garden Of Eden let the soft animal of your body fuck how it wants. & the extra fun staging of a like backdrop of a Long Strip Of Cloth held across the stage by edgar & shelley to be behind pan & roughly cover the Lower Bodies as the [everyone fucks Dance Break] ensues to make it more Implicitly Explicit lmao....off the top of my head like the verse going from "jaws & paws & claws & beaks / let the song go on for weeks & weeks" to "so put away your teeth & claws / & let us bend a few of nature's laws / to bless this boy & bless this bride" like And it's truly not so simple & straightforward as If Only You Simply Act Naturally(tm) it's Good actually instead of Evil? like, well, hand on shoulder, You're Unnatural, but. the moon is up & we're all prepared

mine, all mine, i want the 2025 album!!!!!!!

don't get me wrong i am also all for an inside your heart. the like quick back & forth between edgar & shelley. the drama. the way they do the Arguing differently in both songs, inside your heart starting (so sweetly....) with shelley having Learned like oh you're starving & need blood to live? & in mine all mine arguing like why are you now pushing me away, learning His Secret midsong & going ....Okay. again for him....i don't mind either that The Dramatic Sound is sweetened necessarily, like there's less almost dramatic irony signalling They'll Be Separated after such a crescendoing I'll Always Be Inside Your Heart finale. or maybe we want dramatic irony. we're all so correct forever lol i don't mind / we get to have both ha ha ha yes.....

either way like my god for edgar to have experienced indeed Let Me Walk Among You / A Joyful (Noise) Reprise) then That then Children, Children / Mine, All Mine (or Inside Your Heart) & then for meredith to show up like So, You Can't Do This, & it's b/c i was Denying You all along that you weren't already aware. like god coming around like oh you don't belong here anymore b/c i made you exist here but knowing you're all imperfect & then letting you be alive & wander around & get into the shit that makes you Aware i put you in a situation to be inherently cringe or something. & the two of you are from the same body & shit & so on. time for apology to a cow, all the while You Knew, why even intervene why bother washing off all the dirt if i am still unclean, we had a chance of happiness blissfully unaware we had a love we thought you'd bless we didn't have a prayer....

more flashes of horroresque surprises like it Is like oh my for edgar to appear covered in blood holding the also covered in blood head of a cow....don't deny your beast inside look what happens

The I Imagine You're Upset scene fairly the same. it's wild how it's so like earnestedly built up to this drama, like of course edgar can go so sicko mode like looking to kill And be killed actually, after all of this, while also As Ever it's funny throughout, bringing all the other characters into it to watch & learn & be like Oh Jesus, as the sheriff does as edgar's like "im going to kill my father." oh also yeah ronnie dying from the We Think He's In That Barn mixup, same All Taylor Kids Dying / Mrs. Taylor Accidentally Killing The Last One. with that joke of dr. parker killing rick same as ruthie & delivering like again fairly quick & flat "im sorry the wound was too deep he's dead" & then being a bit surprised like oh wait i don't even have to also kill ronnie b/c hey, hang on, yeah he's dead

doing a Shadow Puppet Theatre projected sequence for The Telling The Truth / Flashback / Retrospective Past/Backstory Revealed scene, another like insertion of a Style which reads as Especially Elevated for a fresh injection of Elevated Concepts like how show you a thing or two can have that extra elevation in style for the extra elevated concept of accepting The Bat Boy Is Fairly Normal(tm) Now over several weeks, months, edgar just finished his essay for his high school equivalency exammmm [kickline]

one Change that stands out to The Backstory Revealed is it's no longer that when the whole Hormones Sex Serum Etc thing happens that meredith was Unwilling, rather, he's coming on to her & she's into it. definite initial like "oh no / whoa" but then like reconfiguring around like It Is A Story so it's not like. oh this is softening what is Said about what Really Happened in a prior version but rather like. nothing really happened in this origin story of a half-bat child so it's rewriting & making a slightly different story altogether. which does make it like oh hmm is this more Thematically Relevant for meredith, where she's still like got this secret she's horrified & ashamed of but it's b/c she feels like she's responsible / Wrong for Wanting to have had sex. then having like, That Idea when she's chastising shelley at the start as not providing enough Friction b/c she'll have to be the responsible one to deign Not to have sex b/c she's not the one dealing w/the hormones(tm), she says....

also of course since there's not the event of dr. parker Forcing that origin story / we don't explicitly Know he Would've, that again is somewhat softening that character even as he's, again, up to so much of the same actions & dialogues. akin to like, dance with me darling being more ominous & lyrically focused on the metaphor for sex, vs fly with me being lightened in key & in being a bit more about romance(tm) in general than the Let's Have Sex (So I Don't Kill Edgar) thing, even though that's still the overarching event in the scene. still villainous! so similarly! and but funnier in being like. just seeming less like a Huge Threatening Presence as dr. parkers seem to me in more 2001-ly versions. where it's like why aren't we already killing this guy every day lol. when This version feels kind of like, yeah maybe they could still feel like that but. like he does go more from like just sorta nuisance to meredith more so & then taking something of a turn at this shift which then does escalate further beyond where he was already at on any random tuesday. i dunno & this is not conclusive. the Changes made were so like, more than little tweaks that it's like there's just no Isolating the like shift in levels of one single element or anything lol. & while indeed seeming to do so similar things in different ways, shift things Around edgar at the core, dealing with the same themes, arcs.....

also already the case but like whatever the Love Song & whatever the reveals it Is so neat like the sexuality in children, children. not just that Animals Fuck, So Can You but like animals fucking for fun in all kinds of combos & permies (permutations). but like another one for "never letting any of this Resolve into [what might be considered Shameful] being one particular potential real-world experience" in that this isn't even simply A Desire For Sex / Desires Acted Upon as The Shameful Thing That Is Like A Bat Child b/c of the fact that the Acceptance / Embrace / Realized Support for edgar from shelley in inside your heart &/or mine all mine is not just like "oh so wanting / having sex?" b/c They've Already Done That Part and it was an upbeat party of discovery & revelry without having to be particularly intense much less tortured. & this "but i'm starving for blood which i still need to drink & it destroys everything & kills all comfort & joy" is After This & Separate & met with "okay. what if it's fine though" & like nodding though also thinking how in mine all mine the AUGH OH GOD PLEASE of edgar then Giving In is to embrace & kiss shelley, rather than Go For Blood right then. can't let go of the Connection & Intimacy even when he's trying to push her away b/c well surely this beast inside must be denied & kept away especially from whomever i love....but they've already just had sex b/c they wanted to. so it's not simply a metaphor for [don't deny the Wanting To Have Sex inside]. & that's fun

great acting like having a kiss brief enough to be during this crescendo mid-song but be emotionally intense as Can't Deny Oneself Here / let go of this Hope or Indulgence or Want or Need or. nice job kissing too for [end Children Children on okay making out hitching a leg up to imply impending sex before that fade/cut to black] like you don't know you're doomed / didn't have a prayer, no way would meredith elect to just Continue keeping that secret at that point. humor amidst uninterrupted drama when they have to absorb I'm Your Mother, shelley kind of curved in posture arms slightly out looking down / pivoting a qaurter turn away facing out when edgar turns to her after a beat of bewilderment. having also injected some comedic like This Is Being Dramatic on talking about oh i love him we're gonna be together foreverrrr :)

also that it's Always been true that when that mid-I Imagine You're Upset "meredith i'm sorry / all of this is me" duet interlude starts it's like heyyy this is moving but dr. parker is so [kill him immediately] like now cut that out. i could perhaps be like, the adjustments that make him like so similar and yet less like he's Now & Always Been looming like he's about to kill someone for any or no reason already is perhaps less distracting? plus again like. all the changes working with changes in Other elements & never being so simple as like, some 1:1 transference, yet also involving balancing....Dynamic Shifts. it's not that oh now meredith is More Villainous-Seeming Constantly, but it Does make it like oh she Is more like responding to Her own particular personal issues with a perspective now about like, not oh this happened at all, but i wanted it to, then it happened

i didn't take a ton of Notes On THings towards the end of act two especially b/c it's like yep more the usual vs More Changes start of act one but also b/c you bet im just In It, taking in This Experience

i'm seeing i noted that i always devour the "dear mom & dad this face will be / the last thing that you ever see" hop up an octave, the drama of it. the acting here like shifting back into the Earlier Crawling Around physicality, & holding arms kind of like folded bat wings. just looked up vampire bat locomotion, interesting (unusually / for bats, uniquely? effective at moving along the ground by running, walking, hopping, b/c they usually don't land directly on prey; unusually / for bats, uniquely? capable of flying after launching themselves vertically from the ground in a leap rather than taking off directly from the ground)

another physicality-involving note the drama of the outburst when pressed "ME! i'm frightened of ME! because we are alone and i am hungry" like edgar Pauses, turns away, sinks to a crouch with his face in his hands

as well as, also in mine, all mine, shelley smacking her veins on the inner elbow on that Prominent Drum Beat (the Heartbeat / Pulse drumbeat throughout); edgar is the one who flinches in surprise

and the fun of ending in a Similar Way as to where we began, but with edgar again lit crouched center stage seen from behind but slightly rising / extending his arms vs the sort of Bat Shape Arms Extended done by the company in the opening number