A JOYFUL NOISE
Rev. Hightower
Oh the sheep has returned to the fold,
and the prodigal son has come in from the cold!
So like the prophets were told in the days of old-
Make a joyful noise my soul!
Choir (mumbling)
Make a joyful noise my soul…
Rev. Hightower
Oh, the lion will lie down with the lamb,
and the sinner will walk hand in hand with Abraham.
And he will cry to the sky, Jesus here I am!
Make a joyful noise my soul! – – – Hello?
Choir
…ful noise, my soul…
Rev. Hightower and Choir
Make some noise!
Make some noise! Make some noise! My soul is whole!
Sing it loud! Sing it proud! Sing it strong, all night long!
Make a joyful noise- a joyful noise my soul!
Rev. Hightower
Now, I know there’s somebody out there. Someone who needs healing. I can feel your distress! You’ve got a sin… within. Step forward! Let the holy ghost heal you! He’s putting a fire under your seat now. No fear. Who wants the healing?
Bat Boy
I want to be healed!
Rev. Hightower
Sweet wounded Jesus.
LET ME WALK AMONG YOU
Bat Boy
I know you hate me. But if you could only see me the way I see all of you…
Look at all your faces. Children, husbands, wives.
God, you’re all so beautiful. I envy you your lives.
Going to work, building your schools, throwing a football
or swimming in pools.
Out in the sun, living by rules, I could learn how if you’d teach me the tools…
I know I’m strange, so help me change, please.
Let me walk among you. Let me show my face.
I could learn to live with you, I can earn my place.
I will move a mountain; your wish is my command.
And some day you may want to shake my hand.
I will paint your houses. I’ll milk your cows at dawn.
I will do your laundry and I will mow your lawn.
Let me file your taxes. I am a CPA!
And maybe then you’ll shake my hand someday.
I can grow a champion rose, or teach a yoga class.
I myself designed these clothes. I can do my part.
Must I die then with my nose still pressed against the glass?
But if you’d shake my hand, well, thats a start.
Yes, thats a start. Look in your heart!
And let me join your carpool- No! Let me drive the car!
Let me throw a barbeque or join you at the bar.
Come and watch the ballgame, I’ll bake a pecan pie!
And I will shake your hand when you drop by.
Oh, bring me to your churches and met me look inside,
Bring me to your weddings and let me kiss the bride!
Thank you all for listening… that’s… all I had to say.
But please will someone shake my hand?
Won’t somebody take my hand?
Let just one person shake my hand!
A JOYFUL NOISE (REPRISE)
All
Okay
Bat Boy
Okay?
All
Okay!
Bat Boy
Okay?
All
Okay!
Bat Boy
Okay?
All
OKAY!
Praise God, the sheep has returned to the fold.
And the prodigal son has come in from the cold!
Bat Boy
So like the prophets were told
All
In the days of old! Make a joyful noise, my soul!
Make a joyful noise, my soul!
Bat Boy and All
Make some noise! (Make some noise!)
Make some noise! (Make some noise!)
Hallelujah- my soul is whole!
Sing it loud! (Sing it proud)
Sing it strong- all night long!
All
Make a joyful noise- a joyful noise my soul!
A joyful noise my soul!
A joyful noise my soul!
A joyful noise-
my soul!
AMEN!
THREE BEDROOM HOUSE
Meredith
Out! Out! Out! Time to get out!
Shelley
Out?
Meredith
Out! Gotta just rip out this page,
bend the bars of this cage and run free!
Shelley
Free?
Meredith
Free! No one but Edgar, you and me!
Gotta go find him and move on-
Both
And be gone before the dawn!
Meredith
Gotta get checkbooks,
Shelley
Checkbooks,
Meredith
Car keys,
Shelley
Car keys,
Meredith
Passports,
Shelley
Passports,
Meredith
Then goodbye!
Shelley
Toothbrush,
Meredith
Toothbrush,
Shelley
Blankets,
Meredith
Blankets,
Shelley
Daddy?
Meredith
No.
Shelley
Why?
Meredith
Shelley, listen to me.
What do you do when you blow out a tire?
Shelley
Tire?
Meredith
Trash it! Some holes you’ll never patch.
Shelley
You’ll never patch?
Meredith
And who do you save when your house is on fire?
Shelley
Fire?
Meredith
Don’t bring the guy who lit the match!
Shelley
Who lit the match!
Meredith
So we’ll get a post office box,
And we’re gonna change all the locks,
And we’re gonna stay with my cousins a while.
Then we’ll get a three bedroom house
with a white picket fence and a gun and a lawyer,
so smile!
Gonna get a homeowner’s loan;
Shelley
Could…
Meredith
Gonna get an unlisted phone;
Shelley
Good!
Meredith
Gonna get away from this town gone insane!
Shelley
Kinda thought they would…
Meredith
Then we’ll get a three bedroom house
Shelley
A beautiful three bedroom house
Meredith
Affordable
Both
Three bedroom house
Meredith
With a great big pit bull on a chain!
Shelley
Okay… Okay, Okay, Okay, Okay
Right! Right! Right! Mother, you’re right!
Meredith
Right?
Shelley
Right! Still kinda sad that my dad lost what marbles he had
but we’re free!
Meredith
Free!
Shelley
Free! I’ll get a brand new fake I.D!
Meredith
And if we lack for anything I can hock this stupid ring!
Both
And we’ll get a post office box
And we’ll get a front gate that locks!
Shelley
And we’ll get away from those ignorant pigs!
Both
And we’ll get a three bedroom house!
Meredith
A livable three bedroom house
Shelley
A lovable
Both
Three bedroom house
Meredith
And some plastic surgery and wigs!
Shelley
For who?
Meredith
For all of us…
Shelley
Right…
Both
And Edgar will soon have
Shelley
A garden to walk in
Meredith
His own driver’s license
Shelley
A car- NO! A van!
Both
And Edgar will soon have
Shelley
A ballroom to dance in
Meredith
A good dental plan!
Shelley
Cause Edgar will soon have a home…
Meredith
Yes, Edgar will soon have a home…
Both
A heck of a home!
And we’ll get a post office box
And we’ll get a front gate that locks
Meredith
And big electrified fence all around!
Shelley
Whoa!
Meredith
And we’ll get a three bedroom house-
Shelley
Or even a two bedroom house-
Meredith
No, honey a three bedroom house-
Shelley
Mom… do you think Edgar would marry me?
(Pause)
Meredith
No, honey a three bedroom house,
A three bedroom house
In a concrete shelter ten feet underground!
Shelley
Mom! I want to marry Edgar! I’m in love with him!
Meredith
No, Shelley.
Shelley
What?
Meredith
You’re not in love with Edgar!
Shelley
Yes, I am, Mom. I love him so much. And I want to be with him forever-
Meredith
No, Shelley! It’s hideous! It’s not right!
Shelley
You’re just like the rest of them!
Meredith
You don’t understand- Shelley! NO!
What about the three bedroom house?
The three bedroom house!
Who do you save when your house is on fire…
Your House Is On Fire…
Your House Is On Fire!
CHILDREN, CHILDREN
Pan
Children, welcome home
To where we all began.
Alone and face to face
Let us erase the fall of man:
Let the frogs pause in their song,
Let the crickets hold their breath,
Let the trees stand still as death
And tell the mosquitoes not to bite.
Now we’ve been hoping for so long,
So fill the sky with fireflies.
So they can see into each other’s eyes
And then they’ll get it right…
Oh, Children, Children don’t be scared!
The moon is up and we’re all prepared!
Children, take a look around-
We’re on sacred ground!
And what we thought we lost at last is found.
Now let the turtle and the dove
Animals
Ooh, sha la la!
Pan
Let the lion and the lamb
Animals
Ooh, sha la la! Oooh, Aaah!
Pan
Let the owl and wolf and ram embrace
All
Across the countryside!
Pan
Fur and feathers making love
Animals
Sha la la!
Pan
Paws and claws and jaws and beaks.
All
Let the song go on for weeks and weeks
To bless this boy and bless this bride!
Oh, Children, Children
Don’t be scared! The moon is up and we’re all prepared!
Children, take a look around, hear that joyful song!
For what we thought was lost at last is found.
Sha la la la la la!
The Earth’s asleep, time to wake it.
If you have clothing, forsake it.
We want you breathless and naked.
Choose your mate; And then let’s see what we create!
HEY!
(Dance break with animal noises)
Pan
Draw near, my dearly beloved,
No preist, No church- but what of it?
Take root, take flight, I command it!
Here we stand-
All
Here we stand!
Pan
So no more stalling- take her hand!
Oh, Children, Children
All
Children!
Pan
Don’t be scared.
All
Don’t be scared!
Pan
The moon is up and
All
-We’re all prepared!
Children, take a look around
Pan
We’re on sacred ground, and hear that joyful sound!
For what we thought was,
All
What we thought was lost at last is found!
Found!
Found!
FOUND!
All
HEY!
INSIDE YOUR HEART
Shelley
It’s okay. I’m still here.
Your secret’s out, but don’t fear.
‘Cause I don’t care what people say.
Once I thought you were weird;
But soon my doubts disappeared.
I think you’re normaller than they.
Now you’re scared; you’re in need.
Clearly someone has to bleed.
I’ll repay all you gave- I will give you what you crave.
Let me prove I love you; let me become part of you.
I see no better way to start!
Now I can live inside your heart.
Bat Boy
You don’t know what you’re saying-
Shelley
Yes I do-
Bat Boy
Go on, go home, forget me-
Shelley
It’s for you-
Bat Boy
I’ll hurt you, I’m not playing- Please don’t!
Shelley
No, I knew they when I-
Both
Let me-
Bat Boy
No!
Shelley
I want to-
Both
Please-
Shelley
Yes!
Bat Boy
No! It’s too bizarre!
Both
Just-
Bat Boy
Go!
Shelley
I’m not afraid! It’s no disease,
it’s who you are!
Bat Boy
It murders everything I touch.
A screaming fire will fill you.
You’ll beg me please to kill you-
I could not let you be my crutch!
Oh, God, I feel my hunger grow-
Go! Go on, go home, forget me…
Shelley
No.
Such a lovely boy… look at what you’ve done to me,
Woke me up and set me free, so look at me.
Such a lovely boy… this way you’ll be mine at last.
And I’ll be fine: I heal real fast.
So look at me… Look at me!
Bat Boy
You don’t know what you’re saying-
Shelley
Shut up, that’s it, I’m staying!
Both
I will shield you from harm
Come spend your life on my arm.
I see no better way to start.
Let me prove I love you;
Let me become part of you.
Now we shall never be apart.
I’ll always live inside your heart!
APOLOGY TO A COW
Bat Boy
I’m sorry, friend, I have to.
I know, I know, it’s rude
I shouldn’t work my problems out with food.
I’m sorry pal, I’ve got to.
It’s either me or you. Fight or be beaten!
Eat or be eaten! Look what it makes me do.
It’s stronger than it was and this is what the bat child does.
Deep in the cave under miles of stone, I knew no word for sad.
Singing to echoes and all alone, needed no mom or dad.
I’d never dreamed of the world above; I’d never seen the sky.
And yet I was content; I never wondered why.
I never knew such a word as rage. I learned that from you.
You locked your boy up inside a cage, 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?
You said you’d never hurt me, mom, whatever might occur!
So: How could you dare, mom,
Make me “aware”, mom,
Teach me to care, mom,
and then deny me her!
We had a chance at happiness, blissfully unaware…
We had a love we thought you’d bless, we didn’t have a prayer.
‘Cause you had to come destroy our love
Like everything else I had!
Yet still I am content and I am not the least bit mad…
No, I’m not here to harm you; I only want to KILL!
You shall have your monster- I shall drink my fill!
At last I am embracing my bloody destiny!
Dear mom and dad, this face will be
The last thing that you ever see!
Revenge will be a home for me
For me
For me
For ME!
FINALE: I Imagine You’re Upset/I Am Not A Boy
Bat Boy
How could you tell me I was human, when you knew me to be a beast?
Meredith
Look inside yourself, Edgar. You’ll see a soul. Does a beast have a soul?
Bat Boy
A soul? Is that what you call it,
that empty pit, that wound where my heart should be?
You dug this hole in me bit by bit, nothing is left of me!
Give me one reason why I should live.
See, you have no reply.
The world is man or beast, but I am both or neither.
So goodbye!
Sheriff
I’m sorry, Edgar, really am.
Sorry to hear your life’s a sham.
Still, it doesn’t have to end this way!
So put these on and don’t be cute.
A van’s en route from the institute.
He gets in it, no one dies today.
Mob
Sheriff, you idiot, why do you pity it?
Look at the blood on him- why don’t you kill him!
What kinda man are you?
What are you gonna do?
We oughtta kill you too!
Why don’t you kill him!
GET HIM! GET HIM!
Bat Boy
Don’t deny the obvious- such an ugly boy.
Everywhere you put me, look what I destroy!
Mob
Shoot him! Stop him! Jesus, Sheriff!
Shoot him! Kill him! Kill him! Do it!
Bat Boy
Not strung up by farmers or caged in by police.
If you’re not a coward, give me peace.
Mob
Parker, you idiot, why do you pity it?
Look at the blood on him- God, you’re both evil!
What kinda man are you?
What are you gonna do?
Parker, he wants you to!
Kill him or we will!
Bat Boy
Coward.
Dr. Parker
I’m sorry.
Bat Boy
You know…
One thing alone saved me from despair,
back in my feral stage.
Shelley
Edgar…
Bat Boy
Once in a while she would meet my stare.
Then I’d forget the cage.
Meredith
Edgar, don’t!
Bat Boy
But surely her smile wasn’t meant for me.
Shelley
Edgar no!
Bat Boy
Easier to dismiss. But, tonight she kissed me, here.
(General gasp)
Bat Boy
Tonight she gave me this.
(He takes out Shelley’s handkerchief)
I smell her perfume and her sweat…
Dr. Parker
Oh my God…
Townfolk
Jesus!
Bat Boy
Look what a gift she gave me-
Dr. Parker
Is it true?
Bat Boy
Almost enough to save me.
Shelley
Yes!
Bat Boy
And I imagine you’re upset…
Dr. Parker
Oh my God!
Bat Boy
But I would kill for her again!
Mob
Stop him! Kill him!
Bat Boy
And do you know what she did then?
Mob
Stop!
Bat Boy
She offered me her vein.
Mob
No!
Bat Boy
She offered me her blood!
Mob
God!
Bat Boy
She offered me everything!
(Dr. Parker puts a knife to Bat Boy’s throat. Meredith stops him.)
Dr. Parker
Meredith, I’m sorry. All of this is me.
Meredith
Thomas, please.
Dr. Parker (overlapping)
I can’t bear to look at him. You are all I see. His eyes, Meredith, he has your eyes.
It hurts too much to put behind me… the way I lost you.
Meredith (overlapping)
Thomas, don’t. Please, oh Thomas, don’t deny the obvious, leave the past behind. We can start again, love. We have both been blind.
Crowd
Parker, damn you… Parker, you do it now…
Meredith
Thomas, I forgive you. I know, my love, I know.
Dr. Parker
And every day his eyes remind me.
Crowd
Now! Now! Now!
Meredith
Thomas, come here. Thomas, let him go!
Dr. Parker
Edgar! Are you hungry?
(Bat Boy, wounded, falls to Shelley’s arms)
Shelley
Oh, Edgar! My dear, sweet boy…
Bat Boy
I am not a boy. I am an animal.
(He dies)
HOLD ME, BAT BOY (Reprise)
Shelley
In a cave many miles to the south
Lived a boy born with fangs in his mouth.
He never knew what he was worth.
I could not stop his fall.
But in his precious hours on Earth, he taught us all.
Maggie
Love your neighbor,
Rick
Forgive,
Institute Man
Keep your vows.
Bud and Ned
And a mountain’s no place to raise cows.
Sheriff
Revenge is something God forbids,
Bud
To scapegoat folk’s is wrong,
Mrs. Taylor’s Kids
And don’t kill Mrs.Taylor’s kids.
Meredith
Let go the fears to which you cling,
Meredith/Dr. Parker
And through your tears you’ll hear him sing,
Meredith/Dr. Parker/Shelley
Lift up your ears and join his song!
Meredith/Dr. Parker/Shelley/Townfolk
And join his song! And join his song!
And join his song!
All
Aaaaah!
Hold your Bat Boy, Touch your Bat Boy
No more need to hide!
Know your Bat Boy, Love your Bat Boy
Don’t deny your beast inside!
Ah, ah- Aaaaaa! Aaaaa! Aaaaaaaaaaah!