{"id":269202,"date":"2017-09-29T12:46:33","date_gmt":"2017-09-29T16:46:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=269202"},"modified":"2017-10-04T15:19:56","modified_gmt":"2017-10-04T19:19:56","slug":"andrew-polec-bat-out-of-hell-the-musical-269202","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/andrew-polec-bat-out-of-hell-the-musical-269202\/","title":{"rendered":"From Homer in the classroom to Meat Loaf on stage"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s a fire in Andrew Polec \u201912 (KEY), and it was kindled at Rochester. The former Midnight Rambler\u2014who studied music and English, and participated in the International Theatre Program\u2014is now finding professional success as Strat, the lead in Bat Out of Hell: The Musical<\/em>, which just ended an extended summer run in London. The show makes its North American debut in Toronto on October 14.<\/p>\n

Featuring the music and lyrics of composer Jim Steinman, the musical takes fans on a trip back to one of the best-selling albums of all time\u2014first made famous by Meat Loaf (the stage name of musician, producer, and actor Michael Lee Aday), whose operatic performance of larger-than-life songs set a high bar for its new lead. It\u2019s a challenge Polec gladly accepted.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt takes such focus and such commitment to fully give yourself to these songs,\u201d he says. \u201cMeat Loaf\u2019s advice: \u2018Make these songs your own.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The show synopsis describes the story as a \u201cromantic adventure about rebellious youth and passionate love, set against the backdrop of a post-cataclysmic city adrift from the mainland.\u201d Polec, who uses a vision board each night to inspire his performances, invokes the rebellious nature of such rock music icons as Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, and Elvis Presley.<\/p>\n

A native of Philadelphia, Polec started out following a premed program. He completed two clusters in biology and psychology before he began taking music, English, and theater courses. He was a Midnight Rambler during the period when the a capella ensemble was chosen to record with Ben Folds for the singer-songwriter\u2019s album Ben Folds Presents: University A Capella!<\/em> He performed in the International Theatre Program productions at Todd Theater, including Hello Again<\/em> during his first year, and Adding Machine: A Musical<\/em> during his final year. Polec took voice lessons at the Eastman School of Music and was part of the Music Department\u2019s Rock Repertory Ensemble. He was accepted into the Kauffman Entrepreneurial Year (KEY) Program, spending a fifth, tuition-free year at the University to start a student-run record label and release an album.<\/p>\n

\"large
Polec (center) records with singer Ben Folds (left) and fellow Midnight Ramblers in December of 2008. (Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ photo \/ Richard Baker)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A pivotal moment for Polec came during a literature course\u2014Classical and Scriptural Backgrounds\u2014 taught by Professor Emeritus Russell Peck. \u201cI was just blown away by his theatrics and storytelling,\u201d Polec says, recalling in particular a lecture on Homer\u2019s Iliad<\/em>. \u201cAs he described the narrative of Achilles\u2019s rage, in that moment, as he destroys the Trojan army, I thought, \u2018this is what I\u2019m missing.\u2019 I wanted to make people invested in the story [in a way] that takes them out of their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of Polec\u2019s mentors, Kim Kowalke, says, \u201cI got to know how special a talent he was.\u201d Kowalke\u2014a professor of music and the Richard L. Turner Professor in the Humanities at the College, as well as a professor of musicology at Eastman\u2014remembers Polec\u2019s audition for Musical Theater Workshop, as jaw dropping. \u201cHe was not only charismatic, but he was one of those people who was such a risk taker. If you said, \u2018That was nice Andrew, but why don\u2019t you sing the same number and do somersaults across the room while you\u2019re doing it, he would have done it\u2014or he would have tried to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kowalke visited his former student in the UK during the preview of the show at the London Coliseum in June. He says Polec remains a risk taker, to great effect. \u201cThere is nothing more exciting than a performer willing to take risks. It means they\u2019re right on the edge, and that is spellbinding in the theater.\u201d<\/p>\n

Polec is looking forward to the show\u2019s Toronto run. \u201cI\u2019m so excited to be coming back to my time zone,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ll be closer to my alma mater; close to the place that taught me so much.\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s in store for Polec\u2019s future? \u201cI would like to work on things that bring joy to people \u2013 in the way that arts can,\u201d he says. \u201cNot knowing my path, but ending up where I\u2019m at right now, by using all the tools that I used from the professors and the groups that I was part of, it just feels fated.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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