Kellie Gnauck, Bat Out Of Hell Interview

Bat Out Of Hell is a Rocky-Horror, Romeo-and-Juliet celebration of star-crossed lovers from opposite sites of the tracks caught in a city teetering on the brink of disaster. It’s wowed critics and audiences when it played limited seasons at Manchester Opera House, London Coliseum and London’s Dominion Theatre from 2017 to 2019 - as well as a UK tour recently. Not only that but the production has successfully ran across the world in countries like Canada and Germany too!

Now the explosive production is back for a limited run at the Peacock Theatre until 1 April. In celebration of its return, our writer Jacqueline shares with you an interview with Kellie Gnauck who plays the character of Raven.

1. Who or what inspired you to become a performer?

In terms of people I don’t know personally, I always loved Lea Salonga as a performer and she was definitely a big big reason I wanted to start singing.

But also my grandparents. My grandad was an opera singer, and my Nan has always been my number 1 fan when it comes to performing.

2. Tell us a bit about your journey with Bat Out of Hell- what was the audition process like and what has it been like working on the different productions?

I’ve had quite a long journey with Bat…

I first attended the open auditions 6 years ago. I did 9 rounds and sang “It’s All Coming Back To Me Now” in at least 4 different keys.

I was unsuccessful that first time as the role went to the wonderful Christina. So I came back in 2020 to re-audition and I walked straight in and when asked what song I had brought to sing (they had asked for a pop/rock song not from the show that showed off my voice) I said “It’s All Coming Back To Me Now”. I’ve never been quite that bold in an audition before but I just thought, if I’m only going to get one song… then this is the song I want them to hear me sing.

The wonderful thing about Bat is that it’s forever changing. It keeps it interesting and it means that the energy never drops. I’ve had the pleasure of working with 4 different Strats so far and I think I’ve now done 5 different versions of the show. It’s why people keep coming back, both cast and audience.

3. What is it about Bat Out of Hell that’s made you want to be a part of the show for so long?

The music. It doesn’t matter what kind of day you’ve had, the music brings you up every single time.

4. How different has it been going from playing Valkyrie to playing Raven?

Oh god, it’s been a whirlwind but in the best way. Both characters have so many wonderful things about them and I will always have good memories of both.

Valkyrie is such a challenging role because not only does she need to have the physical capabilities of the ensemble but also she has to be able to sing one of the hardest female tracks in the show.

And with Raven you get to have so much fun because you can play so many different sides to her, I feel like every night I find something new to play which I love. And then vocally you get such a nice mix of some of the softer numbers but then also coming out with some absolute rock anthems towards the end.

5. You’ve done several tours and visited some amazing places- which theatres have been your favourites to perform in and why?

This is always such a difficult question to answer because each theatre is so different.

Obviously, we’ve just come back from the arena tour in Australia and I do have to say that the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne was utterly spectacular. I will always remember it as such an amazing venue.

I adore the Bord Gais Theatre in Dublin and then it was quite a while ago but I always remember the Leeds Grand theatre as being a favourite on Evita.

On Bat it’s the audiences that make the venue a lot of the time… And Scotland wins that one hands down haha.

6. Do you have any memorable stories about fan encounters?

I’ve always been so lucky that all my encounters with fans have been so lovely and so respectful. We have the most incredible fans on Bat and you can see the love they have for Meat and his music.

READ MORE: Bat Out Of Hell UK Tour Review

7. Have you ever had any onstage mishaps in any of your roles?

Oh so many haha. My favourite one was when I was Alternate on Evita.

There’s a part in the show before Rainbow High where two of the cast bring on a vanity mirror / stool with a robe on it for me to change out of the iconic Don’t Cry For Me Argentina dress and put the robe on to wear until the onstage quick change in Rainbow High. This particular night someone obviously forgot to set the robe so it just didn’t come onstage. I got changed out of the dress and the two cast members just looked at me like “I’m so sorry but we don’t have any clothes for you” So I ended up doing Rainbow High in my show underwear.

I'm often trying to hold back laughter about a range of different things but I think that was the most difficult one trying to get through a song in my pants.

8. If you could describe your performing career so far in three words, which would you choose?

Non Linear Journey

9. What’s a skill you have that you’ve not had the chance to use onstage yet, but would love to show off one day?

I’ve always loved presenting. I do a lot of scripted presenting work outside of my theatre work and it’s something I will always adore. I’d love to be able to tie the two in a bit more somehow.

10. If Raven (Bat Out of Hell), Patty (School of Rock) and Eva Peron (Evita) spent a day together, what do you think they would do? Would they get along?

I feel like they actually would. Although they’re all very different, they’re all strong women and I think at the very least they’d have that respect for each other. I feel like Eva would be leading the group towards some sort of revolution.

You can catch Kellie Gnauck in Bat Out Hell at Peacock Theatre until 01 April 2023.