"Bat Boy: The Musical," currently running at Minneapolis Musical Theatre, has a wonderfully outlandish premise: a half boy/half bat, discovered in the caves of West Virginia, is brought to a small town, igniting the residents' prejudices. But a lack of sophistication in the writing, exacerbated by a heavy-handed production, robs the show of its satiric bite and political sting.

The scapegoating of the Bat Boy for all the town's ills is a clear allegory of the way our increasingly xenophobic culture persecutes someone different, but it is crude in its obviousness. A little subtlety might have strengthened its message.

In previous outings, director Steven Meerdink has demonstrated a light touch and sophisticated style. More of that would have helped here. The book by Keythe Farley and Brian Flemming paints the townfolk of Hope Falls, West Virginia as the broadest kind of redneck stereotypes and the production takes them beyond outrageous to offensive.

If, say, gay stereotypes had been so negatively presented, I wonder if the audience would have laughed so hard. Rednecks are an easy target; the result felt mean-spirited.

Music director Kevin Hansen has an obvious love for Laurence O'Keefe's quirky score, but he let himself get carried away, the accompaniment frequently overpowering the modest ensemble. And O'Keefe's clever lyrics deserved to be better articulated.

The variable cast was strong where it really counted. Tyler Michaels brought a strong voice and a powerful presence to the Bat Boy. Made up like Nosferatu, his acrobatics as the feral child and his humanizing the silly cultured gentleman he grew into made the show captivating whenever he was onstage.

As the woman who cared for him, Corey de Danann was a convincing maternal figure. Their developing relationship grounded the show emotionally.

Scenic designer Darren Hensel and costume designer Jason Lee Resler make creative use of MMT's limited resources to create an effective environment and stage pictures, an unfortunate drag costume notwithstanding. Grant Merges' lighting adds an extra level of creepiness.

There is a great twist at the end, but then the show goes on for an additional 15 minutes, mitigating the punch. This is an evening that aims for political satire and ends up as just camp.