ANDREW Polec is remarkably relaxed as we chat in his dressing room at Manchester Opera House.

It’s hard to believe that on the slim shoulders of this unknown 22-year-old American rests the fate of arguably the biggest theatre show to come to Manchester in years.

Bat Out of Hell: the Musical - a show nearly 50 years in the making - is getting its world premiere in the North West with a 10-week run at the Opera House before heading into London’s West End.

We meet two days before opening night. The calm of Andrew’s dressing room is a stark contrast to the hive of activity throughout the rest of the theatre.

Technicians are crawling all over the stage, banks of computers have taken over the stalls as the final preparations are being made.

Make no mistake, this is a show of epic proportion - it will take 150 microphones, 194 speakers, 30 kilometres of electric cables, a backstage crew of over 90 and a cast of 29 to bring Jim Steinman’s musical to life every night.

“Being part of this show is like seeing an ever-developing dream come true,” said Andrew. “We have this big beautiful set, we’ve used every inch of space in the theatre we can and there are tons of surprises in store for everyone who comes along to see it.”

Bat Out of Hell, released by Meat Loaf in 1977, remains one of the best selling albums of all time with over 40 million copies sold worldwide.

Composer Jim Steinman originally wrote the songs for a musical.

“Our director Jay Scheib says that Bat Out of Hell was the most premature cast album ever,” said Andrew.

Set in a future world, Andrew plays Strat, the leader of a group of rebels who falls for the daughter of a tyrannical ruler.

“It’s essentially a story about love and rock and roll,” said Andrew.

“The thing is, this is not a jukebox musical, it’s an archetypal love story like Romeo and Juliet and it’s also got elements of Peter Pan in there.

“These are all themes that people can relate to in one way or another.”

Andrew and the rest of the relatively unknown young cast appreciate the hold songs such as Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad, Dead Ringer and, of course, Bat Out of Hell have over people.

“We are all really committed to the story,” he said. “It is an honour to be taking this music and turning it into what was originally intended for.”

Bat Out of Hell is likely to attract a wider audience to the Opera House than many shows.

“We’re going to get theatre lovers and rock and roll lovers coming along which is fantastic,” said Andrew.

In his dressing room, a large board is pinned to the wall featuring a collage of rock and roll icons ranging from Iggy Pop and Jim Morrison to Jimi Hendrix and the Who’s Pete Townshend.

“Strat is really an amalgam of so many great rock and roll characters,” said Andrew. “I was in a few bands in high school mostly as the frontman and I really wanted to look at the great rock and roller characters and bring that to the part.”

Having completed post graduate studies, Andrew had played in a few off-Broadway shows but to land such a prestigious role which could well make him a household name was beyond his wildest dreams.

“This is just on a different level,” he said.

“I heard that there was an open casting call for a new show called Bat Out of Hell and once I discovered it was based on the Jim Steinman songs I knew I had to go for it.”

Andrew’s approach to getting through the audition was unconventional to say the least.

“I took this big floor tom drum that was about half the size of me. When I got to the audition room the casting director looked at me as though I was a nut.”

Two weeks later Andrew heard he had been asked back for a second audition.

“I just thought ‘what the hell, the drum worked last time', so I took it with me again. Director Jay Scheib was in the room and I think he was amazed. I did Bon Jovi’s Living on a Prayer in the style of a Meat Loaf song while banging away on the drum.

“I was originally in for a lesser role but they saw that and after two more auditions I was Strat.”

Andrew is revelling in being part of the show and although aware of the weight of expectation, he’s not daunted by it.

“I love it,” he said. “You could be nervous but when you know there are so many people out there you are going to bring so much joy to and know you’re with such a wonderful team of people, you just want to get on a do it.

“This is just such a huge honour for me. It is going to be an amazing show.

“It is going to be an absolute pleasure to be part of it.”

Bat Out of Hell: the Musical is at Manchester Opera House until Saturday, April 29. Details from 0844 871 3018