God Damn You Hyde, Take all Your Evil Deeds and Rot in Hell!

I know I am in the minority, but I really love Frank Wildhorn's Jekyll an Hyde.  Well, let me clarify that a bit - I love what it COULD be.  I discovered the Colm Wilkinson/Linda Eder concept album in my freshman year of high school.  It was my introduction to both Frank Wildhorn and Linda Eder.  As a potential show, it didn't *quite* work, but it had some really great stand alone songs - most of which have appeared in subsequent revisions/productions in whole or part, and some which went no farther.  My high school choir sang a medley of songs, and I was thrilled.

A few years later, I found the double disc concept album with Anthony Warlow, Linda Eder, Carolee Carmello,  and John Raitt.  This was my introduction to Anthony Warlow, who is truly on of the greatest musical theatre performers ever.  I listened to the score endlessly, memorizing it quickly, and imagining the possibilities for a full out production.  I saw this album as a what the show should be - beginning to end - with a few cuts (Letting Go, which had been kind of a fun pop track on the original album was now a very dull dirge that I hated, and Girls of the Night, while a nice enough track was superfluous and did nothing to advance the plot) and a few book scenes added. 

What came to Broadway in 1997 was, again reworked.  I was not in NYC at the time, and so didn't have the opportunity to see it.  The biggest offense committed - as far as I was concerned - was replacing Bring on the Men with Good and Evil.  I liked the addition of the quartet His Work and Nothing More.  I saw the tour in Los Angeles a few years later, relieved to see Bring on the Men reinstated.

I didn't think the show deserved as harsh a backlash as it got from the critics.  It was flawed.  It didn't quite meet the expectations I had built up for it in my head, but, it mostly worked.

To me, one of the biggest mistakes - in all incarnations after the original concept album - is in the writing of Jekyll's fiance, Emma (Lisa on the double disc album).  On the original concept album, she expressed desires for her life with Jekyll - "Henry, I adore you, always have done, always will do, but I too have dreams.  Maybe not as grand as yours, or hard to understand as yours, but none the less, my dreams."  I LOVED this about her.  Perhaps her dreams were nothing more than to marry and raise their children, but she was her own person.  On the double disc, she lost some of her individuality "Henry, I adore you, always have done, always will do, and your dreams are mine."  She became a more traditional musical theatre heroine - there to prop up her man. 

There was also a beautiful moment on the double disc between Emma and Simon Stryde which established a rivalry between Stryde and Jekyll for Emma's affections, and made it that much more tense when you found out Stryde was presiding over the Board of Govenor's meeting.  It also gave Emma a moment to assert herself as her own woman "But Simon, you knew, I had to be free.  What I choose to do is decided by ME."

All of this rambling brings me to the current Broadway revival of Jekyll and Hyde which closes tomorrow - five weeks early - at the Marquis Theatre.

Where do I even begin?  What had so much potential, what I had hoped might finally be getting the production it should have has become probably the most craptastic thing I have ever seen.  Too much hope (and hype) pinned on a "star" name and technical achievement to bring in an audience while ignoring storytelling, musicality, and the positives about the show.

Constantine Mouralis.  Broody Rock Star.

I knew going in I wasn't going to like Constantine Mouralis.  I find his voice much to thin and high for the role, and, let's face it, he can't act.  The moment I heard his voice over open the show - "In each of us, there are two natures..." - I just started laughing.  I couldn't take him seriously.  Then he began to sing.  Not only is his voice thin, but it is all in his nose, and he cannot enunciate.  He sounds like he as cotton in his mouth.  His Hyde is inexplicably Scottish.  If I didn't already know the lyrics (mostly, there were lyric changes made for this production) I'd have no idea what was being said. My mind screamed "Anthony Warlow is just down the street!  Someone get him in here NOW!"  I did like his performance of Alive! which worked as a more rocked out anthem. 

Let's not even get into the overblown, unnecessary  American Idol riffing throughout the show - and Constantine was not the only offender.  Musical theatre is - or should be - storytelling first and foremost.  There is NO shame in singing music as written and telling the story.  It is more effective than adding riffs and ornamentation that are nothing more than showing off.  (If you haven't already, be sure to read this article about Harry Conick Jr's experience as an American Idol mentor.)

The friend who joined me for this bit of theatrical masochism and I were both stifling giggles (and we weren't the only ones) and looking on in fascinated horror as each new song and scene was presented to us.  The order of events had changed a bit.

Facade is the first ensemble number.  When I saw the tour, it was staged as people walking around London and giving commentary.  Here, it was staged with London Elite preparing to face the world - starting in their underclothes and being dressed by their maids and valets, putting on their own facade while commenting on societal facades.  I actually liked the concept.  What I didn't like was the dead, flat sound presented by the ensemble.  I was unmoved.

The Board of Govenor's (which now precedes the engagement party scene, removing the moment to establish Stryde and Jekyll as rivals) had no passion.  There was no tension.  No outrage from the Board over Jekyll's proposal.  WHY IN GOD'S NAME DID STRYDE HAVE DREADLOCKS?!?!?!  The bombastic, sung response of "Nay, nay, nay, nay,  positively,absolutely, NAY!" from the double disc and original Broadway production was reduced to a single, disdainfully spoken "nay."  Dull.

The highlight of the cast for me - and, really, a deciding factor for seeing this production - was Richard White as Emma's father, Sir Danvers Carew.  Most will know him best as the voice of Gaston in Disney's Beauty and the Beast.  To me, he will always be the titular character of the Yeston/Kopit Phantom.  He is not given a lot in Jekyll and Hyde, but his voice is still as I remember it...and he's aged quite nicely.

Teal Wicks - Faces of Emma

I was surprised to see former Elphaba, Teal Wicks cast as Emma Carew - a role originated on Broadway by soprano Christiane Noll.  The keys for Emma were taken down, making her range more similar to Lucy's which took some dynamic away from their act two duet, In His Eyes. It also took out the floating soprano line in His Work and Nothing More.  She came across to me as uncharismatic, a bit too harsh, and popped in some of her own American Idol-esque riffs, which may have worked for Elphaba, but not for Emma. I felt no real chemistry between Emma and Jekyll. I was able to see from her performance why she was cast as Elphaba.  I was not able to see why she was cast as Emma.  I was disappointed.

Deborah Cox and fellow Girls of the Night.  There's a spider web metaphor happening here as the brothel/club the girls work at is called the Spider's Web.

Much hype has been made of Deborah Cox as Lucy Harris.  She is flawlessly beautiful.  Her voice is lovely.  Her stage presence is lackluster.  When Bring on the Men is one of the dullest moments of the production, there is a problem.  This may have had more to do with the director than the performer, but...wow.  WHAT a disappointment.  The staging for Bring on the Men was completely uninspired involving rope representing a spider web and no titillation or raunchiness.  The musical interlude in the song was moved from after "I suppose a rose by any other name/the perfume and the prick's the same" to after the next segment and before the last chorus.  Why?  Originally, the interlude was the moment for Lucy and the other girl's to entice their potential customers before starting in with "I like to have a man for breakfast each day..." further teasing the men.  The double entendres of this section were lost (..men are mad about my afternoon teas...they're quite informal, I just do it to please).  It just didn't work for me.  She delivered a lovely Someone Like You, garnering applause for a sustained money note, but, it was underwhelming.

I found Dana Costello as Nellie to be very engaging, and look forward to seeing more from her in the future.

Act two opened with Murder! Murder!  A number I have always enjoyed on previous recordings.  The melody was almost entirely changed.  Not as moving or effective, and there was just something missing.  An urgency.  A sense of panic.  I don't know...so much of the re-orchestrated music just felt utilitarian and unemotional.  I remember feeling excitement the first time I listened to the double disc concept album.  Musically, orchestrally, I expected to have similar feelings.  I didn't think they could mess up that bit of the show for me.  They did.

The projection panels utilized in the show for most of the scenery.  

Most of the shows designs utilized moving projection screens.  I could see the idea behind it.  Some of it worked.  Unfortunately, it was overused and over blown.  Again, I just wanted to scream "Just tell the STORY!"  Between the projections, orchestrations, "star" casting, and American Idol riffing, the storytelling was lost.  The good things about this show were lost.  It was entirely flash over substance.

Which brings me to this:

"This one is the nightmare that goes on..."

That's right.  The penultimate moment of the show.  Jekyll's confrontation with Hyde.  Oh. My. GOD!  This is the SO craptastic, artistically insulting.  It is no small thing to say I would take David Hasslehoff's scene chewing, hair whipping, cheese-tastic off pitch performance over this any day.  To this point, the Confrontation has always been performed live.  The actor whip-lashing between Jekyll and Hyde in a battle for supremacy.  In part, this was the reason there was an alternate actor for the role for matinee performances as it made the role very physically and emotionally draining.

Now, Jekyll's portion is performed live, while a pre-recorded vocal and image performs Hyde.  Between the psychedelic visual and annoyingly digitally altered Hyde vocal, it was beyond laughable. The way Hyde is sung could not possibly be sustained eight performances a week.  I doubt it could be sustained for two. Of course, much of it is digitally altered and can't actually be sung at all.  And oh, you "lucky" people who thought you avoided witnessing this amazing moment of craptasticness, I give you Constantine Mouralis' confrontation in ALL it's craptastic glory!

This "performance" is an insulting slap in the face to any performer who can actually  perform this.  It takes away from something that has the potential to be a brilliant and powerful acting moment and reduces it to laughable spectacle.  Some of my "favourite" moments here are Hyde's neck action around 1:10 the repeated "on" at around 1:34 the way Jekyll says "it's-a" around 2:45, and Jekyll's spin, signifying the end of the number at about 2:30.

The original Broadway production ran four years and 1,543 performances.  The current production could not sustain it's "strictly limited engagement" of thirteen weeks, ending five weeks early with 15 previews and 30 performances.  Pure spectacle and stunt casting will not provide you with a quality show.  Cast real talent - whether or not anyone has ever heard of them - and put your directorial focus on STORYTELLING.

I have always felt there is a good show somewhere in the hodgepodge of concept albums, Broadway and touring productions of Jekyll and Hyde.  Sadly, with this EPIC fail of a production, I think the final nail in the coffin has been set for Jekyll and Hyde, and we will not see another attempt at it outside of regional and community theatre.

I leave you with this, Deborah Cox's wholly inappropriate Opera Diva curtain call bow: