'Jekyll and Hyde' inspires chills
CENTERVILLE — If you're in the mood for some Halloween chills, head over to Rodgers Memorial Theatre and catch the production of Frank Wildhorn's musical, "Jekyll and Hyde."
The Tony Award-winning musical, based on Robert Louis Stevenson's book, "Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," ran for almost four years on Broadway.
Overall, Rodgers' production, directed by Alane Schofield, is pretty solid, with some stand-out performances, great costumes and only a misstep or two.
Andrew Noyes (double cast with Danny Lasko) in the title role does a wonderful job. With a full, clear voice, he handles close to 20 songs with apparent ease. Having the difficult task of playing two roles, his vocalizations and physicality make it easy to follow. And his version of the signature anthem, "This Is the Moment," was sung with as much passion as I've heard in quite some time. I would have liked to see him in a better quality wig.
Noyes' performance was backed up, quite nicely, by the two women in Jekyll/Hyde's life, Emma and Lucy, played by Ashley Gardner Carlson and Holly Jo Samuelson, respectively (Adrien Swenson and Taylor Allred, doubles).
Samuelson also did a fine job as a Lucy, the beautiful prostitute and lead dancer at the Red Rat pub. Though Samuelson delivers her songs with conviction, and there are plenty, Wildhorn didn't give her character much to do.
The ensemble is filled with strong vocalists who all do a great job. The Board of Governors, Michael Bierwolf as Simon and Chuck Gilmore as Sir Carew, were a few of the standouts. There were times the music seemed louder than the singers, which, in a wordy show like this, makes it difficult to follow what the townspeople are signing about.
This is where some of the missteps occur. The prerecorded music, by MT Pit, sounded great but seemed a touch slow, as though they never met with the music director to figure out the tempos. It oftentimes left the actors, many of whom seemed to have a good sense of timing, awkwardly trying to fill the blanks until they could sing again.
The show is also gruesome, too gruesome. Yes, there needs to be some killing, but here's what I would suggest: Show one of the stabbings so we know what happens. After that, have Hyde drag his victim off stage and let the audience fill in the blank. It got to where the audience chuckled, probably thinking "not again," as Hyde wielded another dagger or sword.
Recent comments
I dont think anyone posting has ever done theatre or T.V. If they…
Very Impressed | Oct. 30, 2008 at 1:40 p.m.
I've seen both casts now, and I guess it's a matter of perspective…
@ Scary? LOL | Oct. 23, 2008 at 1:40 a.m.
Sorry don't mean to be rude, but this show was so FAR FROM "thrilling…
Scary? LOL | Oct. 21, 2008 at 10:36 a.m.
