A wig comment? Really? How about the directing? What about the staging? You notice anything about character development?

What does it take to get a decent stage reviewer to work in this town? First Ivan and now this? Where is my Davis County Clipper review...

Great review! I am a big fan of theatre, having traveled to see shows in London, New York, and Chicago. I saw the play on Friday and must say the show and cast were better than things I’ve seen on Broadway. Where they found Emma, Jekyll or Lucy is beyond me. What amazing talent!

I saw the show opening night and while the production was pretty good and had some great talent, I didn't see the same cast as you, I thought the direction was HORRIBLE. The scene where Jekyll is trying to get the ok to test the patients, his back was to the audience the ENTIRE time. I felt that most of the direction had backs to the audience. It made me feel so detatched from the show. I didn't enjoy it.

Thanks Max! I'll pass that along to the leads.
S.O.D. If you saw it on Friday then you did in fact see the same cast, you just didn't like how it was portrayed. It's too bad that you chose to let that one scene detach you from the rest of the show. Still thanks for coming to see us! We put a lot of time into it.

Hero of Canton whines once again. You finally get a favorable review and you start crying about one line? Really?

How about manning up and stop crying every time this newspaper goes up there and reviews one of your community shows.

Hmmm...too gruesome? Good thing you didn't see the Broadway version, Erica, where the Bishop's body goes up in flames and blood flowed freely.

Hero of Canton--I have to agree with Wow, wigs are easily fixed. Seemed like a good review to me. Although, as someone who sees shows all over Utah on a regular basis ranging from high school to professional, Wow needs to give RMT a little more credit than to refer to their productions as "community shows". Many of the cities in Salt Lake, Davis, Utah and Weber Counties have community theaters, with volunteer directors, staff and casts from the local community. They put on wonderful productions which we enjoy immensely because they're our neighbors and we appreciate their talents.

At RMT, however, I see many of the same faces I see at Hale Center Theatre, the Grand, Utah Musical Theatre, the Egyptian (Park City), etc.--in other words, actors from Logan to Provo, many of whom have formal theater training, though it's not their profession (a rare few are Actors Equity). In this season-ticket holder's humble opinion, it's at least one step up from "community" theater...and that step's gotten taller over the years.

To Hero:
If you had seen that wig, you'd know why it was mentioned in the review. It was awful.

Not to mention, she talked about how great the actors were, solid singers and had a good sense of timing.

What's the problem? Silly things like wigs bought at the temporary Halloween store are what separates community theater from the pros.

Oh... are you the wig master?

sorry, but a bad wig distracts from any performance. Just the way it is. You can't help but look at how bad the wig is.

I saw the play friday and it was awesome! We kept gasping at the death scenes because they were very well done. This seems like a hard play to pull off... and I thought the talent level was awesome. I agree with the reviewer that there were some technical items that could have distracted from the show. However, The Jekyll and Emma/Lucy Combinations were very powerful. And the message of the "Facade" seemed to come through very well.
I liked the supporting cast as well. The "Simon" was so evil! My mother and I turned to each other after one of his scenes and couldn't stop talking about how crazy good he was. I agree that the Danvers was also a standout. I am getting my friends together and we are going back next week.

I saw the show last night (other cast--also top-drawer), and they must have gotten the wig message, 'cause it looked pretty realistic last night (definitely not of the "Halloween store" variety!). In fact, as many others have mentioned, the costumes are as good as I've seen anywhere, and I'd include the wigs in that assessment.

The set is pretty cool as well. Very innovative and allows for quick scene changes, of which this show has many.

I'll also admit to being creeped out by Stride. You don't want to hate Hyde, but you absolutely despise Stride.

Great Halloween fare. The box office says the show is selling out...it would be cool if they extend the run and do a Halloween performance (right now ends on the 30th). I'd go back with friends for a truly creepy Halloween party!! Beats a haunted house or watching horror movies hands down.

A bad wig (or costumes, or a lighting error, or even a person looking at text messages) takes you out of the play.

It's a good call, to note that a bad wig affected the enjoyment of the show.

I'm related to someone in the cast, so my opinion isn't totally unbiased, but I want to add that this isn't your typical community production. RMT puts on a show that easily rivals traveling Broadway productions I have seen. This cast includes some of the most talented people in Davis and Salt Lake counties. I know how difficult the audition process was and I know many talented people who didn't make this cast. This show is an incredible bargain for the ticket price! Don't miss it!

I also saw the show last night. No one here has mentioned the message of Jekyll & Hyde, the moral of the story, so to speak. I'd be interested in others' thoughts.

I believe if one looks at the show in that light, in other words, "what can I learn from this play," the introspective musical numbers Ms. Hansen complains of are not annoying, but instead provoke one's own introspection. If you're going strictly for entertainment, to be "thrilled and chilled", you'll certainly get that, but miss the message, which I think is important for the times in which we live.

What DO we do with that evil side to our nature? (Don't pretend you don't have one, we all do... "lurking right behind the facade.") What happens when we give in? What is the impact upon our future, upon our loved ones, our associates? Can we recover from our mis-steps?

Feedback, anyone?

Peddler, I get what you're saying. But I also got it the first 4, 5, 8 times each character sang about it. It gets to a point in this play where you think, "I get it already. Next topic."

Well, anonymous | 7:58 a.m., to each his own. I guess Frank Wildhorn is an acquired taste--you're obviously not a fan. I hope you didn't go expecting a cheery tale.

Which is the best cast to see?

Both casts do a very nice job.

MWF is a sell out...hands down. I have had the hardest time getting tickets to the MWF, but there are empty seats in the THS cast. If you are going by numbers alone, I'd put my bets on the MWF cast.

Prior to Wednesday night I had never actually seen this show, but I have heard the music countless times and based on that it has been one of my favorite musicals. Now, after having seen Roger's production of it, I think it is probably my absolute #1 favorite show. I'm amazed at the detail put into this show. There are so many messages and themes and for me the whole show is just incredibly thought provoking. Human beings are such interesting creatures and I think this show does a great job of showing some of the complex workings of the human mind. We all put on a facade of sorts. In each of us there is a "jekyll" and a "hyde", but it is up to us not to let our evil sides take control. The cast did an incredible job. I've been going to shows at this theatre for years and this show has some of the greatest talent I've ever seen there. (Andrew Noyes and Michael Bierwolf in particular)Go see Jekyll and Hyde before it's too late.

I am going to the show on Monday. Everyone I know has been raving about it for the past week around my neighborhood. Is Michael Bierwolf in the Monday/Wednesday/Friday Cast? I saw him in Les Miserables at Viewmont a while ago and I thought he would be on Broadway by now...
Andrew Noyes has always been great in every show he does. I'll make sure to leave my thoughts after the show!

Yes michael Bierwolf is in the MWF cast. I think he served a mission for the LDS church and that's why he's not on broadway yet. I wouldn't be surprised if he's there in a couple more years though.

Adrien Swenson (Emma/Lucy - double cast) is totally amazing! I recognize her from shows at HCT (Hale). What a great talent.

I agree with Erica's assesment. It was a good show, but not great. I like Frank Wildhorn. His music is always very good - but in this show the music seemed to be more important than the actual plot. There were main characters that could have been cut out without harm being done to the show. They just weren't fleshed out enough. I didn't find it scary at all. Erica's right. I wanted to laugh at times in the play which should have been dramatic and scary.

You know I think this group of actors were amazingly talented (outside of a few casting miss-hits, but that is not the actors fault), I think this property is incredibly powerful. I think Rodgers has done a wonderful thing in producing such an agressive piece and that it is getting such a great response.

However, I think the thing holding back the show the most is mediocre directing. I know that cast members will flare up in defense, but the criticism stands. Alane Schofield moved bodies around the stage with such clunkiness and handled the technical interweaving with such blahzay that it impeded the work and passion of the performers on the stage. I kept thinking to myself "I am amazed that the actors are able to pushes so much of the show forward, inspite of the director." Alane is a wonderful person I am sure, not knowing her personally, however if this is the level at which she directs, I would hope RMT would find a more suitable property for her to direct then something as large scale and potent as Jekyll.

Sorry don't mean to be rude, but this show was so FAR FROM "thrilling" or "chilling" I don't know whose idea it was to stage the killings like that but, wow! I have seen high school shows and home made movies more intense. Sorry actors, but I think you lost out on a director this time.

Cool set idea though, especially for the RMT Stage.

I've seen both casts now, and I guess it's a matter of perspective, but both nights there were multiple gasps and "Oh my"s every time someone is done in. Maybe you're just a little jaded from TV/movie/haunted-house violence, where blood gushes and heads and limbs get severed gratuitously. If that's your standard, you're going to be disappointed. Again, there were a lot of people around me who were plenty "chilled" by the on-stage murders, and I suspect there were the night you attended as well. You apparently were so busy chuckling at THEM that you missed the fun.

As for the quality of the show, seems to me the box office is the ultimate poll...the show is selling so well that they extended it a week. The enthusiastic word-of-mouth is what's driving it, with a number of my friends going multiple times. Both nights I went were rousing standing ovations--well-deserved in my opinion.

To each his own, but there seem to be a lot of people voting against your opinion with their ticket purchases.

(BTW, is it just me, or do a lot of these negative posts sound like they're written by the same disgruntled person using different names?)

I dont think anyone posting has ever done theatre or T.V. If they had they would know that the Director is also bound by the Producers, Board members and owners of the theatre as to what is, and is not allowed in the show. If you had seen this show on Broadway you would know the opening scene is filled with naked men for the first ten minutes. The Bishop is set on fire and pools of blood run off the stage... That is a family values theatre, they need to make money and make sure the whole family can see it, it's a business after all. I do agree however if there is a distracting costume or wig it will take you out of the play. I think they have fixed that, I'm sure they have because the one I saw on Monday was great. To pull off a show like that, and find out the actors of that talent level are not paid, blew me away. I thought the talent and show was great, but what do I know, I'm only Equity and S.A.G. and have a degree in Theatre.