'Jekyll & Hyde' a real thriller at Westchester
By Chesley Plemmons
NEWS-TIMES THEATER CRITIC
2001-08-12
It
seems that the Frank Wildhorn/Leslie Bricusee musical “Jekyll & Hyde” has a
split personality, not unlike its central character. On Broadway the show was overloaded
with rock concert blare and flourish, hammering home its points with a sledgehammer.
Westchester Broadway Theatre’s new
production has foregone such excesses, and, under the inspired direction of Bob Cuccioli,
the show is reborn as an elegantly haunting Victorian drama — the likes of which
haven’t graced this stage since its mammoth hit, “Phantom.”
Set
designer James Noone and his co-designer and technical director Peter Barbieri, Jr. have
conjured up an atmospheric London that is distinct in its own two selves: the refined and
stylish society of Mayfair and the tawdry dives of the Limehouse slums.
Dressed
in period-perfect costumes by Ann Curtis, the characters roam the foggy streets of these
disparate worlds sometimes as predators, sometimes as victims. It’s a chilling
portrait of good versus evil and the production reflects style and subtlety — a rare
virtue in a thriller — in every department.
Man’s
duality of character remains a fascinating concept more than a century after the Scottish
author Robert Louis Stevenson first wrote the tale of a curious doctor who ingests a
medical formula and loses control of a monster — his evil alter ego. It doesn’t
take much of a leap to make the connection with today’s personality-altering drugs.
They’re hyped as an elixir to free us from our repression — but too often, they
unleash irresponsible and uncontrollable emotions.
Set
in Victorian London, the story focuses on Dr. Henry Jekyll (Tom Schmid), a
respected doctor who turns to unorthodox experiments when his father goes mad. He
theorizes that if one could isolate the mad demons each of us possesses, but mostly keep
in check, they could be exorcised, leaving the patient safe, healthy — and morally
good.
When
the Board of Governors at his hospital reject his proposals, he decides to try his new
medication on himself. It certainly made a contemporary connection when instead of
drinking the potion as is the case in most dramatizations of this story, he injects
himself with a hypodermic needle.
The
result is the emergence of a creature which is his evil side, and whom he calls, Hyde. As
he continues his experiments, Hyde begins to control his own destiny with Jekyll unable to
keep the dark apparition from appearing at will.
Its a
story that makes its moral points with hypnotic ease. When Hyde prowls the slums he is
drawn to Lucy (Michelle Dawson), a lady of easy virtue who works at The Red Rat. Attracted
and repelled by him, the script makes clear their relationship is dangerously
self-destructive.
On
the more respectable level, Jekyll is engaged to marry the beautiful socialite, Emma Carew
(Kate Suber). As the duel of control between the good doctor and Hyde intensifies, the
contrast between Emma and Lucy becomes a dark mirror to the two halves of the man they
love.
In
the demanding role of Jekyll/Hyde, Schmid pulls out all the stops. He cleverly uses his
steady tenor for Jekyll and allots Hyde a deeper baritone range, though in both cases he
displays an impressive voice with enough sinew to sail easily over the music. Hearts
surely flutter when he effortlessly tosses off the show’s big number: “This Is
The Moment.”
And
in that department, hats off also for the restraint of musical director David Andrews
Rogers who has resisted turning the score into bombast. He chooses his moments for
powerful emphasis carefully and that respects not only our eardrums but also the singers’
efforts.
As
Lucy, Dawson gives a tremendously affecting performance. Vocally, she, too, is a
powerhouse and she wins our sympathy with her amusingly bawdy turn as a lady for hire who
catches a glimpse of a better life — but too late. She brings down the house with
“A New Life.”
The
entire cast couldn’t be improved on and the other principal roles: Suber’s
appealing Emma, Dennis Parlato’s impeccable John Utterson, Steve Pudenz’s
righteous Sir Carew and the six performers who play the short-sighted — and
short-lived Board of Governors at the hospital are a joy.
The
musical staging by Jean-Paul Richard is flawless. He turns the major ensemble numbers,
“Facade,” “Murder Murder” and the gamy Red Rat anthem “Bring on
the Men” into inventive exercises in movement.
“Jekyll & Hyde” may be a dark
musical but director Cuccioli has polished it to a gleaming ebony and whatever
reservations earlier visits may have generated have been put to rest.
“Jekyll
& Hyde” will play through November 24 at the Westchester Broadway Theatre, One
Broadway Plaza, Exit 23 off of the Saw Mill Parkway, Elmsford, New York. Performances are
Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. with dinner served beginning at 6:15; Sunday
evenings at 7, with dinner at 5, and matinees Wednesdays and Thursdays at 1 p.m. with
lunch from 11 a.m. and Sundays at 1:30, with lunch from 12 noon. Tickets are $52 to $75
and include show, meal and tax. Call the box office at (914) 592-2222.