Jekyll and Hyde

Rose Theater
July 24th, 25th, and 26th

(This review is aimed at explaining and reviewing the current production of Jekyll and Hyde at the Rose Theatre, a small community theatre located in Bastrop Louisiana, just outside of Monroe Louisiana.)

Synopsis:
This staging of Jekyll and Hyde is a tribute to what was done on Broadway! I, like many fans, had seen only the Broadway production on the DVD...but watched the other productions on tour. (the pre-Broadway with Cuccioli, and the Broadway tour with Wagner, the non-equity tour that followed)....however, this is an historic attempt at capturing that same Broadway spirit.

Pros:
Truly this review is almost completely positive.
For a small community theatre to tackle a project as large and as extensive as Jekyll and Hyde, and to almost REPRODUCE the Broadway staging...is a milestone in achievement.
For those who don't know, the Broadway staging was the only one like it. Different choices were made with that staging, that fans have lost a chance to see live....until now. This staging is a fabulous dessert to those who enjoyed the Broadway adaptation as their entree.
For those unfamiliar with the Broadway staging, I Need to Know made way for only Lost in the darkness through a scrim in a hospital room, Alive was divided up differently, bringing the "I feel I live on Forever" bridge being first performed at the climax of act one while the Bishop is being killed (not doing the bridge twice in act one as in other staging). Bring on the Men was replaced with GoodNEvil which inspired Jekyll to undergo his experiment, and the infamous wall of fire (at the end of act 1) were presented somewhat supernatural, rather than being explained through the dropping of a torch.

All these latter elements remain (even many positions of the actors, and the set design) in the staging at the Rose Theatre.
Director Hal Robinson sought to make a staging which took the Broadway production, and allowed it to be done as close to being exactly the same as on Broadway, but on a smaller stage.
The laboratory even looks the same. Jekyll study was almost an exact replica of the Broadway, the board of governors is performed in the very same light, even the pyrotechnics of the Broadway adaptation are present!
WHEN THAT WALL OF FIRE SHOOTS UP AT THE END OF ACT ONE...THE AUDIENCE GOES NUTS!!!!
This is a Jekkie's grand opportunity!
For those in this area, or within a 5 or 6 hour drive (I drove 4 and a half hours), this show is worth the trip.

The cast was wonderful.
Victor Fricke plays a grand Jekyll, and WILL BLOW YOU AWAY AS HYDE. (of course...Hyde is my favorite character...so I loved seeing this!
Terrific throughout the show, his performance during DANGEROUS GAME is chilling! In fact...his Hyde is FARRRRRR better than Hasselhoff’s…and Hasselhoff was on Broadway! Even his Jekyll surpasses Hasselhoff's abilities.
The choices he makes as Hyde, during the death scene for example, illustrate the inner struggle of character (or should I say 'characters') within the single body. A difficult feat indeed! An awesome treat!

Laura Ulrich is fantastic as Lucy, and plays the role in a more independent, yet soft tone...giving Lucy a more sensitive side than other actresses...who centered only on her strength.
She is beautiful, elegant, and playful with the part....making the viewer fall in love with her character.
Donna Edwards as Emma, (or for those of us who follow all other stagings other than in post Broadway America) as Lisa, has a magnificent voice, and her performance of Once Upon a Dream is flawless and chilling.
She adds realism to the character, which shows she is not only a singer, but an actress as well.

HOWEVER, this is one of the few performances of this show were the SUPPORTING cast truly shines!
Russel Givens is PERFECT as John Utterson. I mean this guy does the role worthy of the Broadway cast, and is farrrrr better than the John Utterson on the Broadway tour. His tone is perfect, which he truly gets to show off during HIS WORK AND NOTHING MORE!
Givens acting is flawless as well. He shows the depth of John Utterson, and brings him into the main character realm! Not since the prebroadway tour have I seen the role of Utterson so fleshed out. Fantastic work indeed.

Matt Wilkins is also a perfect Spider! I would be interested to see this guy do the role of Jekyll and Hyde as well! Great voice, evil as hell....and his performance of the Facade reprise sent chills down my spine. The audience went crazy after that one!

Other supporting roles and chorus people also shine in this fabulous production.
Amy Medlin, Megan Wilkins, and Miranda Williams (for example) who are Red Rat dancers, and chorus members, light up the stage with their presence.
Medlin has AMAZING control of her instrument/self, and seems to be so enraptured in her character that she makes the situations more believable, just by playing her part as such. Williams glows for the entire production, like a kid in a candy store! These people are eating up their stage experience, which makes the audience even eat it up more!
The energy they create, is undeniable.

Other supporting cast members, such as Tony Bayles, Stave Barton, Jacob Branson, Lori DiGuilian, Alaric Fricke, Derek Holt, Katy Marquis, Roy McCoy, Nathaniel Medlin, Dana Otero, Toby Otero, Matt Perrault, Dustin Robertson, JoEllen Showers, Randol Tittle, and Megan Wilkins, make this production flow with the solidarity of professional theatre. They had obviously studied, and devoted time and training in order to accomplish such a magnificant task as giving the public this fine production.

The music and sound, designed by music directors Charles Fricke, Scott Baggarly, Robin Baggarly, and Randy Norman, is very impressive. The tempos, and elaborate arrangements are redesigned to be performed on a smaller level, due to the smaller venue. The loud and boisterous become the soft and flowing, giving way to emotions expressed differently in the music than in any other interpretation this reviewer has ever experienced.
Even though the music is soft in volume in this production, Charles Fricke also GOT DOWN on that keyboard during the performance! He rocked the house!

Cons (I hesitate to even list cons, because these performers truly go all the way with this show....so let begin by saying these complaints are minor and are only listed in the interested of having an honest and completely fair review)
from this production are only the cons that:
1. one may have from the Broadway production (since this production emulates that version) or
2. the limitations that any small community theatre would have to deal with.

Due to these factors, I will mention NO names in the cons....only characteristics and aspects of the performance.

Some of the lead actors AT TIMES came across as making a speech rather than acting a part. However, this is minor...especially when considering
PROS REBUTTEL:
This is the same complaint I had about Hasselhoff (who starred in the BROADWAY production) and some of the actors who starred in the Broadway tour.
This play is NOT realistic...but more musical than anything...therefore, it is very challenging for an actor to cut into the characters.
Other minor problems include things such as, actors with good voices not being the perfect choice for their part (which is unavoidable in the community theatre). I personally think SOME of the supporting cast should be in the lead roles, and some of the lead roles should be in the supporting cast.
Again this is a minor con. Some people don't have control of their expressions as much as they could.....their instrument wasn't utilized as well as it could be. Facial expressions should be practiced, and toned....there was a small lack of such. Again...a minor con….but also an expected characteristic of small community theatre.

The music has a soft approach (as I mentioned as a good thing…but it has a down side as well), as it was done by a small group, and only 1 live performer...this makes some of the pieces lack a little luster...when it would do to just to utilize the single instrument of the piano or a few small instruments, and allow the singers to BELT more over the music.
There is NO belting at all.....the singing is soft ....and it was hard to imagine A NEW LIFE without any belting.....yet perhaps this approach is necessary since it so well matches the softness of the synthesizers. These synthesizers were very impressive....but at times tried for the bellowing and overwhelming FEELING of the full orchestration, while remaining very soft in volume.

The only other complaints have to do with the fact that this emulated the Broadway staging. While I list this as a treat for fans, hard core Jekkies have often had a problem with the Broadway staging...as it seems an edited version of the play. Missing the songs such as BRING ON THE MEN, not having ALIVE in its full form and picking up the tempo making it far too fast for some taste, angered many long time Jekyll and Hyde supporters.
HOWEVER
PROS REBUT:
This shouldn't be a distraction since this staging showing the audience a DEFINATIVE staging of this show.
This is an incredible staging....a magnificant performance, with true talent behind it.

If you love Jekyll and Hyde....GO SEE THIS PLAY before it is too late. You will be so happy you did.

Overall Grade (as level of community and semi-professional theatre):
A-
(DO NOT BE DISMAYED BY THE MINUS SIGN....as it is almost impossible to get an A or A+ for anything unless it is something without any con whatsoever.....this is next to impossible for ANY community theater to create.....or at least, I have never seen it. lol)
TO CLARIFY WHAT HIS GRADING MEANS…….IT MEANS TO SEE THIS SHOW! It means….this is the best community theatre performance I have EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE!

Thanks for the review. It sounds like they've done a great job with the production there.

For anyone wanting a bit more information on the Rose Theater, their website is http://www.rosetheatre.org/

They did an excellent job.
I only wish it were running longer so I could see it again!

I'm glad you all like it, we did a wonderful job working on it, I hope more people will come to the shows at the rose in the future so we can keep entertained you, I wanted to go on a few extra weeks myself but everbody had other stuff to do.

The newest Jekkie Derek