I know that there are several different plots (insofar as some reorder the show or have some non-major plot changes...as in a version I saw wherein we actually see Lucy's first meeting with Hyde where he beats her...and she summons Jekyll to her abode/he treats her injuries where she lives instead of where he does)/ or different structural ordering. I was wondering if anyone knew where I could get the synopses for the different versions. I have found several for the Broadway version that is on DVD and a few that indicate they are "cobbled together" from different versions--but no pure synopsis of each of the different versions. Any help anyone can give me would be greatly appreciated!
There have indeed been a great many variations on the script for this show over the years. Two are currently available for licensed productions: MTI's script and what we call the "FCLO version".
I don't have a synopsis written up for the FCLO version, but you can find the
scene and song list here.
And for the MTI version there are a
scene and song list and
synopsis on the Jekyll site. This version, by the way, matches up with the 1999-2000 tour starring Chuck Wagner.
Any company wanting to make other changes to the show these days
should start by securing permission for those changes from MTI an/or the authors (Frank and Leslie). Not all do.
Hope this helps,
Peter
I've heard a lot of people say that the FCLO version is better... but I've also heard some people say that MTI is much better. It's going to be a matter of personal preference, I think. I don't know these two versions well enough to pick one myself.
I have heard pretty much every version of this musical out there, & I can honestly say every version is good, they all have their better moments, I like all versions Alley, 1stNat Tour, Broadway, 2ndNat Tour/MTI, In Concert/Resurrection, & FCLO equally, each has their own charm.
FCLO is basically MTI mixed with Alley script wise, but with an extra added subplot of Emma being suspicious that Henry is cheating on her & then
*SPOILER!!!!!!*
Stride before the wedding giving Emma Henry's note that Utterson gave to Lucy, Emma reading it & crying before the final where Jekyll turns into Hyde for the last time.
*END OF SPOILER*
Well although it was over half a year ago I suppose I could give a synopsis of each version though they are basically the same, so what I am going to do is give song list & say the differences between it & the MTI version, holding the MTI version as the standard License version.
*!Obviously spoilers below!*
1987 Demo
Cannot be talked about here.
1990 Concept Romantic Highlights
Both can be found in the liner notes to the album.
ALLEY
Act 1
Prologue
Lost In The Darkness
Facade
Sir Danvers
Love Has Come of Age
Lisa Carew
Board of Governors
Bring On The Men
Lucy Meets Jekyll
How Can I Continue On
This Is The Moment
Transformation
Good'N'Evil
Lucy Meets Hyde
Alive
Your Work And Nothing More
Sympathy, Tenderness
Someone Like You
Alive Reprise
Act 2
Murder, Murder
The Girls of The Night
No One Knows Who I Am
We Belong To The Night
Once Upon A Dream
Reflections
A New Life
Sympathy, Tenderness Reprise
It's Over Now
Confrontation
The Wedding Reception
Differances from MTI version:
The show opens like usual though with Jekyll singing a slightly longer version of Lost In The Darkness about looking in his father's eyes but not seeing the man he knew. The Engagement Party happens before Board of Governors & includes the guests congratulating Sir Danvers on the wonderful party, Stride arrives, but does not wish the couple well & not liking that he came in a gallant second, Jekyll & Lisa (Emma's name in this version) sing Love Has Come of Age, after that Stride asks for a moment with Lisa where he tries to convince her she is making the wrong choice but she gives him her Reasons for her choice. Then it is The Board of Governors meeting. Bring On The Men has a minute & a half extra lines about types of men, After Jekyll goes to The Dregs (The place Lucy works) he returns home & Lisa is there & he is still sad about what happened earlier in the night & thinking about giving up, so she talks with him & tries to cheer him up, in the end giving him hope to continue on. After the Transformation we return to The Dregs where Stride (The secret proprietor of The Dregs) is collecting money from the girls, some of the girls complain about him taking too much of the cut, so he lectures them about their business philosophy with Good'N'Evil, then after that Lucy Meets Hyde, & then Alive. After Murder Murder there is a scene in Bissett's shop instead of one during Murder Murder, the shop scene is slightly longer & has a character named Fenwick in it who is Bissett's son & apprentice, but seems to suffer from a mental disability. Then back at The Dregs the prostitutes Lucy, Nellie, Flossie, Rosie, Nancy, Mary, Kate, & Lizzie sing Girls Of The Night, & then Lucy sings No One Knows Who I Am, then Hyde arrives & him & Lucy sing We Belong To The Night which is a song later replaced by Dangerous Game, then when he arrives back home now as Jekyll he finds Lisa in his lab, he tries to warn her there is danger there tonight & she has to go, she begs to stay, but he insists she leaves, so she sings Once Upon A Dream. After she leaves he reflects on his situation in a slightly extended version of Reflections singing about being a slave to the gallows. Stride sleeps with Lucy, & then afterwards she takes out & reads the letter from Jekyll. After Hyde kills Lucy Jekyll comes out of it with her dead body in front of her, he is worried about what he may do to Lisa if this doesn't end, & runs off screaming haunted by a nightmarish vision of what all he has done. Now back in Jekyll's lab Utterson comes in to find Hyde in the fashion typical of Act two but normally happens earlier, once Hyde turns back into Jekyll he is horribly sad about having murdered Lucy & is worried the police will find the letter & know he did it, so Utterson agrees to go there & retrieve the letter & be back within the hour. Jekyll then promises himself that It's Over Now & him & Hyde then have their Confrontation. At the Wedding reception Stride is still bitter, refers to Jekyll as a devil & tells Sir Danvers he could tell stories of Jekyll worthy of Oscar Wilde. Sir Danvers Chastises Stride for is insensitivity, & brushes him off. Jekyll & Lisa then begin to dance but Jekyll begins to turn back into Hyde the show ending like the 1995 album.
1995 Gothic Musical Thriller album
Both can be found in the liner notes to that album.
First National Tour
Act 1
Prologue
Lost In The Darkness
Facade
Board of Governors
How Can I Continue On
Facade reprise 1
Lisa Carew
I Must Go On
Take Me As I Am
Letting Go
Dance
Bring On The Men
Lucy Meets Jekyll
This Is The Moment
Transformation
Alive
Lucy Meets Hyde
Alive Reprise 1
Your Work And Nothing More
Sympathy, Tenderness
Someone Like You
Alive Reprise 2
Act 2
Murder, Murder
Once Upon A Dream
Obsession
In His Eyes
Facade reprise 2
The Girls of The Night
No One Knows Who I Am
Dangerous Game
The Way Back
A New Life
Sympathy, Tenderness Reprise
Facade reprise 3
It's Over Now
Confrontation
Facade reprise 4
The Wedding Reception
Differances from MTI version:
The show is almost completely sung-through. Jekyll once again sings the longer version of Lost In The Darkness. The next major difference from the MTI version is before Bring On The Men there is a Dance with a Spanish Dancer, a French Cancan girl, a Gypsy dancer, a harem girl, a half & half couple, & a Primitive, then after that is Bring On The Men but with an extra verse similar to the rose & prick one but different saying "just open up the cages girls & let the tigers lose" then after a little dance she says the line again, but with the rose & prick, & the word play about food & sex is not in the song. During Alive Jekyll now as Hyde returns to The Dregs & Lucy Meets Hyde at the end of that Hyde begins to hurt Lucy but a Tough/Bouncer tells Hyde that Lucy is not in the mood, Hyde then attacks him, & everyone runs for their lives as Hyde sings Alive reprise 1. Later well killing the Bishop Alive reprise 2 is shorter then normal due to the earlier reprise, & also there is no fire. Before & After Once Upon A Dream Jekyll writes several times in his journal. After In His Eyes a Facade reprise is sung fallowed by Girls Of The Night & No One Knows Who I Am. After Dangerous Game Utterson meets Hyde fallowed by The Way Back & Utterson delivering the letter like in most versions. After Lucy's Death Jekyll comes out well still near her body, scared that he may too hurt Lisa he runs haunted by nightmarish visions of all he has done, having returned to his lab he declares It's Over Now & then goes into The Confrontation which has Hyde appear in a giant mirror separate from Jekyll & them doing a duet. After Confrontation there is another Facade reprise fallowed by The Wedding Reception.
Broadway
Do I really need to give the song list & synopsis? I think that can be found at IMDB.com & other sites.
2nd National Tour/MTI
Can be found at the MTI website
In Concert/Resurrection
Act 1
Prologue
Board of Governors
I Need To Know
Possessed
Take Me As I Am
Bring On The Men
Lucy Meets Jekyll
Seven Years Ago (How Can I Continue On)
This Is The Moment
Transformation
The Girls of The Night
Lucy Meets Hyde
Alive
Your Work And Nothing More
If You Only Knew
Sympathy, Tenderness
Someone Like You
Act 2
Once Upon A Dream
Reflections
The World Has Gone Insane
No One Knows Who I Am
Dangerous Game
In His Eyes
The Way Back
A New Life
Sympathy, Tenderness Reprise
It's Over Now
Confrontation
Epilogue: Once Upon A Dream
Differances from MTI version:
Only 3 actor show Jekyll/Hyde, Emma, & Lucy. All ensemble numbers removed & all numbers sung by Utterson now are sung by Emma. During Girls Of The Night Emma becomes Nellie. During Board Of Governors Jekyll is presenting his formula to the audience like as if they are the Board & only sings the main short part of the song. He then sings I need To Know after which Emma tells him they rejected his research proposal because they don't understand it, & for him to come back & try again in a few months, at which point they sing Possessed fallowed by Take Me As I Am. Lucy then sings Bring On The Men & Lucy Meets Jekyll. He then comes home where Emma is & they sing Seven Years Ago as a duet Emma singing the lines normally sung by Utterson, her giving Jekyll hope to continue on with his research. After Transformation we return to The Red Rat where Lucy & Nellie sing Girls of The Night then Hyde comes in & Lucy Meets Hyde at the end of which he begins to hurt her & starts singing Alive. After Alive Jekyll writes many entries into his journal spanning several weeks, then Emma comes in & sings You Have Your Work And Nothing More in duet with Jekyll, the duet leads into her singing If You Only Knew. After she leaves Lucy comes in with her wound which Jekyll dressed & the act is finished out. Act II opens with Jekyll finding Emma reading his journal & him yelling at her for it, she then sings Once Upon A Dream & leaves after which Jekyll has Reflections but then has a struggle with Hyde in The World Has Gone Insane. Lucy then sings No One Knows Who I Am afterwards joined by Jekyll as her & him sing a very erotic version of Dangerous Game. Lucy & Emma then sing In His Eyes, Jekyll The Way Back, Lucy then pulls out a letter from Jekyll, reads it, & sings A New Life. After Hyde kills Lucy Jekyll declares It's Over Now & has his Confrontation during which he kills himself to end the world of Hyde. Emma then comes out & says "In the late autumn of 1888 my husband Henry Jekyll died. A Good man doomed to become the victim of the darker side of his own nature. They battled one another in life, & only now are they at peace with one another in death." Then she begins singing Once Upon A Dream & during the second verse Jekyll's spirit sings of his dream to create a perfect world, they are then joined by Lucy's spirit who sings the next verse with them, though at the line "Now I'm here alone" they vanish leaving only the living Emma who finishes the song.
FCLO
Song list can be found on the Jekyll & Hyde site & now that you know all of the other synopsises out there once you see the song list you can figure out what is happening & just remember to add that Emma goes & speaks to Poole a second time in Act 2 because she is worried about Jekyll cheating on her, Utterson never meets Hyde only seeing Jekyll in a destroyed state & Jekyll asking him to deliver a letter with money which Utterson assumes is Jekyll trying to pay off a prostitute that he got pregnant to leave town, Stride taking the letter & giving it to Emma before the wedding, & then in his dressing room before the wedding Jekyll turning into Hyde running out of the dressing room into the church where the guests await & Emma runs crying out of her dressing room because of the letter, & the show ends the normal way.
*Obviously spoilers area over*
Well that should help everyone. I hope all are thankful for the 2 hours I spent typing all of this out.
