Broadway bound Jekyll & Hyde gets negative reviews in Chicago

[jon5202]

Posted: 3/15/13 at 6:27pm

See Chris Jones review in the Chicago Tribune:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/theater/theaterloop/ct-ent-0316-jekyl-review-20130315,0,284823.column

Other incoming reviews read the same including Chicago Sun-Times

http://www.theatreinchicago.com/review.php?playID=5844






Updated On: 3/24/13 at 06:27 PM

[Unknown User]

Posted: 3/15/13 at 7:12pm

"Somewhat recommended" might be the best review J&H ever got.

[GlindatheGood22]

Posted: 3/15/13 at 7:20pm

I saw the recorded version with the Hoff and it was the worst professional thing I've ever seen. I can't see the revival faring much better.

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 3/15/13 at 8:03pm

It's Wildhorn. What do you expect?

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 3/15/13 at 8:16pm

I absolutely loved this production... It's a Wildhorn show through and through though, so there is no doubt the critics will have an absolute field day with this one. I personally love the non-traditional score for this show and throughly enjoyed this production. I'm a fan of most of Frank Wildhorn's work though. To each their own I guess! I hope some of you in New York enjoy this show as much as I did

[Rabekriegerin]

Posted: 3/15/13 at 9:21pm

Wildhorn's music has always enchanted me, even though I get the impression here & elsewhere I ought to be embarrassed by that admission. Well, there it is.

Would you know, though, that I've never actually seen a production of J&H. I certainly intend to change that this year.

[fingerlakessinger]

Posted: 3/15/13 at 9:25pm

I think he writes beautiful music. He might create a few too many ballads, but they are usually very moving. The amount of hate he gets astounds me. Mostly because people get the negative reviews towards the book and lyrics confused with his music.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 3/15/13 at 9:40pm

The only show of his i have ever liked was Bonnie and Clyde that closed far too early and the critics seemed to rag on it because it was Wildhorn

[TheGingerBreadMan]

Posted: 3/15/13 at 9:46pm

I thought this was wonderful. I didn't think it would fare well with critics, though.

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 3/15/13 at 9:55pm

I will be there next week. If the Chicago critics panned it then it must be really bad. Typically Chicago critics love damn near everything.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 3/15/13 at 10:11pm

The tour was a steaming pile of poo. Constantine could not hit the money notes, Deborah Cox in and out of an indistinguishable accent and "sassified" her prostitute, cheap ass sets, and Constantine puling his pony tail out and putting it back to denote a character change.

God help those who pay Broadway prices for this dreck.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 3/15/13 at 10:56pm

As I've already posted in another thread,I walked out of it at intermission in LA. It was terrible.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 3/15/13 at 11:23pm

I hate when people trash Wildhorn. He doesn't create the story, the lyrics, the design, or the direction. He just provided the music. And the music is pretty great, and especially in Jekyll and Hyde. The songs are catchy and memorable.

I think if he's to blame at all, it's for picking horrible collaborators. I think Calhoun is an awful director. He brought the world BKYLN, Bonnie and Clyde, and Wonderland. He's not so great.

And also I just don't think this show has the budget it quite needs. THe stage magic in it should be incredible, but it just doesn't quite work.

Have they ever done the show with two different actors who look alike playing each part? Would that work? It is kind of theatrical.

[beensince1987]

Posted: 3/15/13 at 11:46pm

Maybe Side Show with Jekyll and Hyde playing twins

[RippedMan]

Posted: 3/16/13 at 12:42am

It really just depends if it's selling well or not.

[philly03]

Posted: 3/16/13 at 3:12am

Updated On: 3/16/13 at 03:12 AM

[yankeefan7]

Posted: 3/16/13 at 7:26am

bwayfreak234- I liked the original "J&H"(Broadway) and "Scarlett Pimpernall" but what do I know - lol

[dramamama611]

Posted: 3/16/13 at 9:16am

Still haven't seen a Wildhorn show I've enjoyed. For the longest time, J&H was my least favorite show I'd ever seen.


I will not be seeing this.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 3/16/13 at 9:32am

For years, I would clean the house to the soundtrack...

Chris Jones (lol - that's my boyfriend's name) should be fired and/or not taken seriously as a theater critic for writing that one sentence in a THEATER review.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 3/16/13 at 12:47pm

Chris Jones writes his reviews with more of a personal/sentimental thing going on than most. It works for me because he actually really knows what he's talking about.

In any case, I love J&H but after watching clips of this production online, I'm kind of disgusted. And Jones' review, I'll bet, is spot-on.

[Kelly2]

Posted: 3/16/13 at 12:50pm

Well, I for one think Wildhorn's musical is sentimental, trite, derivative, and completely musically uninteresting.

Calhoun is as much if not more to blame for the content of the show, but Wildhorn's contributions make it worse, not better.

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Posted: 3/16/13 at 12:55pm

Wildhorn is as much if not more to blame for the content of the show, but Calhoun's contributions make it worse, not better.

Fixed that for you.

[alienstar]

Posted: 3/16/13 at 1:36pm

I saw Jekyll & Hyde in 3 different cities this tour. It got better each time. I really enjoyed it.

[Jersey Girl2]

Posted: 3/16/13 at 5:41pm

The critics might not like it but the audiences seem to love it.

[PepperedShepherd]

Posted: 3/16/13 at 6:02pm

I saw this production a few weeks ago at the Pantages in L.A.

Now, I was not familiar with the music (except for "This Is The Moment") nor the musical's previous incarnations. But knowing that J&H was Broadway-bound, I figured it might be worth seeing -- especially for the $25 I paid for front-row mezzanine. :)

Well, that's 2+ hours of my life I'll never get back. What a piece of dreck! Bombastic ballad after bombastic ballad, until they all blended together into aural sludge. And the lyrics? Did Bricusse just go down the line with a rhyming dictionary? Honestly, by the time we got to "A New Life" (new start/new heart/new part; new dream/few dream/overdue dream), I was biting my tongue to avoid collapsing into gales of laughter.

The book was fairly horrendous, too. Forget about things like character development or motivation. This is, after all, a show where Lucy sings a Big Bombastic Ballad with Emma ("In His Eyes") and you really don't know who she's singing about! [Of course, it's supposed to be Jekyll -- but since all we've seen him do so far is patch up her shoulder after Hyde abuses her, you have to read an awful lot between the lines.]

In fairness, I give props to Constantine, Deborah Cox, and the rest of the cast. They all acted & sang their hearts out. Too bad it was in the service of such an unmitigated piece of...

I can't see this lasting long on Broadway at all.