Jekyll & Hyde- Page 4

[Wicked Fanatic]

Posted: 9/8/12 at 1:34am

Hyde kills the bishop by stabbing him with his cross.

Yup! They're just dressing and being helped by their servants throughout the song. Once they're completely dressed the chairs have been brought in by the servants and they're ready for their meeting to hear Jekyll's request which is denied. I don't know the lyrics probably as well as you so I'd have to listen to my CD and then hear them sing it again to see if it's different. Sure that the fan club president will be able to answer whether the song is completely different.

"Letting Go" is the OBC version. Listening to it again I realize that it fell flat because the flourish that was used at the end in that version is missing in this production. Hope they put it back.

Updated On: 9/8/12 at 01:34 AM

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 9/8/12 at 1:38am

How exactly does the set for the laboratory look? And is A New Life still sung in Lucy's bedroom?

[Wicked Fanatic]

Posted: 9/8/12 at 2:27am

The laboratory:

I think three of the panels are combined for the backdrop and the projection makes it look like the inside of an old building.

In front of the panels is a staircase which leads to the second level which is the laboratory. In front of that level is where they have the beakers hanging down from the rafters. There is also a 3rd short set of stairs on the right which leads to a smaller room which I presume is his office where he keeps his journal. When he recites passages from it they are projected onto the wall panels.

"A New Life" is still sung in the bedroom and I don't remember seeing one drop of blood.

[BroadwayBaby6]

Posted: 9/8/12 at 2:30am

I was there tonight as well. It's a very cheap bus and truck set but lighting and projections were used very well to enhance the set but it's definitely a bus-and-truck.

Teal Wicks is by far the star of the show. She sings beautifully and her English accent is spot on. Teal is going to become the next Kelli O'Hara.

Deborah Cox and Constantine Marioulis were both dreadful. Neither can sing the score. Marioulis went from speak-singing to sounding like a wailing cat. His diction was awful and his singing was just painful.

Deborah Cox was strained in her singing and was also painful to listen to. The keys for the songs need to be transposed to better sit in her range. She's definitely a better actress than Linda Eder but her singing really left a lot to be desired.

The ensemble all sang very well. The accents ranged from passable to laughably bad.

Verdict- I don't see how the show will make it to Broadway without two new leads who can actually sing the score.

[Wicked Fanatic]

Posted: 9/8/12 at 2:46am

Your comments are spot on. The laboratory is exactly what you described, a cheap "bus-and-truck set".

They definitely need to transpose as you suggested for Cox. That's why I just couldn't enjoy her singing except for "In His Eyes".

Did you get the usual folksy La Mirada introduction by Tom McCoy and was Peter Pan, aka as Cathy Rigby in the audience as she was for the dress rehearsal? Any stops during the show? I presume they had an official curtain call. Who did Teal come out with and who got the biggest applause?

[James885]

Posted: 9/8/12 at 3:51am

Just got back from the show. Very interesting evening.

I'll preface by saying that this was the first time in quite a while that I've ever seen Jekyll and Hyde onstage. I saw the Broadway production with Rob Evan several months before it closed, but haven't seen any other regional or community productions of the show. Therefore I can't really comment on the changes to the show as they compared to the licensed version of the show.

This production makes heavy use of projections. The text of all of Jekyll's journal entries is projected as he writes in his journal. Projections are also used to great effect in several scenes, but more on that later. The first thing you see when you walk in is the show curtain, which is blotched by splotches of ink that gradually spread across the curtain. The proscenium is framed by LED panels. The show opens with a thunderclap as the band plays the familiar J&K intro. Jekyll's "In each of us there are two natures..." speech is heard and you also see the text appear on a wall upstage. We then see Jekyll's father strapped to the wall in his laboratory, followed by the scene between Danvers, Utterson, and Jekyll and 'Lost In The Darkness' and 'I Need to Know'. The former prologue in which Utterson and Danvers spoke directly to the audience is gone.

Five panels then fly in and we see the members of the board of governors in their undergarments. During 'Facade' their servants enter and dress the members of the board for their meeting. During the 'board of governors' scene/song, the portraits of the board members were projected onto the panels.

The engagement party scene was significantly shorter than it was on Broadway. The song 'Emma's Reasons' has been cut, and I didn't really miss it since the whole Emma/ Stride thing was never developed properly before.

I liked the way 'Bring On The Men' was staged. Lucy sings the first verse to herself in a very self-reflective, almost mournful manner as she gets dressed in her dressing room. As she transitions to the stage of The Spider's Web (no longer called the Red Rat), the music becomes more upbeat, with the others girls joining in.

The song 'Now There Is No Choice' gone.

I thought the transformation was outstanding. Jekyll's laboratory table is fitted with large test tubes filled with bubbling green liquid. At the bottom of the test tubes are a bunch of cords. He had some sort of mask that was connected to the cords that he strapped on and then you saw that liquid in the tubes change color, so that the effect was the liquid was flowing into him. Framing the lab are several LED panel columns on which bubbling liquid is projected. As the transformation progresses Jekyll's notes are projected on the back wall and the lab table rises into the air, stretching the liquid cords out as Jekyll sits below in a chair. After he transforms into Hyde, he smashes his lab chair.

The intermission curtain shows a giant spotlight, in which the shadow of Hyde passes back and forth, sometimes pausing, as if looking straight at the audience.

"Alive" is longer than it was on Broadway; it's comparable to the version heard on the concept recording. In between the two verses of Alive is a scene in which Hyde meets Lucy and buys her for the night. Those familiar with the 1996 recording will recognize a few lines that Hyde sings from the track 'Lucy meets Hyde'.

'Murder, Murder!' has been almost completely rewritten and is retitled 'Murder'. The infamous line, 'to kill outside St. Paul's requires a lot of balls' is gone, and Wildhorn has rewritten the chorus, so that it bears almost no resemblance to the 'Murder, Murder' melody. The staging was cool: the large panels fly in, and as the board members are killed by Hyde, they're propped up on stretcher-like things and their portraits are projected. Only the pictures of those killed are projected; the remaining panels show flashes of scenery (ie, newspaper headlines), until eventually all the members are displayed. The death of the last governor (i forgot who it was) depicted Hyde throwing the man off a platform at train station and the man being hit by a train.

After 'Murder', the dead board members sing a reprise of 'Facade'. Unlike the other facade reprises in the other version, I thought having the dead governors sing worked very effectively.

The song "Reflections" from the concept recording is inserted right after 'Once Upon A Dream' and it shows Jekyll weighing the possibility of suicide as way to rid himself of Hyde.

'Dangerous Game' is staged in Lucy's dressing room, with Hyde tying her up and alternately beating and caressing her over the course of the song until he finally mounts her at the end.

"The Way Back" is now sung by both Utterson and Jekyll. Utterson sings the first verse to a distraght Jekyll. What I liked was that after the song is over, we clearly see Jekyll transform back into Hyde. "A New Life" is still sung in Lucy's bedroom. After Hyde kills Lucy, he transforms back into Jekyll who is shocked when he sees Lucy lying dead. The reprise of 'Facade' that was in the original broadway production has been cut. The scene transitions from Lucy's room to Jekyll's house.

The brief reprise of "Lost In The Darkness" that was sung at the beginning of the confrontation has been cut. Instead the song begins with the lines "It's over now, I know inside..."

I loved the confrontation!. The set for Jekyll's house is dominated by a giant portrait of Jekyll that's upstage above a fireplace. As Jekyll sings his part at the beginning of the song, the Jekyll portrait is replaced the singing figure of Hyde. As the song goes on, Hyde's face is projected onto all the walls of the set, and his voice grows more warped and menacing. The song culminates in an explosion that occurs when Jekyll drinks the antidote.

The finale is pretty much the same as the broadway version except that Emma and Danvers sing a reprise of "Letting Go" at the top of the scene. Also, after Jekyll stabs himself, he sings a short reprise of "Once Upon A Dream".


I thought that Constantine Maroulis's Jekyll was very charming and endearing. I thought he brought a touch of humor to the role, especially in his Act 1 scenes at the Spider's Web. He was definitely in good voice for the Jekyll numbers , but he really stood out on "This Is The Moment" and "The Way Back". He and Teal Wicks were great during "Take Me As I Am". I thought his Hyde was a lot weaker than his Jekyll. For most of the show there wasn't a really voice change in his Hyde; he sounded exactly the same. The exception was the final wedding scene, where his voice was noticeably lower and rougher. He also did a lot of rock riffing during both Alive and its reprise.

Deborah Cox's Lucy had a 'older' vibe. I thought she mostly played her character as someone who had been around the block many times. There were moments where she really owned up it, like in the first verse of Bring On The Men where she sings "There was a time, I don't know when, I didn't have much time for men". Then there were other times where she seemed to be trying to play the 'young' Lucy. It was inconsistent, as was her accent. Her voice sounded a little light, IMO, almost frail. She sounded good enough, but to me, there wasn't a lot of 'oomph' to her voice or power behind it. But then again, I may just be spoiled from listening to the recording with Linda Eder.

Teal Wicks was amazing. She and Deborah sounded fantastic during "In His Eyes" and "His Work and Nothing More". There was a vulnerability that she brought to Emma that I loved.

Since it was the first performance I was sort of expecting there to possibly be some technical problems, but to my pleasant surprise there weren't any major issues. The only little snafu was during "His Work and Nothing More" when Richard White (Danvers) seemed to have mic problems: his voice was really muffled and it was hard to make out his lines.

Before the show started, Jeff Calhoun came out and gave a little speech to the audience. He expressed how gracious he was to have the opportunity to direct the show and he said that he would be in the lobby at intermission if anyone wanted to give him notes. I did actually spot him at intermission chatting with some folks.

I plan on hopefully seeing that show again at La Mirada before the production moves to San Diego. While the performances aren't polished yet, hopefully that'll change as the actors grow into their parts. Overall, I think I enjoyed it.

I apologize in advance for the length and for any typos this review might have. I'm typing this at almost 1 in the morning and I'm beat! :)

Updated On: 9/8/12 at 03:51 AM

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 9/8/12 at 5:11am

Thanks to both wickedfanatic and james for the detailed. It sounds like a lot of the sets and special effects need to be seen in order to understand them. I am soooo excited to see this is San Diego in less than a month!

[jekyllforever]

Posted: 9/8/12 at 7:33am

Some of the comments on here make me think it wouldn't matter how well Cox and Maroulis did because your minds have already been made that it was going to suck. I didn't know what to expect, since I don't think anybody can compare to Linda Eder. I went in with an open mind because I love the play and I'd like to see it succeed.

While I don't think it's ready for Broadway yet, the fact that this major, major production was put on in so little time made it remarkable, in my opinion. The role of Jekyll is huge. I think Maroulis did a good job. I think he's got plenty to work on. I don't think his vocals were spot on in every song, but I certainly don't think he was so bad he should be replaced. His version of "This Is The Moment" was pretty darned good and I can see enormous potential in what this play will be like after the kinks have been worked out. I've seen him in Jacque Brell and The Wedding Singer and Rock of Ages, and the man is pretty good. This kind of role is a stretch for him, but give him time.

Cox is a good fit for the role of Lucy, but I don't think "Bring On The Men" was very good. A few numbers fell flat. The death scene needs some work. Great chemistry between Maroulis and Cox. Pretty hot.

There were some great moments last night, so don't discount the whole thing just yet. And please have an open mind. If you can do better, then get yourself up on the stage.

[NOB88]

Posted: 9/8/12 at 8:40am

Thanks jekyllforever for asking people to give the show a chance.
Tweet from Constantine: "hey thanks! Still huge work in progress and we all need sleep :). Sorry had to run so fast "

I can not wait to see this show! It sounds great.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 9/8/12 at 3:30pm

I'm excited too because it looks like this is gonna be a fun, rough trip to Broadway.
The cheap looking set is bound to get lots of comments, on the road and especially on the BWay.
I do wonder why people "expect" problems for the first paid performance? And why do people think this had a "short" rehearsal period?
Producers and directors know how much time they have, and should plan ahead, they are suppose to be professionals, right?

I wonder how much work can actually be done "on the road", this isn't an out of town try-out, it's a TOUR. How much rehearsal and re-staging time do they get?

I'm not surprised Teal is getting the early buzz, I thought Noll was the best thing about the original cast also. Eder had a thrilling voice but couldn't act a lick, still her voice is the one most hear in this score and it's hard to match that. J/H is a difficult role because the actor has to go over the top and still be believable, it's a fine line. I think Connie has the chops and balls to do that but it ain't easy, and you need a strong director.

Can't wait to see the reactions when the first "real" reviews start coming in, good or bad.

I'm counting on you Jekkies, old and young to make this ridiculously entertaining.
Fasten your seat belts kids!

[broadwayboy222]

Posted: 9/8/12 at 4:09pm

Did they sell any merchandise?

[jekyllforever]

Posted: 9/8/12 at 4:22pm

I've seen Eder in concert many times. Think she's just very reserved. Her voice is so amazing her acting never mattered. Cox is a pretty good actress and I've also seen her in concert. Thought she was holding back. I could see in a couple songs that she had what it takes to pull this off, but I didn't see it last night. Didn't think she did a good job with the accent. This is a role of a lifetime. She should take this to the next level and if she does it will be outstanding. Didn't think she seemed nervous but something was kind of missing.

Teal was pretty amazing. Well, anybody who can do Wicked would have to be. Nuff said.

Maroulis has lots of presence on the stage and lots of chemistry with his lady co-stars. Never liked him on Idol, but as I've said I saw him in several productions and have really grown to respect his talent. Thought he was also holding back but loved his rendition of "Moment." He has a very different take on the song, but it's great. Am I wrong, or was the song at the end of the program in previous productions?

I don't know why everybody thinks the set looks so cheap. I don't get that impression. I like it. I will be seeing this again some time.

[BroadwayBaby6]

Posted: 9/8/12 at 4:26pm

They sold shirts, caps, lapel pins and a few other things that I can't remember. Magnets are not yet available for sale.

To reiterate my comment re the set design- it is a bua and truck set, i.e. it could all fit in one truck. The use of projections and lighting design to enhance is very clever and people who are not theatre "fanatics" like us won't realize how cheap the set really is.

I'm sure Marioulis and Cox can get better with the help of vocal coaches. This is a production, however, that is being done on the cheap, so I don't see them spending the money to hire a vocal coach.

[BroadwayBaby6]

Posted: 9/8/12 at 4:28pm

I didn't go in expecting to hate the show. I actually have seen Deborah Cox in concert a couple of years ago and she was in great voice. The songs are simply not in her range and a good musical director would have either transposed them for her or vetoed her casting!

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 9/8/12 at 4:50pm

I think the use of projections can be very effective when setting a time or place but recently they are over and poorly used. I don't need an image to tell me what or who a singer is singing about.
Both B&C and GHOST did that and all it did for me was take my eye away from the Actor, which bothers me.
And LED screens in a Victorian Piece seems wrong,
or a lazy director.

No one has mentioned the costumes? How are they?
Any Victorian Nudity?

[jekyllforever]

Posted: 9/8/12 at 4:54pm

Deborah Cox is an alto. It is in her range. The music is not high at all. There are original songbooks and they are all in alto range. Linda Eder has a songbook in the original keys and it is not high.

Sorry you didn't like the play and were disappointed. Guess you won't need to see it again.

[elphaba.scares.me]

Posted: 9/8/12 at 9:13pm

Wait...one disagreement. The music, in the original keys, is high and exhausting for Lucy. All the notes may not be crazy high--I think "A New Life" ends on a B?--but that song, in particular, is exhausting because it's so long and keeps modulating, and the last note goes on forever.

More tiring than the notes, however, is the style...Wildhorn wants a lot of straight tones and very long sustained notes.

But in general, it's still high. No one who wasn't playing Eva Peron was expected to be able to sing like that for most of the history of musical theatre. Eder is a freak of nature, whose voice was almost inexhaustible at the time because she honed her skills singing four hours a night in smoky casinos.

"Someone Like You" tops out at an E flat, IIRC, and that last big note ("feel so ALIVE" is probably a D. "Bring on the Men" also goes to the E range, and the orchestra usually holds for Lucy to sing "bring ON the MEN!" at the end--she stays on that "on" as long as she can, but even the "men" is a D, and then she holds that forever, too. And "In His Eyes" requires Lucy to belt/mix an F in the clear ("...but, sadly, I'm NOT wise").

And I would classify Linda Eder as a soprano. Most high belters are. This is evidenced by her flawless recording of the boy soprano voice in the wedding/Finale scene, which is so pure that most people wouldn't believe it was her. They used that recording for the whole run of the Broadway production, long after Eder had left the show. Plus that super-high interlude in her recording of "Man of La Mancha". She may not have trained classically; she taught herself to belt and mix seamlessly like Streisand instead. But her voice is a high one, for sure.

For a pure alto, this score would be a bitch to sing. Part of it is just getting it in your voice, which simply takes time, practice, and rest--all of which are in short supply during tech.

I've sung this score a few times. It never gets easy. Ever. If you don't have the raw materials and the right instrument, it may be impossible. But even under the best of circumstances, it's really, really hard.

We're so used to Wicked and Brooklyn and the crazy pyrotechnics of today's female singers that Jekyll & Hyde can seem tame by comparison. It is not.

Mama Rose is an alto. Ado Annie is an alto. Even Fanny Brice is an alto, albeit a demanding one. Lucy was written for a once-in-a-great-while voice, and used that voice to its fullest capacity.

Good luck to Ms. Cox...I hope she gets the music settled in her voice soon, because I've heard good things about her acting from a number of people. We'll see....

[jekyllforever]

Posted: 9/8/12 at 9:22pm

Most of this music is b flat. I'm looking at it right now. Alto. Same key as Streisand. Alto.

[James885]

Posted: 9/8/12 at 9:34pm

No one has mentioned the costumes? How are they?
Any Victorian Nudity?

The costumes were adequate. Nothing extrodinary, but serviceable and consistent with the time period in which the story takes place. Sorry CurtainPullDowner, but the closest thing to nudity in the show is during Facade when the hospital board member are in their undies.


As far as the set goes, I didn't get the impression that it was cheap either. For the most part I thought the projections were used quite effectively.

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 9/8/12 at 10:25pm

Does anyone know if Emily Skinner ever went on for Lucy in the original production? She opened the show and then left after only a few months to do SIDE SHOW, but what I wouldn't give to hear her sing that music.

I know there was that bizarre instance during previews where Linda Eder lost her voice and Equity wouldn't let Skinner perform because of her lack of rehearsal and the danger presented by the use of so much on-stage fog, so Eder did the book scenes and then lipsynched to Skinner's voice singing all of the musical numbers from offstage.

For people saying no one ever came close to singing the score like Eder, look around for clips of Sharon Brown on the Second National Tour. She was pretty astounding from a vocal standpoint. Her understudy (I believe) was Heidi Blickenstaff, who I'm sure would also sing the crap of that stuff, though I don't know if she ever went on.

Updated On: 9/8/12 at 10:25 PM

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 9/8/12 at 10:34pm

Thanks james, good to hear good feed back about the projections.
Victorian undies can be sexy on the right Victorian.

[beltingbaritone]

Posted: 9/8/12 at 11:08pm

I have to disagree on Sharon Brown. In the clips I've seen, I found her vibrato highly inconsistent, her phrasing to lack any sense of a legato line, and her belt closer to screlt. I think she's got a great natural instrument, but I wouldn't say she compares to Linda Eder (ironically enough, someone who has claimed to be an untrained singer, right?).

[PB ENT.]

Posted: 9/8/12 at 11:25pm

Nice overview! Thanks. Still waiting for Don to weigh in on this. Well, it's still in previews until Oct. 3.

My "old jekkie" rantings...

1.Not sure all the projection elements will fly well on Bd'w as mentioned especially if the acting, vocals and direction is not up to par. This IS a campy show that is both loved and hated by many.

I've seen the show from Broadway (too many times)the tour with Chuck Wagner, who was excellent, A solid production in Patchouge with Brad Little (POTO)and some quality video of Houston. I can't picture all the projections being a good thing or even necessary other than the "Confrontation" which the pre- Broadway version was far better than the riduclous Bd'w "hair ballet". The original sets were not complex and the focus was on the acting. It worked.

2. Can't undetstand why this cast is trying to pull off an English(?) accent so heavily. They didn't do it in any of the productions I've seen to any extent. Nothing worse than a bad accent.

Regarding Constantine: I sure hope he can handle the vocals and make us see the character changes from Jekyll to Hyde. This is SO important to the show. Saw a regional production with Rob Richardson who failed to do this and the character just fell flat. Bach,Wagner and the Hoff were no better, imo. They could all sing it OK, BUT never played a convincing Hyde.

Gotta say both Cooch and Rob Evan were masters at turning Jekyll to Hyde. Cooch was down right scary! And both commanded all the vocals. A very tough role both physically and vocally.

Regarding the girls: surprised to hear Teal is getting top billing, though I'm sure it's deserved. Lucy is THE power role and if Cox can't bring that to the table vocally and acting, there will be a big problem. Linda sang this better than ANYONE, so matching her vocals will be impossible. Eder & Noll's "In His Eyes" literally got the most applause and even Standing O's often at the Plymouth. Blew the roof off!

I hope things shape up nicely over the months. Can't wait to cover this in Philly in Dec. I will give an honest review!

[NOB88]

Posted: 9/8/12 at 11:47pm

PB ENT is the Don you are talking about?
Several tweets:
Don Simon ?@cgpamplemoose
@ConstantineM You have portrayed these characters exactly as Wildhorn had conceived - generating a genuine rock opera !! BRILLIANT WORK !!!

Don Simon ?@cgpamplemoose
@ConstantineM Your accent/acting is totally on mark. Your voice has soars through the entire amped-up score....

Don Simon ?@cgpamplemoose
@ConstantineM Mr. Maroulis: Your "Jekyll"is perfectly timid - your "Hyde" was electrifying....

Constantine's reply:
Constantine Maroulis ?@ConstantineM
"@cgpamplemoose: @ConstantineM Mr. Maroulis: Your "Jekyll"is perfectly timid - your "Hyde" was electrifying...." Thanks Don. Workin on it :)

[deborahfan]

Posted: 9/9/12 at 8:09am

Somebody had an extra ticket at the last minute, so I got to go last night. Never heard of the play or heard the music. I always liked Deborah Cox so it was a treat to see her. I don't know what all the flack is about because I thought she was wonderful! And what a surprise Constantine Maroulis was! Handsome and a great voice. I liked the set but then I don't know what it should have looked like. I didn't see anything go wrong, but I sure am not an authority on anything. I just know I liked it and everybody in the group had a great time. Probably won't see it again, but glad I got the opportunity.