The * ideal * Jekyll & Hyde: A discussion — Page 6

I found a full show that uses the "Complete Gothic Thriller" format. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUSkr6OQUb4

And a full high school show... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aO8JA_FlvYo

And a full taping of the 1997 Broadway version. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcYz-_PNTGY

And a high school version that had Hyde and Jekyll as two people and also staged Confrontation as a fight. They also kept "Girls of the Night." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOSEntch2qk

There's also an amazing 4-part series of videos that were posted 3 days ago. They have a REALLY scary Hyde! Part 1 is here and the rest are in the sidebar. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoWL2V1YePg

And here's a 2-part series of another school show. The best part is in Act II when Utterson confronts Hyde and he's tearing pages out of Jekyll's notebook, crumpling them, and making paper airplanes and origami XD

Act I: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P59YdYzKDdg

Act II: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lY8BZReRTRM

Man, after seeing all these amazing versions and variations I wonder what a production near me in October will be like! When I see it I'll let you guys know what it was like! :)

Updated On: 8/30/16 at 05:56 PM

Can we discuss other versions of the story onstage? The Noah Smith one is really fun; Hyde gets some really nice one-liners and the ending has him trying to inject Utterson with the same stuff that made him. You can read most of it here; the only part it doesn't have is the ending. https://www.playscripts.com/sample/183

There's some productions floating around on YouTube, too. This one's the whole thing. it uses instrumental music from the musical at certain points, as well as music from other sources. it has a really good supporting cast. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFaqt4OrSOE

This one is in two parts and has a scene or two missing from part 1 to part 2, but they have a FANTASTIC Jekyll and Hyde.

Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63slra1OmU0

Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htCjX3shjXE

The Jeffrey Hatcher one is neat as well. It has multiple actors playing different aspects of Hyde. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSc2jhG5ihc

And finally, here's a scene from the original play, taken wholesale from the book. I think. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jwxOQJ_djw

Updated On: 9/14/16 at 08:45 PM

According to this originally Hyde met Utterson and transformed back into Jekyll after Lucy's murder, and Jekyll told him to run and find the letter he gave her before the police did. (I think afterwards Simon stole the letter and planted it for Lisa to find.)

I also found someone who put EVERYTHING from every version of the show into one four-act 5-hour monstrosity. Along with original lyrics/dialogue. http://holyguyver.deviantart.com/art/Jekyll-Hyde-Completist-script-208056196

My beef with the show is their simplistic portrayal of Dr. Jekyll. Lucy and Emma get all the character development. My favorite versions of the story make it clear that Jekyll and Hyde are the same person. Jekyll is horribly repressed and Hyde is his excuse to act out all his violent and sexual fantasies.

Productions I've seen present Jekyll as a heroic leading man and Hyde as an "evil" split personality. The motivation of the sick father is a handwave and a trap. If I had my druthers I'd make Jekyll more timid and neurotic around Lucy and Emma. I'd also give him his own reprise of "Alive" after he discovers his inner Hyde. Hyde shouldn't be the only one enjoying his new freedom before it goes too far.

The '94 version and the Broadway one had Jekyll want to go to the pub because he was tired of respectability and frustrated at the Board blocking his request. There's also the song "Reflections" which directly paraphrases the book, as he contemplates his dual natures and notes that he and Hyde share memory, he has a vested interest in his other self while Hyde treats him with indifference, and even though Hyde's a murderer and he's slowly losing hold of the self that's Jekyll, he feels pity for Hyde and won't kill himself to end it because Hyde's love of life is wonderful.

The best part is the song's set AFTER Hyde ran around murdering everyone that made Jekyll angry and just before Lisa and Lucy are like "Isn't Jekyll great?" in "In His Eyes.". Since they still look the same and have the same memory, as well as Hyde doing everything Jekyll thought but couldn't act on, the musical is one of the easiest adaptations since the original story and the 1931 film to interpret that Hyde is just a name Jekyll gave his depravity and he's complicit in his actions.

In the book, Jekyll explains that that freedom is why he makes the potion, and it's why he continues to imbibe it. Even in the musical, Jekyll states that the potion makes him feel "twice as alive and tenfold more wicked, which intoxicates and delights me like wine." Hyde also singles out upper-class hypocrites as his targets at first, ignoring that Jekyll himself is a hypocrite for creating Hyde and indulging in his vices.


I mean, there's a reason Utterson pulled a gun on him. He pulled it on him first XD Jekyll can get angry, he can get frustrated and bitter, it's just that someone as respectable as him hides it 'til he snaps. (The Broadway version has 2 guys from the party recognize him at the Red Rat, joke about him being a devil leading a life of debauchery, and he's mortified and runs off as they claim they were only joking.)

I read an analysis of the book that said Jekyll and Hyde are really only deep characters when you consider them as a whole man, since they're the same person anyway XD Another thing to note is that while Hyde is pure evil, Jekyll himself is good and evil, like any man. If he were purely good that potion wouldn't have done a thing!

Updated On: 11/5/16 at 04:57 PM

Funny story about Jekyll & Hyde--I got both of my parents to listen to the '94 cast recordings, completely separate from each other, and when Jekyll said "Am I a good man?" during Confrontation my mom said "No" and my dad shook his head, and when he went "Am I a madman?" my mom said "Yes" and my dad nodded his head.

I also saw Jekyll & Hyde locally twice in the past few weeks! It had Bring on the Men and I Need to Know as well as Lost in the Darkness, had the Spider as well as Simon, and swapped Gwinny for Nellie. Their Hyde was really scary and animalistic, and he had a lot of fun skulking in the background during songs before officially making an entrance. For the final show my mom and I gave flowers to Jekyll/Hyde, Emma, Lucy, and Utterson. Utterson's actor was SO. HAPPY because I don't think he expected flowers. The way he portrayed him was amazing! As I put it, "He's such a good friend he'll shoot you if you ask for it!" XD

I also heard a funny story from the guy that played the Spider. After getting really into the music he was talking with one of his friends and said, completely out-of-context, "Y'know what I love? MURDER!" He then had to verbally backspace and explain things.