Jekyll & Hyde
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Cititour.com Review
Artistically, there’s no really good reason to revive Jekyll & Hyde. This 1997 tuner is a shoddily plotted, musically bombastic retelling of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic novel about a scientist whose experiment to discover the true nature of good and evil goes horribly awry. However, the usually reliable Jeff Calhoun’s misguided new mounting at Broadway’s Marquis Theatre isn’t likely to satisfy the show’s rabid fans (aka Jekkies) or make any new converts, and its prospects for commercial success seem questionable.
Former American Idol star Constantine Maroulis certainly gives it his all as the title characters –although he’s far more convincing as the essentially sweet-natured Jekyll than as the dastardly Hyde. There’s absolutely no sense of danger as Hyde goes about committing vicious murder after vicious murder and tormenting hooker Lucy Harris (Deborah Cox), who is also Jekyll’s quasi-paramour. Moreover, his piercing tenor voice isn’t really suited to Frank Wildhorn and Leslie Bricusse’s score, so that even a guaranteed showstopper like “This Is the Moment” loses some of its power.
Cox fares slightly better, even if the R&B diva has surprisingly little sex appeal as Lucy. Her sweet, supple voice is always a pleasure to listen to, and there’s an appealing pop quality to her renditions of “Someone Like You” and “A New Life.” But she lacks the vocal pyrotechnic skill of the role’s originator, Linda Eder (for whom these songs were written), and fails do justice to Lucy’s big opener “Bring on the Men.”
Although she has far too little to do as Emma Carew, Jekyll’s feisty fiancée, Teal Wicks is a welcome presence, and her duet with Cox on the lovely “In His Eyes” is one of the show’s highpoints. Richard White as her protective father, Sir Danvers Carew; Laird Mackintosh as Jekyll’s friend and lawyer, John Utterson; and Blair Ross as the snotty Lady Beaconsfield also make favorable impressions in their smallish roles.
Fans of the original may get a kick from the reimagined way Calhoun and his creative team stage the late-in-show moment when Jekyll and Hyde finally come to blows with each other, while other audience members may just have trouble stifling a giggle. Frankly, the scene hardly seems worth the trouble, which is true of this entire, unnecessary enterprise.
By Brian Scott Lipton
Visit the Site
http://www.jekyllandhydemusical.com
Cast
Constantine Maroulis, Deborah Cox, Teal Wicks, Laird Mackintosh, Richard White, David Benoit
Open/Close Dates
Opening 4/18/2013
Closing 6/30/2013
Preview Open/ Preview Close Dates
Preview Opening 4/5/2013
Closing Open-ended
Theatre Info
Marquis Theatre
1535 Broadway
New York, NY 10036
Map
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