Jekyll and Hyde
"Jekyll and Hyde: The Musical" is 2 hours of
Victorian Society, laced with petticoats, a
kaledioscope of musical numbers and simple, but entertaining and unavoidable
choreography (by none other than Bill Dreamer!) These features all molded
perfectly
with one and other to tell the story of Dr Jekyll.
July 4 2011 - American Independence Day, a Monday, Sunny weather and the
Opening Night performance of "Jekyll and Hyde: The Musical" at
Cardiff's Millenium Centre, and I was invited! (If you'd like, the link to an
interview I had with the three leads, Marti, Sarah and Sabrina, they can be
found at the bottom of this article, it was so much fun!) After meeting with
Catrin Wyn Southall (Wicid Editor) we got our tickets for the show, which read
"Martyn David – Wicid!" Amazingly, we were invited to the Drink's
Reception which all of the Press are invited to.
Something I hadn't realised about this was two words - FREE WINE! Which as you can view, was very relaxing before a night at the theatre to see "Jekyll and Hyde: The Musical – Presented by Bill Kenwright.
Dr Jekyll (played by Marti Pellow); There's a story here –the
title role of Dr Jekyll and Edward Hyde is usually held by Marti Pellow ("Wet,
Wet, Wet" frontman) however due to a nose injury involving staging in a
previous performance, he was unable to perform the Cardiff dates, however
cannot clarify whether he appeared for any Cardiff date as it was rumoured he
may have performed on the final night.) Aside his absence Martin Dickinson was
a marvellous alternative, but more on that later.
Now, rumour had it that Marti's injury was the result of the
staging, and if you will, that in itself deserves applause – it is stunning! The
streets of Industrial London are brought to life with cobble paths, flickering
street lanterns and smoky backdrops which dragged you back to 1890. The only
issue I had here was an incredibly annoying red light in the wing which blinked
constantly, however, I can't say it was much of a distraction - at least, not
by the time Sabrina Carter made her appearance. Step right up, step right up
and witness Sabrina Carter, a previous long-running cast member of the Musical
Phenomenon that is "Wicked." as Elphaba. She leapt into the spotlight
with her full-body, robust solo "Bring on the Men!" as Lucy, the
brave-faced mistress of anyone who could pay up, but one haunted by a troubled
past. Her brilliant brassy tones and hair-standing-on-the-back-of-your-neck
belts quickly made this my favourite song of the show, rivaled only by
"Bitch, Bitch, Bitch!" A song by most of the cast members which
really did make me giggle at its satirical essence.
The music of this show is a great variety of character lead solo's and layered
ensemble numbers. All in all through out 17 scenes there are 20 original songs
as well as a couple of Reprise performances. These range from the comical
"Bitch, Bitch Bitch!" to the show stopping "This is the
Moment" through to the downright, heart-wrenching and chilling "Girls
of the Night"which really allows Kerri Watt to shine. The engaging part of
this story, and indeed the theme that has kept it a revelant and wonderful
piece of drama is the conflict between "Good and Evil" and the
duality within all of us. Dr Jekyll is the good, rational and admirable
scientist who is humilated by the Board of Governors of the hospital he works at,
after telling them that in all of us there is good and evil, and that if we can
isolate one from the other we can control it, eradicate it. This idea of
duality is maintained interestingly by the cast whom almost all play two
characters on both sides of the spectrum – the rich and affluent, and the
underground tricksters. This cohesion between narrative and staging echoes Dr
Jekyll's own words "There is good and evil in all of us" and is a
brilliant feature of the show. Interestingly, the only two characters who do
not play dual roles are the aformentioned Lucy, and the pure-hearted and caring
fianceé of Dr Jekyll, Emma; played by the sensational Sarah Earnshaw, who
enjoyed a three-year run on "Wicked" as the understudy to Glinda. Sarah's
impressive range brought a sincere fragility to Emma and a loving sweetness, in
contrast to that of the hard-hearted and larger-than-life Lucy. Not only the
girls ran this show. Martin Dickinson brought Dr Jekyll to life as a passionate
and soulful scientist who was incompatible with a close-minded, frightened
world. Impressively, his portrayal of Edward Hyde was thoroughly chilling and
dark wthout becoming tragically comical – he danced the borderline
successfully. Something I wonder is how Marti and Daniel differ in their
portrayals – as I can only truthfully give one opinion, it is that Daniel
played two entirely different characters, and switched back and forth between
effortlessly, and i'm sure that his solo "This is The Moment" was a
definite crowd-pleaser, kudos to him!
All in all, "Jekyll and Hyde" did not disappoint me after a 5 month
eager wait, the opening night performance at Cardiff's Millenium Centre was an
exciting and emotional 2 hours of morals, music and moving performances. I'd
like to say a great well done to the wonderful cast, and thumbs up to the stage
and costume designers and make a hopeful plea that the cast make a Soundtrack
CD! Thanks also to Nia Jones who provided me and Catrin Wyn Southall with the
tickets so you Wicid.tv members could have a chance to see a review.
I hope you enjoyed!
Until next time.
