Jekyll and Hyde The Musical

Loosely based around Robert Louis Stevenson’s story “The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde”, Jekyll and Hyde the Musical has a powerful score by Frank Wildhorn and strong lyrics by Wildhorn, Leslie Bricusse and Steve Cuden. It garnered considerable critical acclaim for its professional productions but has never gained the success that it really deserved.

Director Rob McGough, assisted by Emily Goldthorpe (also responsible for the choreography), has gone back to basics with a very simple black set with just a raised platform at the back, and created a most powerful and stylish production. Maria Hammon’s well chosen costumes, combined with Ian Pratt’s ingenious and beautifully atmospheric lighting, and the sheer force of the acting talent on stage made this a show that grabbed you from the first note and didn’t let go till the very end.

Sadly, there was no orchestra, but the excellent backing tracks meant that Tom Davison was able to balance the sound perfectly, the quality was impeccable, and every word was heard – essential in a musical like this that is mostly sung through. With very little to move around (apart from Jekyll’s very clever laboratory) scene changes were super smooth and the show kept up an excellent pace. McGough’s clever use of the sides of the auditorium as characters entered and left the stage was a clever touch for keeping the action moving.

In the title role, Lucas Bradshaw excelled as Jekyll and Hyde. What a talented young man he is, able to switch between the two characters in the blink of an eye – the power of his acting meant that you were never in doubt which one he was portraying. The “Confrontation” in Act 2 demonstrated this talent so well. His singing voice is just sublime. He has immense power but equally can perform down to almost a whisper with great feeling.

You must be brave to go up against a voice like that, but Lois Huntingdon as Lucy Harris, the prostitute with a heart, and Grace Campbell as Jekyll’s fiancée Emma Carew, were more than up to the job. Lois played Lucy on full throttle, every inch the common lady of the night, but her beautiful, heart-rending singing had every member of the audience on her side. In complete contrast, Grace was totally the loyal and elegant young woman who knows her own mind but is baffled by Jekyll’s strange behaviour. Her singing was also top-class and her duet with Lucy “In His Eyes” was spellbinding.

Tremendous support was provided by the rest of the cast. Every person on stage had their own character, sang with great strength and feeling, and moved perfectly, creating some beautiful tableaux at the ends of numbers. I particularly liked Paul Goldthorpe as Jekyll’s loyal lawyer friend, Utterson; Danny Owen as Emma’s father Sir Danvers Carew and Finn Harkness as Simon Stride. Also, Karla Mawdsley, as Nellie the Madam, got the hard, unsympathetic character just right and the bickering ladies Beaconsfield and Savage (Lauren Elkins and Courtney Elkins) only had a moment in the limelight, but they grabbed it and made it count. Wonderful.

Wow – I was stunned! What more can you say when you’ve had your breath taken away by such a stupendously good production? This was a top-quality show, totally professional in every respect – we felt energised and uplifted and talked about it all the way home.  Please give us more like this!!

 

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