Jekyll & Hyde the Musical

This group has a history of choosing challenging shows for its senior section to perform and this year was no different with the dark subject matter of “Jekyll and Hyde”. Once again the talented cast of young people rose to the challenge and delivered a top-class production. Forbes Beedie was outstanding in the extremely demanding role of Jekyll/Hyde. His transformations between the two sides of the character were spine-chilling to behold and his rendition of the show’s most well-known number “This is the Moment” was spine-tingling. Melissa Ross as the prostitute Lucy Harris, on whom Hyde becomes fixated, was excellent portraying both the brash and vulnerable sides of the character equally well as shown in the numbers “Bring on the Men” and “Someone Like You” respectively. Danielle Henderson as Emma Carew was also excellent at portraying Jekyll’s strong-minded, loyal fiancé – her duet with Lucy “In His Eyes” was particularly moving. Good, strong performances were given by Robbie Scott as Jekyll’s friend John Utterson and Calum Armstrong as Sir Danvers Carew, Emma’s father. Also strong in their portrayals of the bigoted hospital board members were Matthew Grainger (Simon Stride), Ewan Bruce (Lord Savage), Sean Farmerey (Bishop of Basingstoke), Lois Adamson (Lady Beaconsfield), Joe Reid (Sir Archibald Proops) and Sebastian Roger (General Lord Glossop).  The singing and movement of the ensemble was excellent as demonstrated in the numbers “Façade”, “Murder, Murder” and the contrasting bawdy “Bring on the Men”. Costuming was good and kept accurately to the period. The set was a deceptively simple box set, which with the use of subtle lighting changes and effects, moved easily and quickly between the various scenes. The 10 piece orchestra, under the careful baton of Kenny Hossick, delivered Frank Wildhorn’s challenging score with both verve and sympathy as required. Congratulations to everyone involved for another magnificent production.

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