I've seen a lot of musicals. I've seen a lot of shows in general. There are plenty of people who have seen more shows than I have - but still, I've seen a lot of shows. Those who know me personally know that I usually have strong opinions, and they are also usually right on the money when it comes to what's happening on stage. This revival of Jekyll and Hyde is the worst production of a show I have ever seen.
Jekyll and Hyde has been around for a while. The flaws in the material are well known. The book is terrible and at times even laughable. The score, while powerful, doesn't sound anything like what a musical that takes place in Victorian England should sound. I have always considered Jekyll and Hyde to be a guilty pleasure.
For those who are unfamiliar, Jekyll and Hyde is an adaptation of the Robert Louis Stevenson story about a well intentioned Doctor who creates a potion that brings out an alternate and evil personality. The musical borrows heavily from the film adaptation and adds female characters for romantic effect, as well as a back story involving a mentally ill father in order to give a stronger justification for Dr. Jekyll's actions. The book and lyrics are by Leslie Bricusse, with music by Frank Wildhorn.
The trouble with this particular production begins with the book scenes. The book scenes have been trimmed down to get to the songs faster. The dialogue is being rushed through as quickly as possible. Everyone is doing laughable British accents. It brings to mind Waiting for Guffman. It also seems that director Jeff Calhoun as given everyone the note "That was great, try it again, but this time read the line a bit sexier". It's absolutely ridiculous.
The staging of the musical numbers is not much better. Jekyll and Hyde is one of those shows that walks a fine line between serious theater and camp. The best productions walk that line, and the worst fall over. The trouble is, no matter which side you fall over on, you end up in disaster. This production is taking itself far too seriously, and as a result looks incredibly campy, but you get the feeling that it's not on purpose.
Set and Costume designs are not helping matters. Tobin Ost has designed a set that looks like a cross between a Theme Park stunt show and a Las Vegas Spectacular. His costumes look like the type that come in a bag at Halloween time and have names like "Naughty Nurse" and "Busty Victorian debutante". The lighting design by Jeff Croiter is fine and doing it's job justly.
Now we come to the performances. Vocally speaking, the score sounds wonderful. Constantine Maroulis and Deborah Cox are displaying some fine vocal pyrotechnics. The highlight of the evening is Ms. Cox performance of A New Life. Not only is it the best sounding song in the score, but it's also the best acted and well staged. The acting is just plain awful all around. I'm not sure if perhaps so much time on the road before coming into New York made everyone complacent, or if perhaps there weren't enough (or any) brush up rehearsals before opening in New York, but the results are just plain terrible. I had the pleasure of seeing Deborah Cox in Aida and she was wonderful. Constantine was nominated for a Tony for Rock of Ages. This was just a mess.
The question that needs to be asked is, how many tens of millions of dollars to people have to lose before they stop investing in Frank Wildhorn musicals? He has had 7 musicals produced on Broadway in the past 15 years and not one of them has made any money. In fact all of them have lost money, a grand total of nearly 80 million. Attention producers, I think your money could be better spent elsewhere!
The worst production, eh? LOL. I remember seeing a regional production of this show years ago. I was pretty excited thinking it was right up my alley, but was just blown away by how awful it was. It's just a bad bad show all around. I was astounded that they brought it back to Broadway. I will give it some credit, though, in that This is the Moment is one of my favorite songs.
ReplyDeleteThe score is full of pop ballads that are fun to listen to. Once Upon a Dream, Someone Like you, A New Life, This is the moment, among others. It's just so difficult to get right.
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