Is Jekyll And Hyde ready for Broadway? The building blocks are in place for a hit, but there's still work to be done. Based on Robert Louis Stevenson's famous 1886 short novel, the musical follows Dr. Henry Jekyll, a brilliant, honorable man who wants to separate man's evil nature from his good side. Jekyll experiments on himself -- with disastrous results. His evil nature appears as Edward Hyde and soon takes over Jekyll himself, leading to a tragic conclusion.
Movies have turned the tale into a horror vehicle, even though Stevenson's original was more a philosophical drama. Leslie Bricusse (book & lyrics) and Frank Wildhorn (music) do depart from the novel. Here, Hyde becomes a serial killer and is finally shot by a friend of Jekyll; in the book, Hyde kills but once, and Jekyll dies by suicide. The transformation from decent Jekyll to hideous Hyde is accomplished by Robert Cuccioli with body language, facial expression and hairdo -- a neatly pulled-back ponytail for Jekyll; wild hair for Hyde. This works well enough, though we wonder why the doctor's friends and fiancee can't recognize him when he changes. Cuccioli's more effective as Hyde than Jekyll, but he's certainly up to the show's tremendous vocal demands.
Christiane Noll is Jekyll's upper class girlfriend, and Linda Eden is the prostitute lucky enough to befriend Jekyll but unfortunate to attract Hyde. Ms. Eder is gaining a name for herself as a solo singer, and she has plenty of singing opportunities here. Indeed, she's called upon to act very little and doesn't evoke a London tart with much credibility. Still, she's a marvelous song stylist, even if the show doesn't bother to integrate her numbers into the story. (Though the score's mix of dramatic numbers and romantic ballads make for a fine cast album, only some tunes advance the narrative.)
More of a problem is the sluggish book, with little heat in the first act, even after Hyde appears. He murders half a dozen people, gruesomely, but it's violence of the most melodramatic sort. A multi-level erector set, expressionist lighting, Victorian costumes and hints at social satire help set the scene, though accents are all over the place. So as a work-in-progress, Jekyll And Hyde arrives with its songs and cast in pretty good shape. Perhaps by Broadway, the book will be dissected by someone who combines Dr. Jekyll's skill with Mr. Hyde's pitilessness.
