Just weeks after The Woman in White’s West End opening, here comes another musical take on a Victorian melodrama, although ironically up to now the show has enjoyed success almost everywhere except the city where it is based.
In fact librettist/lyricist Leslie Bricusse and composer Frank Wildhorn’s interpretation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic tale has been a hit all over the world, not least the original 1997 Broadway production which ran for four years.
The scenario is of course a familiar one as Dr Henry Jekyll strives to investigate the good and evil natures of man, making himself the subject of his scientific experiment. Consequences are disastrous as Edward Hyde is born, a monstrous being for whom even murder is a conscience-free pastime. At its core, David Gilmore’s production is pretty compelling although the narrative is far too disjointed with scenes regularly failing to flow from one to the other. Paul Nicholas improves throughout in the title roles, although there is a lack of emotional depth about his performance that leaves one strangely unmoved. However, his powerful onstage confrontation between the dual personalities is particularly memorable.
It is the female artists that really shine though in this UK premiere. Shona Lindsay is in impressive form as Jekyll’s fiancee Lisa Carew, while Louise Dearman, as ill-fated Lucy Harris, is the show’s genuine star. Her thrilling renditions of Someone Like You and, with Lindsay, In His Eyes, are worth the ticket price alone. Within a fine ensemble in excellent voice (if a little over-amplified on this occasion), there is also good support from Robert Irons and Charles Shirvell.
Production information can change over the run of the show.
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