Jekyll and
Hyde the Musical was first staged in 1990 in Houston with a Broadway production
following in 1995 which closed in 2001. Recently the show starting its second UK tour staring Marti Pellow. The show
follows the story of Doctor Jekyll and his journey on exploring the duality of
man, but with his experimenting he slowly phases out his Fiancée, Emma, and he
takes on a new personality (Mr. Hyde) when taking the positions he makes. While
he is Mr. Hyde he meets and falls for a prostitute, Lucy. The love triangle adds
in some drama and passion which the original book didn't have and the score was
also beautiful with a Les Miserables feel.
Marti Pellow plays
the title role of Doctor Henry Jekyll and Mr. Edward Hyde, he plays it very two
dimensional with no chemistry with the other characters. When he played Jekyll
he didn't pronounce his words properly and whether it was his fault or the sound
system (it didn't affect anyone else) I don't know but I personally found it
very hard to understand him, although when he turned into Hyde, I found his
characterization very interesting and he played it very dark and mysterious
which was fantastic.
Marti Pellow played an average performance in the show,
however Sarah Earnshaw and Sabrina Carter made up for this.Sarah Earns haw's
Emma was sweet and innocent and Sabrina Carter's Lucy was feisty and very
likable, both created a good contrast between them both and also with Jekyll and
Hyde. Both the girls are incredibly talented and they were the perfect casting
for this show, it was like the show was written for them.
The rest of the cast
were also great as whole the company. The production has been adapted for a UK tour absolutely brilliantly and I was very impressed
with the quality of the show considering it is a touring production, but I can't
help but think that the show lacked something. I can't put my finger on it but
there was something that should have been there, but wasn't.
The shows direction
and choreography was wonderful and was exactly what I would want from this show.
However I do feel that the British public are not ready for this show, maybe in
the future but right now I think the thing bringing in audiences was the fact
Marti Pellow stared in it, but I would love to see this show in the West End
soon because I think it was a gorgeous piece of musical theatre and I would
definitely recommend this show to everyone.
Rating:
***
Jekyll and Hyde
finished its UK Tour on the 30thJuly 2011
