Jekyll & Hyde The Musical

By Lesley Bricusse and Frank Wildhorn

Performed: November 2009

Review by Dave Stacey:-

HYDE AND SLEEK...

ROBERT Louis Stevenson's story of Jekyll and Hyde – at least part of which came to him in a vivid dream - is still widely read 123 years after it first hit the bookshelves.

Less predictably, perhaps, the musical that Leslie Bricusse and Frank Wildhorn based on this tragic tale 19 years ago was also a huge success.
Burton Little Theatre Company is presenting this show to audiences at the Brewhouse arts centre this week until Saturday, revealing what a wealth of outstanding amateur talent we have in Burton.

Leon Ratcliffe, as the well-meaning scientist whose efforts to prove that the good and evil in all men can be separated went horribly wrong, was superb in this tremendously difficult role. He skilfully portrayed the very different personalities of the two-in-one
character resulting from Jekyll's dangerous experiments on himself.

There is realism and suspense in his dramatic transformation scenes, his tender moments with his fiancee, his impatience with those who oppose his controversial work, the violence, of his evil alter ego. As well as all this, his singing, especially in the musical gem This is The Moment, was magnificent.

Heather Gallagher as his fiancée and Katie Haywood as a 'girl of the night' also have to present a wide range of emotions as they react to the changing moods and behaviour of Jekyll-Hyde. Musical high-spots are Heather's Once Upon A Dream and Katie's A New Life.

Peter Clemson as the doctor's loyal friend and lawyer, Phil Robinson as the fiancee's father and Mark Pearson as a particularly unpleasant pimp all give good performances.

A youngster, Wil Pearson, who played a newspaper boy and a chorister, revealed a fine singing voice.

After you've seen this show, the myriad murders of Midsomer will seem as nothing against the many devilish deeds of Edward Hyde.

John Bowness directs, musical direction is by Katie Hailstone and Katie Haywood is responsible for the sometimes sexy choreography.