MONMOUTH – Exceptional talent elevates the Monmouth Community Players’ current musical production of “Jekyll & Hyde” to must-see status. It’s local theater at its best.
Wonderful vocal efforts by the lead performers are the key to this success. Furthermore, the classic story of evil unleashed through a misguided experiment fits very well in Monmouth’s Cumston Hall opera house, where extraordinary renovations have revived its Victorian atmosphere.
Mark Nadeau excels in the challenging dual role of Dr. Henry Jekyll and his murderous alter ego, Edward Hyde. Highlight numbers for him are “This Is the Moment,” when he decides to test his formula on himself, and “Confrontation,” a dynamic duet with himself as Jekyll and Hyde as they meet their duality face to face.
The female leads are also outstanding. Luisa Scott hits the mark as Lucy Harris, the nearly redeemed lady of the night.
Scott brings grace and compassion to the role of the bar girl and prostitute through her strong vocals and solid acting. Her solos on “Someone Like You” and “A New Life” are very good, and she does a fine job on duets with Hyde (“Dangerous Game”) and with Emma, who’s engaged to Dr. Jekyll (“In His Eyes”).
Natasha Knight portrays Emma in most of the Cumston Hall performances, and she has received acclaim in that role.
Sunday’s matinee featured Margaret Owen as Emma, and her very pleasing voice added greatly to a central but underdeveloped part. She is understudy for that part as well as for the role of Lucy, which she’ll play on Thursday, March 24.
Quite a switch
That’s an interesting twist for understudy Owen. She, as dutiful Emma, sang from stage box left, and Scott, as Lucy, was in stage box right for their duet, “In His Eyes.” Owen takes the right-side box Thursday night when she’s Lucy, a much different character, filled with passion and complexity. It would be an excellent reason for Sunday’s audiences to return on Thursday to see Owen’s approach to that role.
Michael French also delivers a good non-singing performance as John Utterson, Dr. Jekyll’s friend and lawyer. Emma’s father, Sir Danvers Carew, is well played by Ron Veno, recently seen in Community Little Theatre’s “Inherit the Wind.”
Good performances are also turned in by members of the board of St. Jude’s Hospital, a group that opposes Jekyll’s experiments and ultimately dies at Hyde’s hand. They include Michael Gilbert, who is also choreographer, as Simon Stride; Michelle Handley as Lady Beaconsfield; Shawn Roy as the bishop of Basingstoke; Ron Lewis as Lord Savage; David Handley as Gen. Lord Glossop; and Andy Tolman as Sir Archibald Proops.
Kevin Polk is effective as the sleazy Spider, a pimp.
If there’s a weak spot in the show, it’s the production number in the bar called “Bring on the Men.” Scott’s vocal is good, but the patrons and bar girls could be more exuberant without being overly suggestive.
Toned down a bit
Lucy Rioux’s direction has wisely toned down the blood, gore and lust of the original version to family-acceptable levels, but there still are some pretty violent moments.
“Jekyll” has a large cast with many other players as aristocrats, street people and bar girls. Here, the outstanding contributions of costume designer Ann Fairchild, assisted by Lyn Ballou and Amy Dionne, are realized.
In this production – in which a limited budget means sets are suggested with minimal, though appropriate, furnishings – this capable chorus provides an essential and effective substitute for expensive staging.
Too often, community theater groups overreach their practical ability to re-create the splendor or spectacle of a multimillion-dollar Broadway show. Director Rioux and artistic director and producer Kathleen Nation know an audience’s imagination can wield the same power. That’s why the powerful cast and first-rate chorus pull off a memorable interpretation of this recent Broadway hit.
Frank Wildhorn wrote the music for “Jekyll & Hyde” and Leslie Bricusse wrote the book and lyrics based on the classic Robert Louis Stevenson novel of the late 1800s. Bricusse’s talents are better served by the whimsical. The plot and character development in “Jekyll” are sometimes muddy – maybe a good indication of why the play was 17 years in development before reaching Broadway in 1997, where it stayed for 1,543 performances, closing in 2001.
Wildhorn’s music is pleasing, and the accompaniment at Monmouth by musical director Art Fitzgerald on keyboards and percussionist Abby McCann is just right.
“Jekyll” continues to be a popular regional and high school theatrical vehicle, and it’s on stages around the world.
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