Frank Wildhorn is the current favorite whipping boy among critics of musical theater, having inherited that position from Andrew Lloyd Weber. And it is true, Wildhorn's score for Jekyll & Hyde does seem to use Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera as a model, with its soaring, Pucciniesque melodies seeming aimed to thrill a receptive audience. But Wildhorn's frequently beautiful soaring melodies are his own, and the audience is certainly receptive - and not only when the tunes are being used to accompany figure-skating exhibitions. The touring Jekyll & Hyde proves to be a blessedly spectacle-free production.
James Noone's sets, based on Robin Phillips' Broadway originals, make clever use of a black, white and red palette to create a luxuriant period atmosphere, handsomely complemented by Ann Curtis' costumes and the lighting of Beverly Emmons. Leslie Bricusse's book tells in a reasonably straightforward, absorbing manner the story of the scientist Jekyll's obsession with his potentially life-saving drug, only to have it turn him into the ultimately overwhelming monster Hyde.
By contrast, Bricusse's lyrics are often overheated, while Wildhorn supplies an assortment of jaunty tunes to complement his melodramatic showstoppers. David Warren's direction wisely keeps the playing as naturalistic as possible in this sort of context, and the whole production seems well-disciplined and intelligently modulated.
Chuck Wagner has the pipes to do justice to the songs given him in the title roles, but his acting as Jekyll is on the stiff side. He seems much more comfortable as Hyde and rises skillfully to the challenges of his climactic "Confrontation" hair-tossing duet. As the two women who love him, Andrea Brown is warmly demure and sings beautifully as the elegant Emma Carew, while Sharon Brown brings her own verve to the streetwise Lucy. It is certainly not Brown's fault, but her character, written for Wildhorn's wife, Linda Eder, is inflated beyond her importance to the story, and has more "big numbers" than the character warrants. The audience adored her, but I frequently had the feeling that she was straining at the top of her range, and one more note would have been too much to ask.
The other supporting roles are adequately, if colorlessly, filled, although Dennis Kelly makes the most of his moments as Emma's father. Steve Mallardi conducts dynamically, and the ensemble contributes sharply. Jekyll & Hyde may not be a critics' darling, but there is still something to be said for crowd pleasers.
