This is an article I wrote for an arts reporting class in December of 1999. This is the original version, and not the edited one, which I can't seem to find at the moment. So bear in mind that anyone you don't like was probably changed. ;-)
Enjoy!
The Mysterious Case of Jekyll & Hyde
By Stacy McInnis
Like the lead character of the story, this show seems to have a bit of multiple personality disorder. The touring version that passed through Ottawa earlier this fall is vastly different from the one that’s playing at the Plymouth Theatre on 45th street in Manhattan. It also bears little resemblance to the production that's packing in audiences in Bremen, Germany.
This may seem pretty unusual, but then, the show’s history and its composer aren’t exactly what you’d call typical either.
The musical “journey”, as he calls it, known as Jekyll & Hyde, began when composer Frank Wildhorn was an 18-year-old university student in California. A trip to New York that included a production of Dracula ignited a passion for theatre and a desire to write a gothic show. “They were able to take it and make it sexy,” he recalls. “It really spoke to me.” Determined to recreate this experience for audiences around the world, Wildhorn seized upon the idea of dramatizing Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic novella Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The story of good and evil was one that appealed to the young songwriter. “Jekyll is a very complex man. It’s always a great challenge to take one character and give his two musical points of view.” Through the course of a successful career in the pop music world, Wildhorn continued to rewrite and change his ideas for his first musical. In 1990 he met Leslie Bricusse, who would become the show’s lyricist and bookwriter, and from then the show began to really take shape. In 1995, after one brief run in Texas and two concept recordings, the musical hit the road in a national tour, which is rare among shows that have not yet appeared on Broadway. Two years later the show finally opened in New York. It will celebrate its third anniversary in March of next year. It has since spawned the German production and the current national tour, as well as upcoming openings in Spain, Japan, Australia and Sweden. Despite poor reviews on Broadway, it has continued to sell, thanks to remarkable fan support and word of mouth. The show has a large group of dedicated fans known as “Jekkies”, some of whom have seen the show hundreds of times. Throughout this time the show was constantly evolving. Songs were removed and new ones added. Remaining songs were rearranged, and dialogue inserted, so that the Broadway show seems to have little more than the title in common with the 1990 concept recording. Many of these changes were artistic decisions and are natural in the course of building a show. The “complete recording”, released in 1995, included the most music so far and is “the version I like best as a composer”, says Wildhorn. The pre-Broadway tour that was based on this recording was directed by Gregory Boyd and was a huge hit with the public. But, when Pace Theatrical decided to bring the show to New York, they also decided to bring in a new director, someone with more Broadway experience and credibility. Robin Phillips, a former director at the Stratford Festival, made significant changes to the show, removing a lot of music, replacing other songs and reinventing characters. “A director always brings in his own sensibilities and artistic tastes,” says Wildhorn. “So the Broadway production is naturally very different. But most international producers saw the show when it was on tour, and not the Broadway version. And they chose to do the one they saw on the road.”In February of this year, a German language version of the show opened in Bremen, Germany. While Wildhorn retains basic creative control over casting decisions and directors, he emphasizes that the producers know their audiences better than he does.
“You have to trust the producers in an international production. They want to make the best show for their situation.”
For a production in Europe, Wildhorn says that audiences are used to longer shows, so many of the songs that were cut for Broadway were brought back for the German show. While the budget for the Broadway production is estimated at around $6 million, the Bremen producers spent $20 million on their show.
“It’s like Jekyll on acid,” laughs Wildhorn. Koen Schoots is the musical director of the Bremen Jekyll & Hyde, and was involved in many of the creative decisions about that production. “When we negotiated the rights for Jekyll & Hyde, we had two options,” he says. “We could do the Broadway version as it is in Germany, or develop our own concept. We went for the latter.” “I think that European, in particular German audiences are a little ahead of the American audiences. A lot of the things that we show on stage would be problematic for US audiences, such as the graphic murders, the couple having sex during one song, and so on.” While the Broadway production includes 28 musical numbers, the Bremen show has 34. In terms of full-length songs, the ratio is 19 to 26. The running time of the show is more than half an hour longer in Bremen. One song that was replaced on Broadway was the opening number. On the complete recording it is a song called “I Need to Know”, which outlines Jekyll’s determination to find a way to separate good and evil for the sake of mankind. On Broadway, this became a song entitled “Lost in the Darkness”, where Jekyll laments the failing sanity of his aging father, and vows to unlock the secrets of the mind for his sake. As one can imagine, this change affects the tone of the entire show. In Bremen, both songs were used. “First of all, we included “I Need to Know” because it’s a great song,” says Schoots. “The motivation for Jekyll remains the same: his father. However, we think that the condition of his father is only confirming his thoughts and ideas.” The national tour of the show began in April of 1999. It also uses both songs at the beginning, a fact that pleases the current Jekyll/Hyde on the road, Chuck Wagner. “What I like about the inclusion of both is that you still get the love Jekyll feels for his ailing dad, and then you experience his passion and zeal which leads to the courage to do the experiment. It is a much more dynamic way to start the show.” Another song that was replaced on Broadway was a song called “Bring on the Men”. It is the audience’s introduction to Lucy, a young prostitute who gets caught between Jekyll and his alter-ego Hyde. She sings it as part of a performance at the club where she works. In New York, Lucy sings a song called “Good ‘n’ Evil”, with lyrics like, “Evil is viable, good’s unreliable, good may be thankable, evil is bankable.” Again, in Germany and on the tour, the original song was restored. “We think that ‘Bring on the Men’ is the better song for a cabaret,” says Schoots. “’Good ‘n’ Evil’ is a “hammer on the head”. We have Jekyll sing about it, we don’t want Lucy to sing about it too.” Wagner agrees that the original song makes more sense. “I much prefer our Red Rat, with the reinstated ‘Bring on the Men’. Broadway’s ‘Good ‘n’ Evil’ is less appropriate for the scene.” One particularly stunning scene in Germany is absent in both the Broadway and tour productions. On the complete recording, Jekyll sings a song called “The World Has Gone Insane”, where he describes the effects of the experiment on his mind. This song was resurrected for the German production, and is sung as Jekyll “flys” around the stage. “The song describes a state of mind,” says Schoots. “We wanted to show that Jekyll’s world has gone completely mad. Just before this song, we inserted “Reflections”, which came from the complete recording as well to state Jekyll’s thoughts on his experiments. So “Reflections” is the intelligent philosophical way or looking at it and “The World Has Gone Insane” is the out-of-mind, hallucinating way of seeing what the experiment does to Jekyll.” Many more examples of these kind of differences exist in both the Bremen and tour productions. The changes are not only musical, but also affect the characters. On Broadway and in Germany, Jekyll’s friend Utterson takes him to the club where Lucy works after a setback in his work, to help him unwind. On the tour, the roles are reversed, with Jekyll suggesting the diversion. “In the Houston [original] premiere, it was Jekyll’s idea to have a drink to relax,” explains Wagner. “In the Broadway show, Utterson takes Jekyll to his ‘usual’ table at the whorehouse. What does that say about Utterson? And it paints Jekyll as a bit of a prude. I feel that Jekyll, as in the book, is quite comfortable in the bawdier sections of town.” Aside from the symbolic changes, the physical appearances of the shows are highly individualized as well. While the laboratory on Broadway is exactly what you might envision, with test tubes and strange-coloured liquids, the Bremen show features a long, deep room with one bare table. “Our goal was to reduce the set to the minimum, with a maximum of effect,” says Schoots. “That’s why there are so few props. Everyone expects the laboratory to be like the old one. We wanted to draw the audience’s attention to what is happening on stage.” Despite all the differences, everyone involved seems to agree on one thing: they enjoy the show. “I would love to see the German show,” says Wagner. “And though I sometimes criticize it, I do love the Broadway show too. I think ours is the best one around…for now. Frank’s shows are always evolving.” “I’ve seen the Broadway production many times,” says Schoots. “And I have to say the show works as it is. If you’re not a Jekkie, spoiled by all this great music you knew before, you’ll be blown away by it. The material is too good to kill.” And as for the composer, the diversity is what he thrives on. “Most composers want their shows to be cookie cutter copies,” Wildhorn says. “And that’s fine, but it’s not as much fun. I like to collaborate. It keeps the piece alive, keeps it in a living form.” “I tend to play with my stuff a lot more than traditional Broadway composers. I don’t believe that once a show is written, that’s it. Once you record an album, you can’t change it, it’s done. The fact that I do get the chance to play with it is one of the things I love about theatre."