Art Center's Staging of Good and Evil Is All Good

Did you know that Jekyll & Hyde was a musical? Neither did I.

Though it was a Broadway hit from 1997 to 2001, somehow the music never hit the mainstream like its close counterpart Phantom of the Opera. Too bad. Musically, it stands up well to Phantom, relies on fewer gimmicks, and is actually better paced and more thought provoking. And the High Street Arts Center cast performs it well.

Based on the 1886 Robert Louis Stevenson novella Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the musical explores the obsession of doctor and scientist Henry Jekyll (Phil Wieck) with finding a permanent cure for mental illness.

Despairing for his father, who seems to be suffering from some type of psychiatric disorder, Jekyll works feverishly to secure support for his experiments from his colleagues. Finding none, he labors alone in his lab with a chemical he has code-named HJ7, which can be injected as a drug.

As Jekyll grows more obsessed with his work, he is also preparing for his wedding with fiancée Emma Carew (Sarah Bulger). Then, to complicate matters, he becomes enamored of a beautiful prostitute named Lucy Harris (Masaya Palmer), whom he meets in a bar.

All of these relationships are thrown into turmoil when he finally decides to experiment on himself and discovers that his so-called cure has transformed him into a nasty character he calls Edward Hyde. Once unleashed, Hyde goes on a vengeful killing spree in London.

The success of Jekyll & Hyde rests squarely on the shoulders of Wieck, who must effectively convey both the physical and emotional split between the two characters without resorting to the usual Hollywood gimmicks.

In this musical, Jekyll and Hyde exist in one body. The difference between the two comes down to the art of acting and Wieck, with his subtle body movements and excellent tenor voice, provides the audience with a startling transformation, particularly in his facial expressions and hand movements.

He is also excellent at conveying the shifting rhythms between the soft expressions of doubt sung in “Lost in the Darkness,” the obsessive nature of knowledge in “This Is the Moment,” and the overpowering sentiments of power and lust in “Alive.”

In contrast to Jekyll—well-educated, moral, respectable—Harris plays the erotic but lonely Lucy, desperate to escape her troubled circumstances. Harris has great range in her singing voice, from the bluesy “Bring on the Men” to the tenderness of “Someone Like You.” She is also the moral dichotomy of Jekyll, the outcast who yearns for “Sympathy, Tenderness.”

Bulger provides strong support as Jekyll’s adoring fiancée, Emma. With a remarkable soprano voice that ranges from sweet to dynamic, she matches up well with Wieck and gives great performances on duets like “Take Me as I Am” and sweeping solo numbers like “Once Upon a Dream.”

The problem with Jekyll & Hyde remains embedded in the story itself, most notably the association of mental illness with good and evil. How the two relate is never made clear and Jekyll’s obsession with trying to give “release” to those who suffer is in troubling contrast to his transformation into Hyde, which leads to this unanswered question: Why does HJ7 cause Jekyll to be evil instead of good?

If you try to sort out the distinctions in this story between mental illness (“Lost in the Darkness”), moral ambiguity (“Facade”) and outright murderous intent (“Murder, Murder”), I can only conclude that the musical relies on too much sentimentality and not enough reasoning, an oddity I find puzzling because of the scientific, emotional and spiritual questions the story itself raises.

Moral questions aside, the strength of this musical really is the music. From the haunting nature of “Lost in the Darkness,” to the sweet tempos of “Take Me as I Am,” to the powerful melodies of “Alive” and “Murder, Murder,” the tunes remain interesting and melodic. Combine this with some fine acting, particularly by Wieck, and you have a show well worth recommending.

If you haven’t seen Jekyll & Hyde, do it now. This might be your only opportunity to experience such a fine musical whose fate has become buried in Broadway history. Thanks to some great performances by Jekyll’s cast and crew, you’ll find yourself transformed by the darkness (and light) of a beautiful performance.