Interview: Derek Van Barham and David Moreland of JEKYLL & HYDE at Broadway Playhouse

The critically acclaimed, multi-award-winning revival of Kokandy Productions’s Jekyll & Hyde will make its Broadway In Chicago debut at the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place on September 8, 2026. 

Before the Broadway in Chicago Summer Concert, BroadwayWorld sat down with Director Derek Van Barham, and David Moreland who plays Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The interview has been edited for clarity and length. 

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Jekyll and Hyde is a classic. It’s a story we grow up with, everyone knows what the phrase “Jekyll and Hyde” says about a person, it’s in the academic syllabus — I read it in a Literary Horror class for my English degree — and there are many theatrical interpretations, from ballets and musicals that all have different books, different scripts, and different music. Can you tell us a little about what inspired your reimagined interpretation of this text and musical, and how you landed on a show that led to sold-out runs and just captivated the hearts of Chicago audiences?  

Van Barham: First of all, I’m completely overwhelmed with how Chicago has received this show. I think, in part, it's because it doesn't get produced very often, because of how large it is, and the grandiose epic Gothic nature of it is really baked into the show, so it's hard to do a small version of it. So for us, from the very beginning, we knew that we wanted to do the full orchestrations, move into a larger space than we typically do. Watching audiences experience it was just incredible. I keep comparing it to people who have a favorite rock band they never get to see in concert, and then they finally go to see them. Because this show specifically doesn't get produced a ton, for many people, it has always just been a cast recording that they really love. They've gotten to listen to it for years, but have never really gotten to see it live. So I think part of that hunger is what led to the run being so successful, just because people knew it doesn't get produced often. So if it's being produced, and word of mouth is good, I need to go see it. 

What would you say has been the biggest challenge and also the most exciting opportunity in turning the intimate immersive experience from the Chopin Theatre Mainstage to the bigger house that is Broadway Playhouse, and how do you plan on maintaining what made the Kokandy production special during this Broadway in Chicago run? 

Van Barham: We typically produce in the Chopin basement, which tends to have 80 to 100 seats. Even moving upstairs to the main stage for this production, this was our first time up there. We were expanding in many ways. It's the largest scenic design we've ever had. It's the largest orchestra we've ever had. And so, even in the initial iteration, there was a want to do exactly what you just asked — how do we keep that Kokandy intimacy, the audience feeling like it's right on top of them, it's super immersive. So in a way, we're just getting to do that again. What's nice about the Broadway Playhouse is, of the Broadway in Chicago houses, it's the one that feels the most intimate, so I think we have the advantage there. And because we were doing a proscenium show with the audience on one side, all we needed to do for this was just open it up a little to fit the size of the house at the Broadway Playhouse. For me personally, I love being as close to the art on stage as possible, so I think we're going to do everything we can to make sure the audience still feels that. Certainly with a 15 person orchestra and the incredibly talented cast we have, we're still going to try to blow their hair back — just in a bigger house — so it should be fun. 

David, both during the initial rehearsal process and also before every show, what’s the process like to get into a mindset that allows you to embody this dual nature of competing urges that are inside one man? 

Moreland: I fear that I may have an underwhelming answer because I feel like people are going to come to me and be like, ‘Oh, what's your process? What do you do?’ And I'm like, ‘I just hang out with my friends.’

And that's so valid. 

Moreland: Genuinely, I just pal around with the cast. I bond with them. We goof around because so much of the show is built on the specific community that we have. And there's only so much that I can do to maintain the show while not feeling like I'm supported by everyone that's on stage with me. I feel like an important part of that is getting to spend genuine quality time with the people that I enjoy spending time with. It helps with my mindset of feeling like, ‘Okay, these are the people, this is where I'm at, this is what I need to do.’ And I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that the audience enjoys it as much as they can, while also making sure that the people I'm on stage with are enjoying as much as they possibly can, because the more we are enjoying ourselves, the more the audience is going to enjoy themselves, too. 

Van Barham: That was great. And it's infectious too. I think David hit on something with the show. It’s easy to think of it as like this dark, sweeping Gothic piece, which it is, but it's also so pulpy and fun. You mentioned all the different iterations of it. For me, the most successful iterations of the Jekyll and Hyde story are the ones that find both — that it's both really scary, but it's also really kind of fun because it's so universal, this idea that we have good and evil inside of us. So to actively play with that is what's really fun. And when the cast is having a great time, the audience can just feel that. It's a fun room to be in, especially around Halloween. We lucked out, we're back around Halloween. 

What have you learned about human nature by playing Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde? And how have you grown as an actor through this experience? 

Moreland: How I've grown as an actor and an artist, I think this show in particular really stretched me in a way and challenged me to keep the show in mind for the entire day, especially vocally and physically. This is among the most demanding things that I've been able to be a part of on stage, which I'm very thankful for, and I hope to even do more than what we are at some point in the future. The main thing that I really took away from this is just maintaining a certain level of care of myself outside of the show, to help it feel as healthy and comfortable as I can every time. In regards to human nature, a big part of this show that I think resonates with a lot of people is that this show takes these ideas of the duality of man and that dichotomy between good and evil and everything — it takes it to the extreme. But there's so much in the show that can be representative of very small things in every single person, that feeling of, ‘I want to do this, but I should do this, and I want this, but I also really want this.’ I think being able to see people resonate with certain degrees of just feeling split down the middle in a lot of ways can be really poignant and thought provoking, to find a way to remind myself that this is a very extreme version of a very real and everyday feeling and problem and issue. Obviously, no one's turning themselves into experimental rage monsters and going on sprees of any kind, but people have their own struggles and people also find a way to affect the people around them in ways that they don't realize. And I think that's prevalent and important in this. 

Is there a specific moment in Jekyll & Hyde that really captures and defines what this vision of the production that you’re doing means to you?

Van Barham: Yes, it's during act one. It's the first transformation from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde. It really highlights what having the full orchestra is able to do, because I think one of the strengths of the show is how Jekyll's music sounds different from Hyde's music. So the audience gets to hear, really, the skill of all of our musicians, and then the way we staged it, and the way David leads it is all ensemble driven. Not relying on props, not relying on a big laboratory set or anything. It's just David and a vial and a table and the ensemble. Keeping it really simple and human forward, really focusing on the physicality of David's performance and having the ensemble embody that. So that first transformation in act one, from my perspective getting to watch audiences every night is when I would see a lot of people go, ‘Oh, okay, they're doing something a little different.’ That's kind of that first taste of it, and then through the rest of the show, we follow through with that, just really focusing on the physicality, not relying on a lot of theater magic or tricks. We love all that, but when the cast is this good and the orchestra is this good, just really spotlighting them felt like the way to go.

Similarly for you David, do you have a scene or musical number in Jekyll & Hyde that just speaks to you on a visceral level?

Moreland: It's kind of a similar answer. I mean, “This Is The Moment” is probably the most widely known and popular song from the show over the past 30 plus years. And I think there's something in that — this man who is doing everything he can and putting every possible egg he has into this one basket, just out of spite more than anything, to prove that he can. I think that's something that resonates with me in a way of just feeling like it's about the fact that I can do it. It's not the fact that I do, or the fact that I have. It's just a matter of proving to myself, ‘Yeah, I can, and I know I can, and I'm going to figure out how, and I don't know how.’ But again, the small differences for me, it's a bit more like, ‘Oh, I don't know if I can do this backclip.’ And for Dr. Jekyll, it's more of a, ‘Hey, I don't know if I can, you know, cure the human mind.’ It’s small potatoes, big potatoes. So, yeah, probably “This Is The Moment” just in regards to what resonates with me personally.

What is it that you’re hoping people are going to take away from this production, whether they’re experiencing this show for the first time or returning to see it again after Kokandy’s acclaimed run? 

Van Barham: A few things. I hope they have fun. It's coming back during Halloween season, which is when it was here last year, and it just feels like the perfect time of year. Instead of going to see a scary movie, come see a scary musical where it's happening in the room with you. So, just really enjoying it. And then there's also something about us as a non-equity storefront theater getting this opportunity to do a Broadway in Chicago remount that I hope opens the door to it just happening more often. In a way, I feel like if we win, if we're successful, if Chicago is excited about this, it will hopefully create other opportunities — not just for us in the future, but for other companies as well. Sometimes the struggle, especially for companies our size, is that when a show is selling really well or it's critically acclaimed, it's the best show of the year, etc., there's still kind of a shelf life, you know? Theater is ephemeral, so having ways for shows that are doing incredibly well to continue and expand, my hope is just I want Chicago to be excited for it. That way, it can hopefully happen more often. 

Moreland: Yeah, that's the main takeaway that I have, too. I would love for audiences to come away from this feeling like, ‘wow, these people live here.’ These are just Chicago people. We can see performances and productions at this caliber and amount of effort and care that goes into it. Whether it's on a Broadway in Chicago stage or in this show fan basement. I think the main thing that I know Kokandy does, as well as many other storefront companies, they care this much about every single show that they do, and I would love for audiences to come away from this feeling, ‘Oh, I would love to see more that people care about.’ 
 

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Thank you to Derek Van Barham, David Moreland, and Broadway in Chicago for this interview!

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