Review: JEKYLL & HYDE at Prima Theatre

Within every human, there lies the potential for both good and evil. What if we could split those two sides of ourselves into their own distinct personalities? This is the question that Doctor Henry Jekyll strives to answer in this powerful pop-rock musical. The classic tale of an experiment gone wrong and a man's battle with his inner demon, originally conceived by Robert Louis Stevenson, has been given a modern look. Condensing the running time down to a short 90 minutes with no intermission, Prima still manages to capture all of the power, mystery, and passion of this production beautifully.

I was quite skeptical at first of the very minimal appearance of the set. With only panels onstage for projecting images and an extended stage with lots of steps in the center of the room, I was interested to see how they would play with this space. It was a pleasant surprise to see that this setup mixed with the few set pieces used were almost more effective than any elaborate set that could have been used. The lighting design was very complementary to the set and performers.

The music is really what carries this show from beginning to end. Every single performer was an absolute powerhouse in every way. I especially commend Randy Jeter for his performance as Jekyll/Hyde. It is incredibly difficult for even the most accomplished performer to be able to fight with himself and make it believable, but Randy did this so effectively that I was literally on the edge of my seat for the last scenes. It was certainly a sight to behold. My only complaint is that the instrumentation was not live. I am of the belief that musicals should always have live music accompanying the performers, even if it is a very small pit. It tends to dampen the power of the show for me when the performers are singing to backing tracks.

I definitely recommend this show as a night out for the adults of the household. There is some pretty risque and violent content throughout (which was choreographed very well) that I would not consider appropriate for the little ones. You have a few more weekends to catch the madness of Jekyll & Hyde, playing Fridays and Saturdays through October 26th. You're in for a real treat with this Gothic masterpiece...

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