Sturges Center Presents JEKYLL & HYDE, 10/14 -16

Jennifer Lee Crowl doesn't have the dual persona of the lead character in the Broadway musical "Jekyll & Hyde," which opens the 2011-2012 season at Sturges Center for the Fine Arts. But the New York City resident, who was contracted to create original choreography for the Tony-Award nominated show that basically had none to begin with, is a multi-talented performer. Her dance and choreography background will be featured in four production numbers in the show, which is being staged for three performances Oct. 14-16.

Surges Center's producing director Jason James, who also is directing "Jekyll and Hyde", hired Crowl for the show. They met in New York in 2006 and worked on a project together.

Crowl has choreographed the opening number "Façade," as well as the showgirl number "Bring on the Men," the somber and reflective "Girls of the Night," and "Murder," Murder," which opens the second act.

Most recently Crowl was assistant director and recreated the original choreography of the Mel Brooks musical "The Producers," at Riverside Theatre in Vero Beach, Fl.

As a performer, she worked with famed director and choreographer Susan Stroman in several shows. She also was a dance captain In the first national tour of "The Producers," appeared in the 2005 Universal remake of the film and was in Paris Las Vegas production. Crowl made her Broadway debut in the original cast of Brooks' musical "Young Frankenstein," and also toured with the show for a year.

Other performing credits include four Christmas seasons at New York's Radio City Music Hall as one of the legendary Rockettes. She also appeared in "Crazy for You," which was filmed for PBS' "Great Performances."

"Jekyll and Hyde" is based on the classic 1886 novel "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" by Robert Louis Stevenson. The novel has been adapted for the stage and film in many incarnations.

Set in 19th century London, "Jekyll and Hyde tells of the classic tale about the battle between good and evil. It tells the story of the brilliant English physician Henry Jekyll, whose passion to discover why man is both good and evil leads to tragic results for himself and for those he loves.

When Jekyll's research proposal to test his theory on a human subject is rejected, he decides to drink the experimental formula he created on himself.

But Jekyll unwittingly unleashes the evil Edward Hyde within, and the madman's cruelty soon wreaks havoc on the streets of London, and leads to violence and murder wherever he goes.

The original show featured music by Frank Wildhorn, with lyrics by Steve Cuden, and was written in the late 1980s, but the show was not produced on Broadway. Leslie Bricusse rewrote the show and it premiered at the Alley Theatre in 1990.

"Jekyll and Hyde" opened on Broadway at the Plymouth Theatre in April 1997 and ran for more than 1,500 performances, closing in January 2001. It was the theater's longest-running show.

‘JEKYLL & HYDE' will be performed at 8 p.m. Oct. 14-15, 2 p.m. Oct. 16 at the Sturges Center for the Fine Arts, 780 N. E St., San Bernardino.
TICKETS are $19-$45, www.ticketmasterr.com, or theater box office
INFORMATION/PURCHASE call 909-885-5152 or visit: www.sturgescenter.org