Introduction
Based on the classic, novel "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" by Robert Louis Stevenson, an oddly dark novel for the famous adventure writer, the musical Jekyll and Hyde is about Dr. Henry Jekyll who, after having his request to test his research on mental patients by the hospital board, uses himself as a test subject. He is transformed into the horrible Mr. Hyde who goes on a murderous rampage against the hospital board members. His friends and fiance worry for him as he grows more and more isolated.
Soundtrack
I first listened to the soundtrack for Jekyll and Hyde in 7th grade. It's an amazing show and I love it dearly. I have three different versions of the soundtrack: the original Broadway cast, the 2012 concept recording, and the Korean cast featuring Jo Seung-Woo (조승우). It's been a while since I've listened to any of them and as I listen to the soundtrack as I write this post, I am reminded of how much I love this show. Why don't I listen to it more often?
The songs are dark and creepy, with some gorgeous ballads both for the male and female characters and the chorus. You have the creepy "Facade" sung by the entire cast, the sweet "Once Upon a Dream" from Emma, and the violently FRIGHTENING duet between Hyde and Lucy, "Dangerous Game." So many amazing songs to choose from.
I'll address all three of these soundtracks I have.
I was wickedly impressed in 7th grade when I first realized that Robert Cuccioli sang both the role of Jekyll and Hyde, often switching between the two in the same breath. Frankly, I'm still impressed. In other versions, Hyde and Jekyll can sound very similar and it takes great talent to sound both good and distinct in both roles. I later saw him in New York as the Green Goblin in Spider Man (which, while not my favorite show, was cool knowing that I was seeing Cuccioli). This was also my first time hearing Linda Eder whom my mother would later "discover" for me and buy me albums of her music because she sounded "like a Broadway lady I'd like." Bless.
I have a love-hate relationship with the 2012 concept recording. Obviously, it's a concept recording so the quality isn't going to be the best in the world. That being said, they changed a lot of the tone for the show (or maybe it was just the singers that were cast). Most notably, it became more of a rock opera than before. And I can't quite decide how I feel about that. I love Deborah Cox as Lucy. She sounds amazing and I think she fits better than Constantine Maroulis does as Jekyll/Hyde. There are times when it sounds like Maroulis sang Jekyll and Hyde's parts separately and they were then edited in together. And the random organ bits are odd as well. I think they were meant to sound creepy, but ended up coming off as more "baseball game organ music." Particularly at the end of "Dangerous Game."
Buying the Korean cast album, I was faced with a tough decision. I purchased it when I went to see the show in Seoul and it turned out that they had two versions: one with Jo Seung-Woo and another with someone else who I can't remember. I wanted both, but couldn't justify the purchase (I also needed the souvenir program, of course, even though I can't read it) so I went with the two disc set. I had heard amazing things about Jo Seung-Woo and, though it's all in Korean, he is my favorite Jekyll/Hyde. He switches from Jekyll to Hyde so smoothly it's super creepy. Love it. Everyone else is great, too. But Jo Seung-Woo is what brings me back to listening to this version of the soundtrack more than the others.
Favorite Song
How to pick a favorite song. I'm going to cheat and pick a favorite song from each soundtrack. Because I'm a cheater.
First, from the original Broadway cast. The song I listen to the most from this is "In His Eyes," sung by Emma and Lucy. I love duets like this. Some fun harmonies and it really showcases the voices of these two women extremely well. This isn't the best quality video, but I prefer to see videos of the actual performers rather than just the recording. Also, you get to see their costumes, which is always cool.
The 2012 album has some unique songs that I don't have on the other two: "I Need to Know" and "Girls of the Night," though I had heard "Girls of the Night" on someone's iTunes in college (you know how you can sometimes access other people's music when you share a network?). I love both, but, if I have to choose between the two, I'm going to go with "I Need to Know." I think this is my favorite song with Constantine Maroulis as Jekyll/Hyde, at least. Sorry if it sounds like I'm hating on Maroulis; he does sound good, but I'm not particularly fond of his version of Jekyll/Hyde.
My favorite songs from the Korean cast are "지금 이 순간" ("This Is The Moment") and "시작해 새 인생" ("A New Life"). Both are absolutely amazing, but I'm going to go with "A New Life" so I can show you Li Yeoung Mi and her amazing talent. We'll see Jo Seung-Woo later. Ms. Li is amazing; she has such a beautiful voice and really shines in this part.
The Show
With Elisabeth, I put the show in two different sections: the original show and other versions. I did this because I felt that the German and Hungarian versions were different enough to warrant being separated. However, with the two live versions of Jekyll and Hyde (the American version and the Korean version), the staging is similar enough that I feel that it doesn't warrant being put in two different sections as their differences are simply a matter of talent and language (obviously). So I'm keeping them in the same section.
I found the set for Jekyll and Hyde to be unmemorable. It's not bad, it's not great. It fits wonderfully into the show and provides a fantastic background for the show, but it's not a stand out "holy crap" piece of the show, either. At least not like the barricade for Les Miserables or the boat in Phantom of the Opera. I don't say this is a bad thing. I think the music and the story are what really carry the show and that's why the set wasn't as integral to the story telling. I don't even remember if the sets were all that similar in comparison to the American recording and the Korean performance, now that I think about it. I know some pieces were very similar, like Lucy's room for "A New Life" whereas the club for "Good and Evil" (American version) vs. "뜨겁게 온 몸이 달았어" ("Bring On The Men") (Korean version... that's probably obvious) was different.
I love the way that they differentiate between Jekyll and Hyde with the hair. That sounds silly, but it's really fun. Like, Hyde has this nasty hair that hangs in his face and Jekyll keeps his hair all neat and tidy tied back. Letting the hair down really brings out the other changes in demeanor that the actor brings to the character.
David Hasselhoff plays Jekyll/Hyde in the American version and... yeah. He's not bad, but he's not great either. He's kind of what I would expect from a tour cast. His acting is pretty good, but I didn't care for his singing. Everyone else was great, but the Hoff left me a little sad. Poor David. They didn't even let him run in slow motion or take off his shirt.
Compare, if you will, to Jo Seung-woo's version of the same song.
Maybe I'm biased. I don't know, but I like Jo Seung-woo more than David Hasselhoff.
Favorite Part
There are so many parts I love. "Facade," "Murder, Murder," "Alive." So many good parts. But I think that one of my favorite parts is during "Confrontation." You can really see a good bit of acting (or not so good) from the Jekyll/Hyde actor as he switches rapidly between roles.
But then again, "Dangerous Game" is also really creepy and scary. This was a part I think David Hasselhoff did really well in. He was really scary as Hyde. He was also really sweet as Jekyll. Like I said, I liked his acting, but not his voice as much. But scary. This whole part is just really scary.
Looking back at Elisabeth, I chose "Die Schatten werden langer" as my favorite part. I guess I like creepy, semi-violent duets. I'm not sure what that says about me... or how I feel about that.
Judging from the amount of videos in this post, I think we can safely judge that this is one of my favorite musicals. I was kind of surprised by this realization since while I know I like it, I didn't realize how awesome it was until now. So I'm going to go rewatch my David Hasselhoff DVD.
In other news, apparently they are looking to make a movie version of the show as well. That's exciting! I haven't found any other news about it that's come out since the announcement in 2013. But I'm excited. Any ideas who you'd like to see in the cast?
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