JEKYLL & HYDE Pre-Broadway Tour Quick Review

It kinda felt like I was watching a show at Universal Studios. Lots of visual and sound effects, but the show itself was a mess. They made a ton of unnecessary changes to many of the songs, and the ‘rock’ arrangements are kind of hit-or-miss. Also, the book is just BAD. But there were some nice moments, and I didn’t dislike Constantine Maroulis as much as I was expecting to (though his British accent was awful). Saw the understudy for Lucy- she was awesome, and so was the actress who played Emma. It’s just a very emotion-less, commercialized version of the show. Plays out more like a rock concert with special effects than an actual broadway show.

If they had marketed it as a concert version, nixed the half-assed book and small/limited chorus parts, I would have enjoyed it more I think. There was a concert tour version a few years ago that just used three leads, and I think that would have been more beneficial in this case as well. Unfortunately, as a full-out show, it was very messy.