Heads or tails? Right or wrong? Black or white? Good or evil? Pepperoni or sausage? Some of these are difficult choices, but The Phantom, ever the decider, is here to help. You’ve learned to count on The Phantom for incisive certainty, and you’ve come to depend on him to instruct you with regard to whether you enjoyed a show or not. And now, faced with the mixed blessing of Jekyll and Hyde, you need him more than ever. He does not shrink from his duty to his phans. As always, he stands tall, taking the unpopular stand when Truth requires such resolution and courage. And in this instance, bold as ever, The Phantom phinds that you were ambivalent about the show.
Yup, The Phantom is certain that he is firmly on the fence about it. It was dark and complex; it was a difficult show, and TTC should be applauded for forging ahead with a show that challenged the sugary, “phamily-oriented,” phare we usually get from this theater company.
Jekyll and Hyde was reminiscent of OPAS’ Sweeney Todd, in a good way. It opened with a crazy guy in a wheelchair, and got gloomier from there. We weren’t going to be warmed by lighthearted music and cute quips before the boy finally gets his girl this time. There was creepy white makeup and black eyes abounding. Bad guys, to be sure. And wenches! (We could tell by the corsets.) [Hmm, corsets. The Phantom phinds that he needs to pause for a moment to recall, fondle, the corsets.*] {Corsets are tricky. They’re like sparkly gift wrapping for babes, and happily, these corsets surrounded babes. Thank goodness.} Indeed, what’s not to like about a comely wench? The Phantom knew that he was going to like this show a great deal.
But then The Phantom phound to his displeasure that, although the lyrics seemed to be rather clever, they were routinely drowned out by a dreadful sound mix that broadcast the orchestra’s keyboard at a volume that far exceeded that of the singers’ voices. TTC’s orchestras have had a storied history, and those stories have not always had happy endings. In this case, however, the group appeared to be quite solid, and every instrument blended well with the cast—except for that blaring keyboard. The Phantom suspects that he would have been less equivocal about this show, applauding more enthusiastically a solid effort, had the actors’ words not resembled cell phones with spotty reception. Can you hear The Phantom now? The lyrics could be routinely heard only during soft passages when the keyboard backed off. Who was in charge here?
Our lead and title character did very well, considering the huge difficulty of his part. The Phantom warmly applauds his ability to pull off the character switch (and we are hopeful that he did not permanently damage his vocal chords with his Hyde voice). Even after a demanding performance, he still managed—with the help of some clever lighting; kudos, light person—to nail the last number, “The Confrontation.” Clap, clap, Dr. Jekyll, and clap, clap, Mr. Hyde. (That’s four claps if you are keeping score. Impressive.) Moreover, despite his antipathy to their frequent misuse, The Phantom forgives Jekyll for his use of a wig (this time; don’t get cocky) because he used it as an essential prop for his character change. We were happily disturbed by his violent persona, and slightly jealous of the grope count he shared with the curvaceous Lucy. Good for you Jekyll/Hyde. Good for you, you lucky dog.
And that brings us to Lucy. She was good in Camelot, and she was good here. Nice set of lungs on that one. We wondered throughout the show whether we would become better acquainted with them at any moment, and The Phantom applauds such tension. But didn’t she remind perceptive patrons of another well-known singer? The Phantom is thinking here of Janice of the Muppet House Band. Oh yes, The Phantom is correct here and you know it.
Janice or Lucy? You be the judge.
Thank goodness for the phine corset. This woman has better-than-average talent as well as good looks. The Phantom correctly criticized her modern, kickin’ motif in Camelot, but he is certainly not one to carry a grudge, and he enjoyed her work here. He looks forward to seeing her again. Come back, Lucy.
The Phantom also understands that Lucy was responsible for the chorus sounding as good as it did. She was also the vocal director, and she had the chorus sounding great. Props to you, chorus, and props to you, vocal director. If only we could have heard your voices better over that %@&* keyboard. The Phantom is still miffed.
Emma Carew was the other love interest, the proper fiancée of Dr. Jekyll. The Phantom is always right, so he’ll say again what he said before: this young lady has grown to be a solid performer. She has a lovely voice, she’s very pretty and her performances are phine. Unfortunately, as reliable as she is, she consistently lacks the “it” factor. She hits all her marks, but she lacks a vivacious presence that connects with the audience. Perhaps it will come. The Phantom was whelmed by her performance as the title character in Cinderella, and he was whelmed by her performance here. He would like to be overwhelmed.
The Phantom’s dear mother also saw the show, and we should be cautious about heeding her observations—she was still loaded on painkillers after her sex change operation—but she questioned the costuming choice for Emma. There was no harm in Lucy staying in her babilicious outfit for the entire show, but did Emma have to stay in the same wedding dress throughout? The Phantom suggested to his dear mother that Lucy had to be the proper yang to Lucy’s flamboyant ying, but Mom continued to assert that we should have found poor Emma a change of clothes somewhere along the way.
The rest of the cast was good with no hits or misses, just as they were supposed to be. There might have been one tiny little problem. The actor who played The Bishop was once again cast in a role that had him scurrilously exploiting women, and once again, it was creepy. Whereas some actors have the It factor, this actor has lately had an Ewww factor. The last thing The Phantom really enjoyed from him was his scene-chewing performance in Grease. Way back then, his white-tuxedoed teen angel entrance was undeniably the best thing to appear on a community stage in a long time. But since then, The Phantom has only been annoyed by this cabbage-patch actor.
Lady Beaconsfield was so loud that she partially compensated for the %@&* keyboard. You can only admire her chutzpah in taking on the monster. Good for her.
It was a big show, with big moments and big numbers. Too bad the keyboard was too big. (Heed The Phantom, TTC people. Don’t make him come down there.) But the show was rather a risky undertaking that TTC took by the horns, and it turned out to be another successful production.
Other than that, it was great.
The Phantom
*Whoops. The Phantom apologizes for the typo. That should be “fondly.”
The phantom is very forgiving these days, or perhaps we just saw different shows. Jekyll/Hyde role was done adequately vocally, though nothing was spectacular, but the acting chops were desperately lacking. And we found the performance laughable at times, as did the unfortunate patrons around us. Overall an average portrayal at best. Perhaps there was another male lead we might have been happier to see onstage…perhaps.
Lucy was overmatched as well, but the story was reversed here, her acting was adequate though not spectacular in genereal..there were moments here at least. But vocally she was all over the place, where the heck did this baby voice that surfaced at times come from, my wife and I were both extremely disappointed after seeing her in Camelot, where she was much better suited to her role.
Emma however was amazing, we do not think she is missing the it factor, we think rather that she stole the show, she truly was fantastic. And other than THAT is the real story.
I agree we methinks. Although our leading man’s voice was better than usual for him ( he really did have some soaring moments vocally) the acting was silly. It was almost as if he was making fun of a horror movie when he became Hyde. Lucy looked sexy yet vocally was lacking. It almost seemed like it hurt her to sing. She also lacked the venerability necessary to the character of Lucy. Yet I must say that her leading of the chorus was exceptional, she defiantly has talent in leading choruses. I must disagree with the phantom about Emma. She shinned. Her vocal chops were so bright they outshone most of the cast. The natural ease at which see sings shows both talent and training. I think we can expect great things from this young lady in the future.
I agree with methinks and would also like to say that there were alot of newcomers in chorus and in roles unmentioned (me thinks methinks and i are thinking of the same young man though i don’t know) here that were outstanding. i hope to see them all again and again. And again.
Hmm…I think the Phantom had it pretty well as far as what he did talk about on this one, but I do agree with methinks on the Emma bit, she was fantastic. Good job to everyone in my opinion though, a difficult show that was well performed.
King Adam is always so diplomatic and complementary.
If I may add a few late comments:
1.) Everyone wore the same costume all show long. Pointing Emma only makes little sense. It made far less sense for Lucy to stay in her bawdy threads.
2.) Emma was very good in her role. The “it” you miss had to be subdued for the Elizabethan era, though she could have acted a bit more in the dueling-girls duet, which was best song in show.
Aside: As Cinderella, she was getting next to nothing to work with from her wooden Price Charming.
3.) Negative comments on Lucy’s singing are perhaps based on a Sat-Sun show on 1st weekend because she was awesome 2nd weekend. I suspect her voice (as others were) was quite fatigued from dress rehearsals.
4.) The Bishop was great. Again, the fact that he gave you the “Ewws” shows his skill. He has the best voice on that stage, and I hope he doesn’t take your light-hearted comments to heart.
5.) Finally, Dear Phantom, It’s a common mistake, and one I’ve made, so I only pass along the lesson: the term to Yin-Yang, not ying-yang, as that is something all together different.
This was the oddest thing, j/h outperformed what anyone thought he could, but still stunk. Lucy came in with ridiculous expectations…not sure why…but ended up disappointing us all. There were paradoxes everywhere, what a strange thing.