TOWERING TALENT ELEVATES
A MUSICAL AS SCHIZOPHRENIC
AS JEKYLL & HYDE THEMSELVES

Next up for Halloween, and my second gothic horror in as many days, is Kokandy Productions’ presentation of the musical, Jekyll & Hyde, first produced in 1990 with music by Frank Wildhorn, book by Leslie Bricusse, and lyrics by Wildhorn, Bricusse, and Steve Cudden. Given the, er, monster success of Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera a few years prior, it’s not much of a surprise that creators went looking for other gothics to use as inspiration. The show was quite successful and made it to Broadway in 1997 where it played for four years, despite middling reviews. Since then, it’s been revived a couple of times and has had multiple national tours and regional productions. The Kokandy production is the first in Chicago in fifteen years and as I took my seat in the packed upstairs space of the Chopin Theatre, there was a palpable excitement and energy in the air.

David Moreland and The Cast

Scenic designer Sotirios Livaditis‘s arresting set resembles an old-fashioned operating theater, the kind with viewing galleries. An opening in the back allows for additional points of entrance while also providing a welcome view of the glorious 15-piece orchestra—clad all in white—led by music director Nick Sula. The solitary piece of furniture is a large wooden table that functions at various times as a laboratory bench, a morgue slab, a burlesque stage, and a conference table around which a medical board decides the fate of Dr. Henry Jekyll’s research.

Ava Lane Stovall, Ismael Garcia and Quinn Simmons

In 1888, in gaslit, grimy, sooty Victorian London, Dr. Henry Jekyll, obsessed with the nature of good and evil and its coexistence within the human personality (“Lost in the Darkness/I Need To Know”) has devised a potion that he believes will separate the two. When denied permission to test it on a human subject (“Board of Governors”), he leaves in despair, showing up late to his own engagement party with Emma, the daughter of his friend and mentor, Sir Danvers Carew. Following his party, an inebriated Jekyll, along with his friend and lawyer, Utterson, decide to have themselves a stag night and wander off to the wrong side of the tracks, where, in a seedy bar, Jekyll encounters a prostitute Lucy, who charms him (“Bring On the Men”) into a proposal of friendship. Having made up his mind on how to proceed with his work, Jekyll returns to his lab determined to use himself as a test subject (“This is the Moment”), and downs the potion himself, releasing his evil alter ego, Mr. Edward Hyde (“The Transformation”, “Alive”).

Emily McCormick, Ava Lane Stovall and David Moreland

It’s a gripping tale; not for nothing is the source novella by Robert Louis Stevenson—who allegedly wrote the entire book in three days, burnt the manuscript, and in a coked-out haze rewrote it in another three to six days—considered a seminal text of the genre. It has a psychological richness that predates Freud’s theories of the manipulation of the conscious mind by the subconscious. Alas, Wildhorn et al. in developing the musical have jettisoned most of the complexity of the characters, focusing mostly on the sensational plot. The second act is pretty much–Jekyll becomes Hyde, Hyde kills someone; Hyde lapses back to Jekyll, Jekyll writhes in remorse: lather, rinse, and repeat. The songs don’t help much either; almost all of them are bombastic in the extreme, with power ballad after power ballad, each one ending identically in a crescendo of ear-splitting pitch and volume. Musically, this is Phantom on steroids.

Maiko Terazawa and David MorelandQuinn Simmons and David Moreland

Thank heavens then, for the brilliant cast and crew that have been assembled by Kokandy for this production. There is a wicked sense of humor that runs throughout the production both in Derek Van Barham’s witty direction and Brenda Didier’s choreography; an off-kilter sense that extends to the costumes (Rachel Sypniewski) and hair and make-up (Keith Ryan and Syd Genco), interjecting just the right amount of camp into the proceedings to (mostly) neuter the ponderousness of the score.

Ava Lane Stovall and David Moreland
Quinn Kelch with the cast

The actors are excellent too; of the ensemble, Quinn Kelch (in multiple parts) and Jon Parker Jackson as the Bishop of Basingstoke take blue ribbons, especially Jackson who looks like he’s having the time of his life mincing and sneering like a villain in a silent movie. Ava Lane Stovall is wonderful as the archetypal hooker with a heart of gold, Lucy. She has terrific chemistry with Moreland, and her performances of “Sympathy, Tenderness” and “Someone Like You” provide the show’s most emotionally affecting moments.

David Moreland and Kevin Webb with (back) Quinn Simmons and Ismael Garcia

The primary reason to see this show is David Moreland as Jekyll/Hyde. His singing alone is worth the price of admission, but he’s also a fantastic actor, especially as thoughtful, intellectual Jekyll, where he imbues his character with a considerable amount of grace and gentle charm. His “Jekyll” scenes with Lucy are the best in the play. As Hyde, there’s more posturing than acting but it’s to be expected, and I especially liked his physicality in the transition between the two, as he shifts between Jekyll’s slightly stiff, formal gentleman to Hyde’s sinuous, menacing roué.

Maiko Terazawa and Emily McCormick with the cast

This is the second straight musical production where Kokandy has worked wonders with problematic material. In a way that’s even more impressive. Their instincts are clearly on point, and they attract talent of a high caliber. I can’t wait to see what this company does next.

photos by Evan Hanover

Jekyll & Hyde
Kokandy Productions
The Chopin Studio Theatre, 1543 W. Division St.
Thurs-Sat at 7; Sun at 5; Wed at 7 (Nov. 26); dark Nov. 27
ends on December 21, 2025
for tickets ($15-$55), visit Kokandy

for more shows, visit Theatre in Chicago

(front) Nathan Calaranan, David Moreland, Kevin Webb;
(back) Gabby Sauceda-Koziol, Jon Parker Jackson, Quinn Kelch,
Quinn Rigg, Maiko Terazawa and Ismael Garcia