'Jekyll & Hyde'

I had the pleasure of getting to see 'Jekyll & Hyde' the Musical at The Pantages Theater in LA on Tuesday night!  Special thanks to Mr. Daly who gave me the 2 tickets as he was traveling all week and was in New York the night of the show, so I was able to take Kristina with me and have a fun Girl's Night!  Both of us grew up and were involved with theater and music, so this was right up our alley.  I already knew a bunch of the music from the show because of singing a 'Jekyll & Hyde' Medley in my High School choir and loved the songs!

Let me start by saying the women's restroom on the main floor is incredible.  I felt like I was in 'Snow White' because of the way the mirrors were set up, in a giant room with individual seats and vanity's, with diagonals and the mirrors looked like they were cracked, but weren't.  I loved it!  We had great seats, Row V in the Orchestra, so just 50 feet or so from the stage, and the show started promptly at 8 pm.  The two title roles of Jekyll/Hyde and Lucy were played by American Idol's Constantine Maroulis and Deborah Cox who had music on the Billboard Charts and has also collaborated with Whitney Houston and Andrea Bocelli.  Teal Wicks played the role of Emma and was definitely a stand-out with a beautiful voice that she made seem effortless...awesome!  I've been a fan of Deborah Cox and she made me fall in love with some of the songs she sang because she had some great notes and she brought so much to the character.  The acting was incredible but I do have to say Kristina and I were disappointed with some of the songs and we felt as though some of the voices were strained and there were missed notes.  Constantine was much stronger as Edward Hyde than Jekyll and once he sang 'Alive' I completely realized why he was cast, because the rocker in him came out; he was dark and mysterious, scary at times, but had the perfect voice for Hyde.  There were 2 distinct characters which was the point of the whole story, but his voice was more fitting for Hyde, in my opinion.  The ensemble and other main characters were great, some people coming from 'Rent,' 'Wicked,' and even 'Les Miserables.'

Overall, the show was good.  It would be interesting to see the show again with the Broadway Cast but it was such a fun experience to get to see a show of this caliber here in LA, and back to my resolutions, was something new for me, so that was exciting!  I loved the chemistry between Maroulis and Cox, and 'A Dangerous Game' became my favorite song because the tension between the two during the song just sucked you in, and I loved that!  I tended to like the duets more, 'Take Me As I Am' and 'In His Eyes' were strong points, and I loved Wicks performance of 'Once Upon a Dream' which I think might be a future Karaoke song for me.  The costumes were gorgeous; I love that era, and I was impressed by the quick changes (knowing how fast you have to be, since I did musicals all through high school).  The lighting was great and complimented the set well.  For a smaller venue, they changed things up a lot and that added to the show.  It's not just the cast that makes the show, it's the crew, and what they bring to the table, and all of that was spot on.

I would definitely see the show again if it came to town.  Plus, as soon as I got home, I downloaded a bunch of new music from the show because I couldn't wait to hear some of the songs again, so that was cool.  'Jekyll & Hyde' is only in LA for a couple more days but this certainly makes me want to go see more Musicals when they come to LA :)