The national tour of Frank Wildhorn-Leslie Bricusse's Jekyll & Hyde officially opens in Detroit, MI April 21 at the Fisher Theatre for a run there through May 8. The tour had a week of previews, April 13-18, in Wallingford, CT.
But this isn't entirely your Broadway Jekyll. Two songs, previously featured in the show but cut for Broadway, will be performed on the road. "I Need to Know," Jekyll's paean to scientific experimentation, will follow the number "Lost in the Darkness." "Bring on the Men," a number sung by Lucy in the Red Rat will replace "Good And Evil," the song currently sung on Broadway.
Other changes for the tour include new choreography by Jerry Mitchell (replacing the work of Joey Pizzi) and a reordered, tourable set by James Noone. Mitchell has also choreographed the current Broadway revival of You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown, the Paper Mill Playhouse's revival of Follies, Off-Broadway's Corpus Christi and Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and the pre-Broadway tour of Busker Alley. Noone, co-designer on the Broadway Jekyll, recently designed the Matthew Broderick revival of Night Must Fall, Bosoms and Neglect, Getting & Spending, The Sunshine Boys and The Gin Game.
Chuck Wagner takes the title role in J & H, a role he originated at Houston's Alley Theatre in 1990. Wagner most recently appeared as the Beast in the Broadway company of Beauty and the Beast. Other Broadway credits include originating Rapunzel's Prince in Into the Woods, touring as Cinderella's Prince/the Wolf, playing Inspector Javert in the Broadway and touring Les Miserables and performing Athos in The Three Musketeers.
Sharon Brown, who plays the prostitute, Lucy, has already toured the country multiple times, first at thirteen as Dorothy in The Wiz. She won a Carbonell Award for the national tour of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and a Carbonell and Dramalogue Award as Effie White in the 1986-87 tour of Dreamgirls. Other theatre credits include The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber, One City, Thunder Knocking at My Door and as the "Seasons of Love" soloist in Rent. On film, she can be seen as Kim, Zack's assistant in A Chorus Line, as Lila in "For Keeps" and in "Sister Act II." The final third of the musical's love triangle is Andrea Rivette. She appeared on Broadway and across the U.S. as Ellen in Miss Saigon. Originally trained in classical ballet, Rivette has played Tuptim in The King and I, the Baker's Wife in Into The Woods, Magnolia in Showboat and Christine in Phantom.
Following the Broadway show's tradition, Wagner will perform six shows a week. Two shows will be covered by Brian Noonan, the alternate Jekyll/Hyde. Noonan most recently appeared on Broadway in Les Miserables a show he toured nationally with as Enjolras. Other credits include the Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat tour with Donny Osmond and Gus/Growltiger in Cats.
The rest of the cast includes James Clow (Company, Blood Brothers) as John Utterson, Dennis Kelly as Sir Danvers Carew, Candice Donehoo, Felicia Finley, Kelli O' Hara, Deb Lyons, Karyn Overstreet, Judine Richard, Steven Bogard as Lord Glossop, Geoffrey Blaisdell as Lord Savage/The Spider, Roger E. DeWitt as the Bishop of Basingstoke, David Elledge, Dave Hugo (Les Miserables), David Koch (Kiss of the Spider Woman), Michael L. Marra, Max Perlman and Christopher Yates as Simon Stride. Julie Foldesi and Robert Krahen are the swings.
After Detroit, the announced tour dates through May 2000 follow:
May 11-16: Minneapolis, MN, Orpheum Theatre
May 18-30: Dallas, TX, Music Hall
June 1-13: Tulsa Performing Arts Center
June 15-20: Memphis, TN, Orpheum Theatre
June 22-27: Providence, RI, Performing Arts Center
June 29-July 4: Grand Rapids, MI, Devos Hall
July 6-11: Columbus, OH, Palace Theatre
July 20-Aug. 1: Seattle, WA, Paramount Theatre.
Aug. 10-29: San Francisco, CA, Golden Gate Theatre
Aug. 31-Sept. 5: San Diego, CA, Civic Center
Sept. 7-19: Los Angeles, CA, Pantages Theatre
Sept. 21-26: St. Louis, MO, Fox Theatre
Sept. 28-Oct. 3: Boston, MA, Wang Center
Oct. 5-10: Charlotte, NC, Ovens Auditorium
Oct. 12-17: New Orleans, Saenger Theatre
Oct. 20-24: Ottawa, ON, National Arts Centre
Oct. 16-31: Baltimore, MD, Mechanic Theatre
Nov. 2-7: Philadelphia, PA, Merriam Theatre
Nov. 9-14: Atlanta, GA, Fox Theatre
Nov. 16-22: TBA
Nov. 23-28: Des Moines, IA, Civic Center
Nov. 30-Dec. 5: TBA
Dec. 7-19: TBA
Dec. 21-26: Miami, FL, Jackie Gleason Theatre
Dec. 28-Jan. 2, 2000: TBA
Jan. 4-16: Ft. Lauderdale, FL, Broward Performing Arts Center
Jan. 18-23: Tampa, FL, Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center
Jan. 25-30: Austin, TX, University of Texas
Feb. 15-20: TBA
Feb. 22-27: Portland, OR, Civic Center Theatre
Feb. 29-Mar. 5: Denver, CO, Buell Auditorium
Mar. 7-12: Kalamazoo, MI, Miller Auditorium
Mar. 14-19: East Lansing, MI, Wharton Center
Mar. 21-26: Newark, NJ, New Jersey Performing Arts Center
Mar. 28-Apr. 9: Chicago, IL, Palace Theatre
Apr. 11-16: Buffalo, NY, Shea's
Apr. 18-23: Raleigh, NC, Civic Center
Apr. 25-30: Houston, TX, Jones Hall
May 2-7, 2000: San Antonio, TX, Majestic Hall
Based on the Robert Louis Stevenson tale of a good doctor gone horribly bad when he begins drug experiments on himself, Jekyll & Hyde has music by Frank Wildhorn with lyrics and book by Leslie Bricusee. Songs include "This is the Moment," "Someone Like You," "Lost in the Darkness," "No One Knows Who I Am," and "A New Life." After an extensive pre Broadway tour, Jekyll opened at the Plymouth Theatre Apr. 28, 1997.
