OVERNIGHT REVIEWS

Theater review, 'Jekyll and Hyde' at the Cadillac Palace Theatre
By Chris Jones
SPECIAL TO THE TRIBUNE
Wednesday, March 29, 2000

After David Warren's heavily revised and greatly improved touring version of "Jekyll and Hyde" first hit the road in Detroit last April, the producers reportedly considered closing down Robin Phillips' critically maligned New York version and sticking the road show on Broadway instead. It would have made excellent artistic sense.

The operations of Broadway have, of course, little to do with art or logic. And for economic and other reasons, that substitution never happened. Thus Warren's tour of this crowd-pleasing musical by Leslie Bricusse and Frank Wildhorn is winding down and, after the current two-week Chicago engagement at the Cadillac Palace Theatre, the leads will start to jump ship. Within a few weeks, a non-union version of "Jekyll" will be left doing one-nighters in the hinterlands and this impressive production will disband.

Any comment about the high quality of a version of "Jekyll and Hyde" has to come with some serious caveats. With its campy murders, dumb sound effects and overblown characters, this show is about as subtle as a knife stuck in a Victorian gullet. And although he is idolized by his growing fan base and a master of the hummable melody, Wildhorn's more egregious pop ditties will send musical-theater purists howling for the exits as if Edward Hyde himself were in full-blooded pursuit.

But if you are in the mood for relaxing the brain and watching big Chuck Wagner twitch and squirm in the name of gothic entertainment, it's a fun and entertaining night out. There's even some cool pyrotechnics and clever backdrops in a show with pleasing production values.

If you saw either of the two other dreadful "Jekyll" productions that came through Chicago a few years ago, you'll see many improvements here. Two decent songs--"I Need To Know" and the sexy "Bring on the Men"--were wisely restored after being cut for the Broadway version. The hitherto-awful choreography (poker-faced actors opened and shut umbrellas while screaming "Murder, Murder") has been greatly improved by the craft of Jerry Mitchell. And along with Wagner's broad but ever passionate work, there are strong central performances from the earthy Sharon Brown as hooker Lucy and sweet-voiced Kelli O'Hara as the goody Emma Carew.

Most significantly, though, Warren is the first director to figure out how to stage this material with a measure of dignity and artistic value. Wildhorn's many Chicago fans should not miss their last chance to see the best staging their hero's work will probably ever receive.

Through April 9 at the Cadillac Palace Theatre, 151 W. Randolph St. Call 312-902-1500.