When everything trustworthy and admirable about the human race is contrasted with everything condemned and feared, people start talking. Robert Louis Stevenson created such a situation in 1886 when he published his classic book, "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." Over the past 100 years the story has not only provoked a little rucas, but it has also been a platform for over 20 "Jekyll"-based spin-offs. One of the proudest, longest-lasting of these spin-offs is composer Frank Wildhorn and lyricist Leslie Bricusse's musical, "Jekyll & Hyde." Due to its popularity on Broadway and beyond, people are still talking about Stevenson's story.


"Now, more than 100 years later, thanks to Frank's music, 'Jekyll & Hyde' is still a big issue in the theatre world," says Chuck Wagner, originator of the role of Dr. Jekyll in Wildhorn's musical adaptation. "It's nice to see how it comes full circle again."


When the musical premiered in 1990 at Houston's Tony Award-winning Alley Theater, the experiment was a box office smash, earning the show a national pre-Broadway tour and eventually a bill on Broadway.


"I've been involved off and on for the past 20 years," Wagner estimates. "[Frank Wildhorn, Steve Cuden and I] did the first trying to put it to music 20 years ago when we were students at the University of Southern California.[ Nearly a decade later, In the Alley production] we ran the show all summer long and it was a huge success. They were scalping tickets for $500 a pair."


Due to the show's initial popularity, Wagner wasn't too surprised when the powerhouse finally made it to Broadway's Plymouth Theatre in 1997. "It was like, 'Frank, what took so long?'" Wagner laughs. "We never had any doubt that it was Broadway worthy."


Though the musical's well-known soundtrack, which boasts hits like "Someone Like You" and "This Is The Moment, has added to its success, the show's involved plot has provided a foundation for most of its fortunes. The story, which takes place in 1885 England, tells the tale of Dr. Henry Jekyll, a popular doctor known as the "toast" of London society because of his brilliance. His days are spent researching medicine, pursuing ideas and theories his collegues can only dream about. But one night, one of Jekyll's medical experiments backfires, creating Edward Hyde, who is everything Jekyll is not. When night falls, Jekyll turns into Hyde, who is a bloodthirsty man, obsessed with women and greed. Though there is such a sharp contrast between the two characters, both parts are played by the same man. As the originator of the character [in the Wildhorn musical], Wagner knows better than anyone the struggles that are inevitable with playing such a complex role.


"You get to explore both sides," Wagner says. "You get to be very, very good and very, very bad. Particularly during the one scene when I have to fight back and forth between Jekyll and Hyde. It's like schizoprenic primal scream therapy."


When Wildhorn was choosing actors for the tour, he had no doubt that Wagner would be competent to play the part; in fact, the actor didn't even have to try out.


"I've been very fortunate this time," Wagner says. "Because I have such a history with the show, they invited me to come and do it. They said, 'Would you be so kind?', and I said, 'Why sure.'"


Even though Wagner has performed the role hundreds of times, he's not getting tired of it. He explains that even though he performs essentially the same lines six nights a week, every show is different, which was enough motivation to provoke him to quit his three-year stint as the Beast in Broadway's "Beauty and the Beast" to join the tour. Also, Wagner explains that he loves being able to bring a powerful show like "Jekyll & Hyde" to people who might not get a chance to see it on Broadway.


"I've received several e-mails from parents and kids from all over the country who have been completely hooked on theater just by coming to see the show," Wagner says excitedly. "If we can reach some kids and let them realize how incredibly magic live theater is, that it's not prerecorded like T.V., that would be great."


Right now the tour is slated to tour through next April, but Wagner says that might change. A few other Broadway hits have been known to tour longer than expected.


"'Les Mis' is still touring," Wagner says incredulously. "It's been touring for about 150 years it seems like. If 'Jekyll & Hyde' can stay true to itself and allow itself to evolve, at the turn of the next century 'Jekyll & Hyde' will still be an active concern."

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