Brad Little Steals Limelight on Jekyll Stage
By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter
The Broadway musical ``Jekyll and Hyde’’ is undoubtedly a longtime proven quality show with a local casting of musical star Cho Seung-woo.
But this time, a world touring troupe brought the original version to the stage for the first time in Korea with a star-filled cast featuring the internationally renowned singer and performer Brad Little.
Based on the novel ``The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’’ by Robert Louis Stevenson, with music composed by Frank Wildhorn and lyrics written by Leslie Bricusse, the musical opened at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, Friday.
The theater was packed with musical buffs who were eager to see musical heartthrob Little, known for his turn as the Phantom in ``The Phantom of the Opera.’’
As his fans expected, Little showed the ``art of the actor’’ in performing the characters ― both the good and the evil.
Little, who has a strong fan base in Korea, captured the sensitive side of both Jekyll and Hyde.
In the story set in 1885 in London, Dr. Jekyll, a brilliant doctor, tries to experiment with the human personality to separate the good and evil from it after seeing his father suffer from mental illness.
But after failing to get support from the board of the directors of the hospital he works for, he decides to experiment on himself despite strong opposition from those around him.
Once Jekyll begins the experiment, his dark side is unleashed and he becomes a monstrous evil creature ― Hyde ― who commits heinous crimes including murder. But as the experiment progresses, Jekyll loses his control over Hyde and becomes overwhelmed by the evil spirit.
The ongoing show is the latest version in which Jo-Anne Robinson, the choreographer and director best known for ``Cats,’’ is bringing new life to the musical.
She uses flying technology for dynamic and spectacular moments to portray the gloomy London of 1885. In the scene for the number ``A New Life,’’ Lucy, sitting on her bed, was lifted into the air and sings about her future.
Also, memorable musical numbers such as ``Once Upon A Dream,’’ ``Someone Like You,’’ ``This Is The Moment’’ and ``In His Eyes’’ captured the hearts of the audience.
Although there were some technical glitches in the audio, the actors’ excellent presentation made them forgivable.
Among others, Little was pivotal, giving an impressive performance by seamlessly shifting from the good to the evil. He particularly shone in scenes portraying the wicked human desire of Hyde.
He was superb depicting the tortured human as a sympathetic character at the end of the musical with subtle expressions. His rich vocals and experienced stage showmanship escalated the tension between the two opposites.
Little has appeared in a number of Broadway and touring productions. In 1994, he joined the cast of Andrew Lloyd Webber's ``The Phantom of the Opera’' as Raoul; and by 1996 had joined the musical's national tour in the title role.
He has enjoyed a wide fan base in Korea after his Seoul performance in Phantom in 2004, and held a concert in 2006 in response to the fierce popularity among Korean fans.
``Jekyll and Hyde’’ was first staged in Seoul as the Korean-licensed version in 2004, and has since drawn more than 300,000 viewers, with the lead role played by the enormously popular actor Cho Seung-woo. The Seoul performance is world tour team’s first destination on its tour of seven countries, which includes China, Singapore and Australia.
The musical will run through Sept. 20 at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts from Aug. 28 to Sept. 20.
Tickets cost from 22,000 to 140,000 won. For more information, call 1588-5212.