Review of "Jekyll & Hyde"

• Civic's 'Jekyll and Hyde' not fully
  realized
  
  Female leads among high points of musical, but overall production does not come together
  
  Friday, September 13, 2002
  
  BY ROGER LELIEVRE
  News Arts Writer
  
  
  Ann Arbor Civic Theater chose an ambitious project with its season opener, "Jekyll and Hyde." Too ambitious, perhaps. Like the tortured soul at this tragedy's center, AACT's production suffers from a split personality.
  
  There are some fine moments during which the musical almost soars, and a near-equal number of times when J&H seems about to grind to an agonizing halt.
  
  The story, based on Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novella, is familiar: Young doctor Henry Jekyll (Anthony J. Provenzola), determined to find a cure for the madness that afflicts his father, tries to isolate the elements of good and evil that struggles within each human being. He uses himself as a guinea pig to disastrous ends, giving birth to the homicidal Henry Hyde, his alter ego.
  
  Here's the good news. Jekyll's fiancee Emma (Emily Raymond), and Lucy (Pamela Vachon), the bar girl he is drawn to both as Jekyll and Hyde, are the show's twin shining lights. Vachon's "Someone Like You" and Raymond's "Once Upon A Dream," two of lyricist Leslie Bricusse and composer Frank Wildhorn's most memorable songs, are perfectly delivered by two outstanding talents. Community theater doesn't get much better than this.
  
  A strong supporting cast, among them Bob Skon (lawyer John Utterson), Brad Vincent (Sir Danvers Carew) and Jordan St. John (the hypocritical cleric the Bishop of Basinstoke), also prove up to the challenge the show provides. Vincent especially adds an air of dignity to the proceedings, while St. John is a marvel of outrageous facial expressions and haughty demeanor.
  
  Unfortunately, Provenzola, as the good (and bad) doctor, falls short, although he gives it his all.
  
  There is simply not enough difference between Provenzola's Jekyll and his Hyde. As Jekyll he looks appropriately conscience-stricken. As Hyde he looks, well, like Jekyll in a dark cloak.
  
  Some kind of mask or wig might have made all the difference. Screaming out the lyrics to his songs (in this case "Alive") does not add to the menace; it just makes the lyrics unintelligible.
  
  Provenzola's somewhat thin voice is fine for gentlemanly Jekyll, but is just not up to the challenges of the monstrously evil Hyde.
  
  The ensemble numbers are also problematic, running in what feels sometimes like slow motion. Many of the dancers look unsure of themselves, perhaps uninspired by choreography that seems to involve lots of moving to the left, right and back, an occasional hand gesture and little else. "Murder, Murder," which opens the second act, is particularly endless, with its clumsy dancing and sloppy singing.
  
  At show's end, the audience seemed appreciative, with many members rising to their feet for a standing ovation.
  
  That's one of the joys of community theater: Be the show good, evil or somewhere in between, the crowd is usually on your side and the critic be damned.
  
  Ann Arbor Civic Theatre's "Jekyll & Hyde" continues at 8 p.m. tonight and Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday, at Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre, 911 N. University Ave. For reservations call (734) 763-TKTS.