Regional

Jekyll & Hyde

 (Orange County Performing Arts Center, Costa Mesa; 3,000 seats; $49.50 top)

By TODD EVERETT

Theatrical Group and Fix Prods. present the Alley Theatre, 5th Avenue Musical Theatre and Theatre Under the Stars production of a musical in two acts, based on the novella "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" by Robert Louis Stevenson. Conceived for the stage by Steve Cuden and Frank Wildhorn; music, Wildhorn; book, lyrics, Leslie Bricusse. Director, Gregory Boyd; musical staging, Larry Fuller.
 
Cast: Robert Cuccioli (Henry Jekyll/Edward Hyde), Rob Evan (Orderly), Martin Van Treuren (Sir Danvers Carew/Spider), Dave Clemmons (Bishop of Basingstoke), William Thomas Evans (Sir Archibald Proops), Bob Wrenn (General Lord Glossop), Brad Oscar (Lord Savage/Poole), Sandy Rosenberg (Lady Beaconsfield), Ray McLeod (Simon Stride), Philip Hoffman (Gabriel John Utterson) , Christiane Noll (Lisa Carew), Nita Moore (Nellie), Linda Eder (Lucy Harris), David Roberts (Bissett).
 

An ambitious Gothic musical, "Jekyll & Hyde" is evidently intended as a cross between "Sweeney Todd" and "The Phantom of the Opera." Conceived in the early ' 80s by composer Frank Wildhorn and lyricist Steve Cuden and produced in various incarnations since 1990, "Jekyll" is shallow, amateurish and still far short of finished.

"Jekyll" is the second Leslie Bricusse-Frank Wildhorn musical wending its way to Broadway (the first, "Victor/Victoria," hits there first, this fall), and is further distinguished by the two "cast" albums already on the market, one on RCA Victor Records, the second, more complete version on Atlantic. Songs from the show may be familiar to those who heard them performed at various Winter Olympics, Miss America and World Series shows.

Robert Cuccioli stars as Henry Jekyll, a scientist in Victorian London who aims to separate man's good and evil qualities through chemical means. His request for a grant having been turned down by the local hospital's board of directors, Jekyll attempts to find a volunteer for his experiments. Failing to do so, he tries the potion on himself with calamitous results: He is transformed into the evil Edward Hyde.

Christiane Noll plays Jekyll's fiance, Lisa; Philip Hoffman is Jekyll's best friend, Gabriel John Utterson; and Nita Moore and

Linda Eder portray prostitutes Nellie and Lucy. It's Lucy who falls in love with Jekyll and is victimized by Hyde. The same actor, Martin Van Treuren, portrays Lisa's father and the prostitutes' pimp, but evidently only in order to keep the number of cast members down. Van Treuren is most capable, but if any deeper significance is intended (as it is when the same actor portrays Mr. Darling and Captain Hook in "Peter Pan"), it's lost here.

"Jekyll" asks its cast to make little effort to appear "English." Few of the actors even attempt accents, and at one point a character announces himself as Jekyll's "lawyer," a term unlikely to be used in London, Victorian or otherwise; the correct term would be "solicitor."

While Eder is an impressive presence with a strong pop voice, she's no more convincing as a Soho whore than, say, Andie MacDowell (whom Eder somewhat resembles) would be, and doesn't define much of a character. Cuccioli is far more successful in limning Jekyll and Hyde, an effect created mainly by removing the rubber band from Jekyll's ponytail to let down his shoulder-length hair and raising his voice several decibels while he lurches around the stage. Hoffman, Noll and Moore are impressive in thankless, underwritten roles.

The songs are generic and instantly forgettable, though some of the numbers are staged as if at a pop concert, with singers Cuccioli and Eder alone, centerstage, singing to the audience. At the end of "This Is the Moment," Cuccioli remains in place, seemingly ready to take a bow, before returning to the play's action. One song, "Girls of the Night"-- a showcase for the prostitutes -- adds nothing to the action or story, and could easily be cut, to the show's benefit.

Bricusse's lyrics are alarmingly shoddy -- if there's an obvious rhyme or near-rhyme to be found, he uses it: "Henry Jekyll/You're a devil"; "Look at this: another murder/just like the other murder"; rhyming "well" and "hell" in two songs. This, from the man who wrote the witty "Talk to the Animals."

What wit exists in "Jekyll and Hyde" is found in Jonathan Bixby's costumes, Larry Fuller's choreography (especially the "Cabaret"-reminiscent "Bring on the Men"); Vince Mountain's scenic design and Gregory Meeh's special effects -- though Mountain and Meeh stop short where they would be far more effective in going over the top. Jekyll's laboratory could be even more reminiscent of '30s Universal horror films, and Hyde's murders could be even more grisly. While there are an impaling, a slashed throat and a beheading, several of the other murders are boring and unimaginatively staged.

After a continuing tour, "Jekyll & Hyde" is announced for Broadway in April. Whether it survives the trip without further changes is anybody's guess. But if it does, it's unlikely to be viewed as a highlight of the season.

Sets, Vince Mountain; costumes, Jonathan Bixby; lights, Howell Binkley; sound, Karl Richardson, Scott Stauffer; orchestrations, Kim Scharnberg; musical director, electronic music system design, Jeremy Roberts; conductor, Jason Howland; vocal arrangements, Howland, Wildhorn; hair, Jeffrey Frank; special effects, Gregory Meeh; production stage manager, Michael McEowen. Opened, reviewed Aug. 22, 1995; runs through Aug. 27. Running time: 2 hrs., 43 min.
 

With: Melissa Bell, Lenny Daniel, Heather Douglas, Julia Hughes, Michelle Mallardi, Andie Mellom, Josh Rhodes, Allyson Tucker.