Author: christophersoden@sbcglobal.net

Created by a team including: Leslie Bricusse, Frank Wildhorn and Steve Cuden, stage musical Jekyll & Hyde certainly casts a new light on Robert Louis Stevenson’s familiar fable. The brilliant Dr. Henry Jekyll, who, attempting to divorce man’s spiritual from his transgressive nature, accidentally taps into his shadow, manifested as Edward Hyde. It’s not long before Hyde becomes dominant. Like the blackouts that come with alcohol abuse, Jekyll awakes with no recollection of Hyde’s crimes. The idealistic scientist can’t deny the rush and exhilaration he experiences every time he drinks his potion, but the longer he continues, the harder to return from the dark realm.

Successfully bold in numerous ways, perhaps a bit improbable in others, Jekyll and Hyde is nonetheless, captivating and entertaining. After Sondheim premiered Sweeney Todd, the idea of setting such content to music was no longer shocking, and the two are notably comparable. Bricusse (Book and Lyrics) Wildhorn (Music) and Cuden (Adaptation) establish a world (19^th Century London) where any appearance of civility is a pretense, merely concealing our petty, vicious impulses from others. This theme is repeated throughout, and Hyde’s atrocities more or less soft-pedaled. His victims are the board members who refused to subsidize his experimentation, and the murders are quick and clean. Hyde is vindicated by punishing hypocrisy. He is able to secure justice in ways unavailable to the altruistic doctor.

Which brings us back to Sondheim Sweeney Todd. The barber Sweeney Todd is horribly wronged by the caste system that enables the privileged class to abuse the dis empowered. When Sweeney shouts his terrible epiphany (wielding a straight-edged razor) “My arm is complete!” we get a chill. He doesn’t use Jekyll’s potion as a device, but like Jekyll, stealth and mayhem are the only remedy for corruption in a corrupt world. Sondheim’s “message” is that surrendering to the id can only end in catastrophe, while Stevenson holds Jekyll unaccountable. Understand, Sondheim makes a compelling case for Todd’s grisly grooming techniques. Strangely though, Sweeney Todd is less ambivalent, but much more subtle.

One of Jekyll and Hyde’s strengths is buffering the ethical questions by putting them in mitigating circumstances. If we follow that path, however, the word “Evil” should never come up, though the point may conceivably be that moral relativism simply doesn’t work. Jekyll & Hyde too often resorts to the cerebral, but in its best moments is exceptionally humane, touching, raucous and introspective. We can all certainly relate to the helpless feeling that comes with sticking to higher ground.

Director Bill Sizemore impressively navigates a piece that is laden with opportunities for cheesiness. It’s not easy to depict subjects like Jekyll’s transformation, prostitution, pubs, and bring something fresh to them. Sizemore uses the limited space well, and the timing is professional and intuitive. Another tricky element here is tone, and Sizemore is genuine and lucid without being didactic. The music is well conceived and executed, the costumes range from striking to outre’. The cast is poised and skilled at sharing their intensity and joviality.

Onstage in Bedford presents Jekyll and Hyde, playing July 8^th-31st, 2016. 2819 Forest Ridge Dr. Bedford, TX 76021. (817) 354-6444. www.onstageinbedford.com

 

Pocket Sandwich Theatre has again brought us a delightful, ridiculous, wonderfully entertaining, popcorn-tossing spoof. No one exploits the preposterous with such giddy cheer as PST. Playwright and actor Nick Haley has written this silly send-up of The Lord of the Rings, though other references to pop culture fly fast and furious-ly. Harry Potter, Donnie Darko and My Little Pony (not to mention painful puns) just to name a few. If you are unacquainted with the sorcery and satire that is PST, well, more’s the pity, but here’s your opportunity to partake of this inspired evening of merriment and mockery. You should know that there will be much throwing of popcorn, both at the brave souls who occupy the stage, and your fellow audience members. By the time you head for the parking lot, you’ll swear it’s been snowing. Audience participation, whether cheering, booing or romantically sighing, is heartily encouraged.

Fido and his Herbbitt friends: Plucky, Simon and Mummer, have been summoned by Dumbledalf to destroy the Sable Impetus, lest The Dark Lord use its powers of invisibility for wickedness and vile purpose. An evil wizard named Gargamot assists The Dark Lord in his despicable plans. The journey is long and arduous with many perils along the way. Not the least of which is the hazards of romance. Haley doesn’t let any grass grow under their feet, there’s plenty of sturm und drang (of the comic melodrama sort) and, in the fine tradition of Looney Tunes, plenty of blue humor nudges to the adults.

[The kids are too busy flinging jiffy pop anyway.] There are titanic battles between Good and Evil, interesting ‘shroom experiments, and creepy, creepy ginormous creatures with a healthy appetite for do-gooders, In Herbbits, Wizards and Borks – Oh My! Pocket Sandwich once again demonstrates their endless capacity for loopy lunacy and imaginative antics.

Rodney Dobbs uses his considerable skill to create a vivid set that is appropriately low-tech, quaint and pragmatic. Director Dennis G. W. Millegan sets just the right tone for this fatuous farce. The actors know how to keep the energy high but the frenzy controlled. What must the performer’s motivation be when he’s about to be swallowed by some huge, crustaceous golly-wog? When a Scottish villain is caterwauling, how much brogue is too much? Somehow Millegan and this brazen and bubbly cast get the chemistry just right. It’s worth noting that in this when there is so much rage and frustration in the news, when emotions are running high and disappointments come at us without mercy, maybe a clever, ticklish comedy like Herbbits, Wizards and Borks – Oh My! is exactly what we need.

Pocket Sandwich Theatre proudly presents : Herbbits, Wizards and Borks – Oh My!, running July 1^st through August 20^th, 2016. 5400 E. Mockingbird Lane. Dallas, TX 75206. (214) 821-4643

 

Theatre Britain’s Old Time Music Hall has a special kind of appeal. It transports us to the time of World War II, and entertainment that included patriotic songs, gentle ballads, and the pleasant wit of Gilbert and Sullivan. The period costumes and intriguing hair-dos, the gracious, genteel delivery of warbling, crooning and seemingly effortless dance cultivate a charming experience, not unlike hearing a song from the 1960’s that touches us with its innocence and lack of cynicism. In the fine tradition of Theatre Britain pantos, audience participation is encouraged in singalongs, and cringe-worthy gags prevail.

Alex and Greg have a four-year-old son named Jake. Alex wants to get Jake into an erudite school, so we find her nervously preparing his resume: writing an essay, answering questionnaires, consulting books to improve his chances. Judy is the principal of the kindergarten that Jake currently attends. She and Alex are close friends and this has several advantages. Judy knows and loves Jake, Alex and Greg, so she can coach Alex as she applies Jake to prestigious schools. During a strategy session she essentially recommends that Alex mention Jake’s (for lack of a better term) gender-fluid worldview. This sets a series of incidents in motion.

Alex and Greg are well beyond progressive. They do not mind when Jake likes to dress as a princess, say, like Cinderella. They don’t have meltdowns when Jake identifies with female characters. Alex is a bit leery about following Judy’s advice, but she’s been assured that the current trend towards diversity will work in her favor. It’s only when Jakes wishes to go trick-or-treating in female persona that the situation begins to deteriorate. Greg and Alex do not shame him, but it’s a challenging ordeal. Suddenly Jake is acting out, defiant to authority figures, showing signs of personal crisis.

Playwright Daniel Pearle has created a subtle, sharp, even fanciful at times, exploration of the intense and pervasive impact of gender, and how best to love those dearest to us. Pearle strips away layers from Alex and Greg and their marriage, and the buried, tumultuous issues left unacknowledged. A Kid Like Jake considers how certain events are shaped by the attitudes brought to them. It examines the crucible of wrestling with the expectations and constraints of those around us. Pearle takes a loaded topic (laden with pain) and handles it with grace and precision.

Jenny Ledel (Alex) Ian Ferguson (Greg) Christie Vela (Judy) Kia Boyer (Nurse)

Second Thought Theatre presents A Kid like Jake, playing June 29^th-June 23^rd, 2016. Bryant Hall on the Kalita Humphreys Campus. 3636 Turtle Creek Blvd, Dallas, Texas 752193 info@secondthoughttheatre.com 1-866-811-4111.