Halloween came a little early at Lyric Stage this past weekend. The company continued its 31st season with the haunting and violent Jekyll & Hyde musical. In its dark scapes of scenery and eerie lighting, the musical was big on atmosphere, but it shined bright under Michael Serrecchia’s direction and an impressive cast led by an exceptional performance from Cameron Vargas.
The actor played the titular characters and at Saturday’s matinee, he was dialed in to the character wholeheartedly. Embodying Dr. Jekyll, Vargas was earnest and bookish but also conveyed that air of slight arrogance that comes with genius. As the future husband to Emma, Vargas’ Jekyll was charming but also aloof with his focus on a new breakthrough to separate good from evil inside people which he believed happened to his father ending up in an asylum.
When Vargas shifted into Hyde, there were no changes in his look outside of tousled hair. But Vargas dove deep into an entirely demented portrayal where he used his whole body to portray Hyde. Vargas distorted his face to a wondrous effect that didn’t make Hyde scary, but more chilling. But we also see the inner conflict. Vargas almost battled himself with intelligence as each persona took over. That he’s also onstage for almost the entire show added to his remarkable feat of a performance.
His conviction also relied on the cast around him and with zero weak links, the strong cast not only lifted Vargas’ performance but the entire show.
As dichotomous love interests, Julia Rose Hartman and Nicoel Brady-Chen were both strong to varying degrees. Hartman played the tavern dancer Lucy with a dark sensuality but also a hardened side. But the actor gave her a subtle vulnerability underneath Lucy’s allure. Hartman was in complete control of her character and had a magnetic verve to her performance that kept all eyes on her.
In contrast, Brady-Chen’s Emma was the more pure and softer woman in Jekyll’s life, but hardly a reductive performance by the actor. She was a powerhouse singer with a distinct sensitivity. The character itself never quite seemed fleshed out, but Brady-Chen did bring an accessibility to Emma.
Hunter Lewis played Jekyll’s friend John Utterson with an amiable touch. His concern and sympathy for Jekyll felt evident and sincere. As Emma’s father and associate of Jekyll, Hector Garcia gave a distinguished performance and he certainly knew how to take a punch.
Ben Meaders, Doug Fowler, Christine Phelan and AJ Martinez all played the Board of Governors at the hospital Jekyll is pitching his work to. The characters dismiss him and each actor brought a distinct flair to their role in doing so. Fowler served up some Conclave realness as the area bishop while Meaders was snide as the board secretary Simon. Phelan and Martines brought some levity with the stuffy and judgy Lady Beaconsfield and Lord Savage.
Serrecchia’s direction gave emphasis to the show’s drama and scenes of exposition breathed with life even despite all the murders. Scott Guenther’s production design used every inch of that stage taking actors up high for dramatic effect with clever staging and set pieces filling out the space. Tricia Guenther’s costuming was impeccable. The costumes were cut and fitted ideally to each of the 22 actors. That may be perhaps she also choreographed the show and clearly understood each would be moving a lot throughout the production. Her choreo was effective and exciting.
I debated this with my plus-one about the lack of blood in the show. As gory as the story is, there was no blood and instead depicted through deep red lighting. This almost belied the gruesomeness of J&H but with all the savage knifing and clubbing, that would be a major clean-up job every time.
Distinct props to music director Larry Miller and his band of players. Early on (and without looking at the program), I was surprised Lyric was “using” recorded music. Later, it clicked that there was a full band delivering an astonishingly crystal clear sound. Michael Dooley’s drums kinda gave it away for me and no, that’s not a criticism.
Lyric’s production of Jekyll & Hyde was quite sensational. The show was an exhilarating experience where everything fell into place just right.
The show runs through April 19.