Seacoast Rep Presents JEKYLL AND HYDE

The Seacoast Repertory Theatre is serving up a Halloween-season gothic treat with its production of Jekyll & Hyde, a rock-and-roll musical version of the classic Robert Louis Stevenson story.

Jekyll & Hyde opens September 16 at the Rep. It tells the dark tale of a scientist whose self-experiment with a mental health treatment intended to banish evil goes horribly wrong.

The story explores the nature of good and evil. But the Seacoast Rep's production will be rocking it out, playing up the horrors for seasonal thrills, backed with a rock-and-roll score.

"It's all the aesthetics that you love of Halloween in New England," said Brandon James, the Seacoast Rep's co-artistic director.

"It's gruesome. It's murders. It's dark and scary. It's thrilling. It's a perfect tie-in with the spooky time of year."

Jekyll & Hyde, written by Frank Wildhorn and Steve Cuden, was first staged in 1990 and became widely popular after opening on Broadway in 1997.

It is based on Stevenson's novella, "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde." The story depicts Jekyll's search for a cure to the evil he blames for a mental illness that has left his father in an asylum and unconscious.

Jekyll experiments on himself, but the treatment transforms him into a murderously evil alternate personality, Edward Hyde, who leaves a trail of corpses through 19th century London.

"There will be blood," James said. "We're definitely leaning electric and dark and Gothic." Ben Hart, James' partner as co-artistic director, plays the lead role in the production. It is directed by Brett Mallard, a longtime Seacoast Rep veteran known for his skill with edgier productions.

In a cast with both familiar and new faces, Seacoast Rep resident artist Andrea Lyons plays Jekyll's fiancée, Emma Carew, and Jennifer Sue Rockwell plays Lucy, a prostitute who falls in love with Jekyll.

Resident artists Jason Faria and Alyssa Dumas choreographed the production, and metal artist David Walters has constructed an intricate steel set filled with surprise elements.

Some versions of Jekyll & Hyde have used an acoustic score. The Seacoast Rep's, like the original and recent revivals, will be amplified rock and roll.

"We are dialing up the rock aspect of it," James said.

"And we're going a bit anachronistic on the costumes," he said. "It is definitely set in Victorian England. But instead of a perfectly hemmed and period-appropriate ascot or tailcoat on a gentleman, you'll get a leather jacket. So we're putting the Rep's spin on things and presenting a new fresh take on Jekyll & Hyde."

The story's thematic threads of mental health and the nature of evil fit loosely with the Rep's 2021 seasonal theme of "recovery." But James said this production represents more of a well-deserved escapist treat for the audience.

"We are really giving you something electric and exciting for the Halloween season," he said.

Jekyll & Hyde runs Sept. 16-November 6. Seacoast Rep show times are generally Thursdays at 7:30, Fridays at 8 pm, Saturdays at 2 pm and 8 pm, and Sundays at 2 pm and 8 pm. Tickets are available through the Seacoast Rep box office at 603-433-4472, or online at Seacoastrep.org/tickets. For student discounts, call the box office. The Seacoast Repertory Theatre's 2021 season is sponsored in part by MacEdge and Bondgarden Farm.

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