November 7th-November 23rd, 2008
The Barn Players

I really feel sorry for prostitutes sometimes...and that disturbs me. From Jack the Ripper, to the sad state of affairs in Les Miserables, to countless episodes of Law & Order, it’s hard not to figure out that they have a timeless, built-in victim mentality. Jekyll & Hyde races through the duality of one-man’s psyche and the juxtaposition of societal roles the female characters play in the story.

Emma, Dr. Henry Jekyll’s fiancé played by Megan Pasley, is the gorgeous, privileged daughter of Sir Danvers Carew (Lee Finch). She believes in Henry’s experiments, though the powers that be thwart his every move, mostly in the name of Victorian religious…duality. It turns out that every self-righteous person on the Board of Governors at St. Jude’s Hospital leads a life of holiness by day and heinousness by night.

The prostitute, Lucy Harris (Laura Jacobs), dreams of a better life for herself after Jekyll, Played by Patrick Lewallen, speaks nicely to her at The Red Rat, a house of terminally ill repute. Jekyll has been drawn there to have merry drink before his impending nuptials to Emma.

Then the…gist…hits the fan. Henry has a revelation that brings him to “sip his own tea”, as it were, and proceeds to document the changes that occur as a result. Seeing him shoot up his various concoctions brings to mind modern culture in a snap. The drug, as if it were meth, oxycontin, or heroin, has a personality of its own and causes an uninhibited alter ego to wreak havoc on the town. And take revenge on his sinning-saint enemies.

The performances were mixed in this production. Lewallen and Pasley were phenomenal, despite microphone problems that cause Pasley’s voice to sputter into oblivion sometimes. However, don’t miss her singing. Her doll face and angelic voice are worth sitting through a few technical issues. Lewallen can hold a high note for a really long time and I think that is really cool. Lee Finch, who played Emma’s father, didn’t speak or sing with the English accent, which sounded a little out of place. Laura Jocobs, the prostitute, is a really good actress with some inconsistency in her vocal capabilities. “Dangerous Game”, the sexy second-act song between Lucy and Hyde, however, is…better than porn? The chemistry between the actors was an actor in and of itself.

My favorite ensemble song was “Murder, Murder” at the opening of the second act. It seemed as though the ensemble gelled, finally. There were moments in the first act where I wondered about the professionalism, which isn’t always a salient feature of community theater, of some of the players. All in all, the show pulls itself together, and the many captivating parts of the show make the whole worth seeing.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars for the two strong leads
3 out of 5 stars for the rest