Jekyll and Hyde

Weekends are not cut and dried situations for me. I was surprised to get a call from my dear friend whom I haven't seen since Christmas time. So when he invited me out for a night of Repertory's Dr. Jekyll and Hyde, I was doubly pleased.

As it turned out, my shcedule had cleared and Friday evening was another one of those evening when I had nothing better to do. I went out to meet him at Greenbelt. Traffic was terrible, as expected but I managed to get to Starbicks at the appointed time so we can catch up and have dinner prior to the show. We had a light meal and proceeded to the theater to be seated before curtain time.

It was opening night for Jekyll and Hyde and the company's subscribers were in full attendance. I caught a glimpse of Rep's luminaries... Joy Virata, Bibeth Orteza, Menchu Lauchengco Yulo, Michael Williams... to name a few...

Cris Villonco

There was a palpable energy in the air as people were escorted to their seats. I had been looking forward to this performance for most of the week. I haven't watched any of Rep's shows in a while. I'm glad they still pay attention to time. Curtains rose at exactly the right hour. The set was sparse and somewhat akin to an arena or a medical gallery where health care students can view an operation. The show opens with the chorus distributed amongst the sections of the gallery and the main protagonists on the proscenium.

Junix Inocian

Jett Pangan is this particular evening's lead (16 March), playing the dual roles of Henry Jekyll/ Edward Hyde (Michael Williams alternates). His love interests are Cris Villonco as Emma Danvers and Kahlila Aguiluz as Lucy. The musicale is a dark piece on the classic battle between good and evil with libretto and lyrics by Leslie Bricuse. Music is by Frank Wildhorn. Menchu Lauchengco Yulo directs. Dr. Jekyll is the typical quiet physician who's engaged to Emma, the daughter of one of the hospital's board members and Dr. Jekyll's good friend. Unable to convince the hospital board of his need to conduct a study on the processes of the human mind, Jekyll conducts the experiment on himself until he accidentally unleashes the dark, uncontrollable side to his persona... and all hell breaks loose!

Jekyll unwittingly turns into Hyde... the complete opposite of what Jekyll espouses and takes revenge on the board members who scorned his proposition. Hyde's mystery and raw passion is the perfect bait for Lucy's character. Lucy, who's the top rate hostess at the brothel she works for is drawn to Hyde like the proverbial moth to a flame which leads to her undoing in the last stages of the play. Her shady background and willful character makes her turn to Jekyll for his compassion for a wretched girl from the wrong side of the tracks. At the same time her seething passion is ripe for Hyde's crude treatment of her.

The ensemble gave a strong performance. Yulo's direction is straight-forward and seamless. The transitions from scene to scene and character to character were well-thought out. Cris Villonco's voice rang clear as a bell. Aguilos' alto sometimes lacked the power needed to belt out the high notes but she succeeds when resorting to head tones. Junix Inocian, as expected, could very well steal scenes from the leads without meaning to. Yeah... he's that good! 

The revelation though, was Jett Pangan! He croons. He screams. He growls. He caresses. He whispers in his velvety voice that has taken him years in a rock band to master. When he sings his signature song "This is the Moment", he sort of carries you along on his journey to find his place in the sun. He does a creditable job of the song prompting some ovations at the end. I just wish he had a better body that maifested Hyde's rage within. What I failed to see was an audio-video lock where the voice and the body and facial expressions came together in a much stronger performance. Pangan's performance was great, though... I saw him as a performer in a different light...

Catch Repertory Philippines' "Jekyll and Hyde" (Mar. 16-Apr 15, 2012) at the Greenbelt Theater, Makati City.