Run, Don’t Stroll, to Kokandy Productions’ “Jekyll & Hyde”

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When I insist that Chicago is the best theater metropolis on the earth, I’m including this manufacturing of “Jekyll & Hyde” to my listing of explanation why.

Kokandy Productions’ ghoulish, campy romp from 2025 has been remounted on the Broadway Playhouse with Broadway in Chicago, and I dare you to try to have a foul time. It received’t occur. This pop-rock musical, circa 1990, primarily based on “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” by Robert Louis Stevenson, is a crowd-pleasing present of its time. Written by Frank Wildhorn and Leslie Bricusse, the musical runs by way of Dr. Jekyll’s persona experiments at breakneck velocity with a rollicking soundtrack and impeccable choreography by Brenda Didier.

The fascinating duality of this story, by which Dr. Jekyll tries to eradicate man’s insanity/darkness from the nice, is exquisitely depicted in easy however efficient slight costume and make-up modifications designed by Rachel Sypniewski and Syd Genco, respectively. Many characters play each a member of “proper” Victorian society in addition to a member of its seedier underbelly. A divinely depraved Quinn Kelch, as an example, oscillates between Simon Stride and Spider with a easy eyepatch (and Kelch’s impeccable face card).

Personally, I’m removed from a Jekkie—somebody who’s a faithful fan of the musical. This musical isn’t one I significantly like or would take heed to for enjoyable. But beneath the cautious course of Derek Van Barham, it’s clear instantly why this manufacturing was remounted so shortly. Set in a Victorian working theater (designed by Sotirios Livaditis), Barham directs this present with surgical precision. Every motion, sneer and dastardly plot is hit in a means that metamorphoses this story into all its iterations, from tragic warning to like story.

At the middle of that story is David Moreland. Moreland’s dexterity in flipping between Dr. Jekyll and Edward Hyde is astounding, particularly on the velocity of a musical’s metronome. At occasions, flailing across the stage, throwing himself in opposition to the multipurpose working desk, Moreland by no means appears to lose his sense of self—ironic, to make sure. Despite the altering personas, every change is crisp, with none overlapping the opposite. Jekyll and Hyde are in good arms with Moreland.

So too is the case for the nice physician’s companions, Gabriel John Utterson (Kevin Webb) and Sir Danvers Carew (Nathan Calaranan). Webb’s unimaginable vocality incessantly breaks by way of the group in ensemble scenes, and watching his character evolve by way of scenes equivalent to “Bring on the Men” is past pleasant. At the identical time, Calaranan’s quiet energy is effectively met in scenes together with his daughter Emma (Emily McCormick), whose songs lend a contact of humanity to the present.

Ava Lane Stovall’s showstopping numbers as Lucy Harris are additionally to not be missed. Stovall’s energy ballads are at occasions each a cry of independence and a cry for assist as Lucy tries desperately to get out of the intercourse commerce. Though the musical would have benefitted from making the ladies’s roles a bit extra assorted and giving Emma and Lucy a bit extra stage time, that’s a gripe for one more day.

Kokandy Production’s “Jekyll & Hyde” on the Broadway Playhouse, 175 East Chestnut, by way of November 8.