While the 1941 horror film “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” popularized Scottish author Robert Lewis Stevenson’s 1886 Gothic novel “Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” in modern U.S. culture, the cast of the Evergreen Playhouse is preparing to perform a new retelling of the classic horror tale — “Jekyll and Hyde The Musical,” directed by Danielle Kays.
Performances of “Jekyll and Hyde The Musical” are scheduled for every Friday and Saturday between Oct. 17 and Nov. 2 at 7:30 p.m., with a 2 p.m. matinee show every Sunday as well at the Evergreen Playhouse, located at 226 W. Center St. in Centralia.
Tickets are $20 for adults, and $17 for students and seniors. The Thursday “Pay What You Can” performance is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 23, at 7:30 p.m.
“At first glance, Henry Jekyll believes his work is noble; an experiment he is sure he can control, as if mastering man’s nature were only a matter of will or a puzzle to solve. But games, once begun, write their own rules,” Kays stated in the musical’s director’s note. “Jekyll and Hyde is a story about those rules unraveling, about the fragile lines we draw between good and evil, reputation and desire, light and shadow, and the masks we wear.”
This duality goes beyond the musical’s main character and namesake.
“Every actor cast in the ensemble inhabits both wealth and poverty, revealing the fractures and facades of a divided society. Stride and Spider are played by the same person, reminding us that respectability and corruption are not opposites, but neighbors under the skin. Emma and Lucy stand apart, not doubled, but already mirrors of one another; two reflections of love, desire, and vulnerability. In every role, the surface may shift, but what lies beneath is never far away,” Kays added.
The cast list for Jekyll and Hyde The Musical is as follows:
• Jekyll and Hyde, played by Matthew Michael
• Utterson, played by Seth MacNeely
• Sir Danvers, played by Robert Kam who is also part of the ensemble
• Emma Carew, played by Brittany Wilcox
• Lucy Harris, played by Makaelynn Manning
• Stride and Spider, played by Xane Burns who is also part of the ensemble
• Lady Beaconsfield, played by Michelle Koenen who is also part of the ensemble
• Bishop, played by Derek Wilson who is also part of the ensemble
• Lord Savage, played by Dave Marsh who is also part of the ensemble
• General Glossop, played by George Dougherty who is also part of the ensemble
• Proops, played by Christopher Crow who is also part of the ensemble
• Nellie, played Emilie Brown who is also part of the ensemble and cast dance captain
• Poole, Eliza Conner who is also part of the ensemble
• Bissett, played by Olivia Chaney who is also part of the ensemble
• Red Rat and Newsboy, played by Izumi Huff who is also part of the ensemble
• Red Rat, played by Erika Skorstad who is also part of the ensemble
• Red Rat, played by Kody Paterson who is also part of the ensemble
Choreography for the musical was handled by Alanna Knudsen, with Matthew Hawkins as stage manager and costumes by Shari Blackwell and Asia Conner. Costume alterations were done by Leslie Huff. Prop and set design was done by Alene Stewart and Carolyn Skye, with Mark Pendleton leading set construction.
Zach Meyers is the sound board manager joined by Cora Dailey managing the light board, and lighting design was handled by the director, Kays.
Book ‘n’ Brush in Chehalis is sponsoring the musical.
To purchase tickets to Jekyll and Hyde The Musical, or for more information including the musical’s full program, visit Evergreen Playhouse’s website at https://evergreenplayhouse.com/events/jekyll.
