Friday, March 30, 2012

Jekyll & Hyde


I’ve seen all of Repertory Philippines’ productions for this season but remarkably, they’ve all been straight plays so far. Seeing them at Onstage at Greenbelt 1 in Makati has been a very enriching experience with me surprisingly liking the plays offered by the company this season. But at the back of my mind, I knew that I need to have a heavy dose of music since I am more of a musician than a theater person. Finally, that moment came when I saw my first ever musical from Rep Philippines via their production of Jekyll & Hyde during its preview night.

Cris Villongco and Michael Williams

My first encounter with Jekyll & Hyde happened when I heard the song Once Upon a Dream used during the end credits of an Australian network’s coverage of the Winter Olympics back in 1988. The song stuck with me despite not knowing where it came from. It was only a few years later when I found out that the song was from this musical. Since then, I also got to hear and eventually liked a couple of other songs from the musical like Someone Like You and of course, This is the Moment. So after Next Fall and Leading Ladies, it was finally time for Jekyll and Hyde.

Kalila Aguilos

Although I was really looking forward to hearing the music, the first thing that got my attention inside the theater was the set design. The set was that of a Victorian operating theatre where the chorus spent a lot of time at the risers watching the action happening on stage as if they were an extension of the actual audience inside the Onstage theater. Or it could possibly be the other way around with the actual audience being the extension of the chorus.

Jett Pangan and Junix Inocian

Moving away from the chorus and on to the leads, Jett Pangan (Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde) was a revelation to me since I’ve never heard a vibrato from him before. And he did employ that vibrato to full effect when he sang his character’s signature song This is the Moment. Playing the lead which is basically a dual role, Jett Pangan had to dig in deep into his arsenal of acting chops. The other Jekyll/Hyde, Michael Williams mentioned during the post-show conference that he thinks that Pangan possesses this gravity and I think that this gave Pangan presence throughout his performance. But too much of this gravity meant that for me, he was too much Hyde and not enough Jekyll. It was hard for me to see what made his character beloved by his fiancée Emma that was played by Cris Villonco.

Jett Pangan

While it was difficult for me to see the connection between Jekyll and Emma, it was easier when it came to the other woman in Jekyll/Hyde’s life which was the prostitute Lucy played by Kalila Aguilos. The contrast between the two women was clearly seen as Cris has more refined features and voice while Kalila is more raw and edgy. The contrasting vocals were highlighted very well during the duet In His Eyes in which the two had to work hard shifting between registers while still keeping in character in order to get through this difficult number. Someone who didn’t seem to work hard at all was Junix Inocian who made his return to the Philippine stage with this production. Playing the role of Utterson, Dr. Henry Jekyll’s trusted friend and lawyer, Inocian went through his part looking like he didn’t exert any effort at all. He was just simply Utterson.

Junix Inocian

Oddly and quite remarkably, the one thing that gave me the lasting impression in this production was the set. Thankfully, director Menchu Lauchengo-Yulo explained that the set design was among her vision for this musical which is totally different from the original staging. She said that while the chorus was normally off stage in the original production, she gave the chorus a more substantial role here with them being the narration, situation and eventually the emotion. She stressed that she gave the source material a different execution to make it Repertory Philippines’ own take of Jekyll & Hyde. And I think that this was truly the reason why this was such a compelling production. I thought that I knew what I was getting into since I know most of the songs and the story itself, but the very unique and interesting execution really caught my attention.

The cast of Jekyll & Hyde

Now, I do want to have another take of this musical and see Michael Williams, the other Jekyll/Hyde. It’s a good thing that the musical held at Onstage in Greenbelt 1 has been extended up to April 22, 2012 at . Here are the remaining dates and their corresponding Jekyll/Hyde for the rest of the show’s run:

Michael Williams as Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde

March 30, 2012, 8:00 PM
March 31, 2012, 3:30 PM
April 13, 2012, 8:00 PM
April 14, 2012 8:00 PM
April 21, 2012, 8:00 PM
April 22, 2012, 8:00 PM

Jett Pangan as Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde

March 31, 2012, 8:00 PM
April 1, 2012, 3:30 PM
April 14, 2012, 3:30 PM
April 15, 2012, 3:30 PM
April 20, 2012, 8:00 PM
April 21, 2012, 3:30 PM
April 22, 2012, 3:30 PM

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