Jack Wagner takes over the lead in Jekyll & Hyde on Broadway From the Jekyll & Hyde website:

RECORDING ARTIST, TV AND STAGE STAR JACK WAGNER MAKES HIS BROADWAY DEBUT JANUARY 25 IN TITLE ROLES OF JEKYLL & HYDE

ANDREA RIVETTE AND COLEEN SEXTON ARE NEW EMMA AND LUCY; KATE SHINDLE, MISS AMERICA 1998, ALSO JOINS THE CAST OF THE HIT MUSICAL, NOW IN ITS 3rd KILLER YEAR AT THE PLYMOUTH THEATRE

Broadway's Jekyll & Hyde has a new doctor in the house. Recording artist and stage and television star Jack Wagner ("Melrose Place," "General Hospital") will assume the roles of Dr. Jekyll and his evil alter ego, Mr. Hyde in the hit musical, now in its third killer year at the Plymouth Theatre (236 West 45th Street, between Broadway and Eighth Avenue, New York City). Mr. Wagner's first performance will be Tuesday, January 25th.

In other Jekyll & Hyde news, Andrea Rivette will join the Broadway company as Emma Carew, Dr. Jekyll's sympathetic fiance, after playing the role of Emma in the current National Tour of Jekyll & Hyde. Coleen Sexton, a current member of the Broadway Jekyll & Hyde ensemble, will be the production's new Lucy Harris, the doomed nightclub singer who attracts the attention of both the good doctor and his sinister other half. Ms. Rivette and Ms. Sexton will also assume their roles on January 25th.

Mr. Wagner, Ms. Rivette and Ms. Sexton replace departing cast members Robert Evan, Anastasia Barzee and Luba Mason, who will play the final performance on Sunday, January 23rd.

The romantic, sweeping ballads from Jekyll & Hyde have traditionally been a favorite talent selection of Miss American contestants, but now the Broadway company has a genuine Miss America in its ranks. Kate Shindle, Miss America 1998, recently joined the cast as an ensemble member and understudy for the role of Lucy.

Jack Wagner (Jekyll/Hyde) will be making his Broadway debut in Jekyll & Hyde. Mr. Wagner is best known to television audiences for his roles as Dr. Peter Burns in "Melrose Place," and as Frisco Jones in the daytime drama "General Hospital," for which he received an Emmy Nomination as Best Young Actor. He also made his television directorial debut with "Melrose Place". Mr. Wagner has also starred in over a dozen television movies of the week and was co-executive producer of the television movie, Echo. Although Mr. Wagner is best known for his television work, his theatrical credits include over 30 theatrical productions around the country, including West Side Story, National Tour (Tony), Grease, National Tour (Danny), They're Playing Our Song at Long Beach Civic Light Opera, The Odd Couple (Felix), The Country Wife (Homer), Godspell (Jesus), Split at the Beverly Hills Playhouse, Butterfly (Pink) at Goodspeed Opera House, Oliver (Mr. Bumble), Fiddler on the Roof (Perchik), The Mousetrap (Det. Sgt. Trotter), to name a few. Mr. Wagner is also an established singer-songwriter, signing with Quincy Jones' label Quest in the mid-1980s. His first single release was the #1 smash hit "All I Need," followed by three more albums and several top 40 singles. He is an avid golfer and holds nine titles to his credit, seven as an amateur and two as a professional. He is a native of Missouri, now residing in Los Angeles, CA., with his wife, actress Kristina Wagner and their two boys.

Andrea Rivette (Emma) joins the Broadway company of Jekyll & Hyde after having played Emma in the current National Tour. On Broadway, Andrea was the understudy for Ellen, the American GI's wife, in Miss Saigon. She eventually assumed that role in the Second National Touring Company to critical acclaim. Favorite regional credits include Christine in Yeston/Kopit's Phantom, Magnolia in Show Boat, The Baker's Wife in Into the Woods and Luisa in The Fantasticks.

Coleen Sexton (Lucy) made her Broadway debut in the ensemble of Jekyll & Hyde and had been understudying the roles of Emma and Lucy. She recently finished work on an album and musical television series in Europe. Her other theatrical credits include Singin' in the Rain at Paper Mill Playhouse, Maggie in A Chorus Line and the Narrator in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Kate Shindle (Ensemble) obtained her B.S. in theatre from Northwestern University in 1999 and is making her Broadway debut in Jekyll & Hyde. Favorite credits include Into the Woods (Witch), Children of Eden (Yonah) and City of Angels (Bobbi/Gabby). Kate has traveled extensively as an AIDS activist and as Miss America 1998.

Jekyll & Hyde continues to thrill audiences in its phenomenal third year on Broadway. The production celebrated its 1,000th performance in September and has broken the all-time house record at the Plymouth Theatre on three occasions. Additionally, the show has won a legion of repeat visitors, dubbed by the press as the "Jekkies," with some hardcore fans having seen the show more than 400 times.

An evocative tale of romance and the epic battle between good and evil, Jekyll & Hyde brings new life to Robert Louis Stevenson's classic story. A whirlwind odyssey pitting man against himself, is set in motion when the brilliant Dr. Jekyll's medical experiment backfires, giving life to Edward Hyde, his evil alter ego.

Jekyll & Hyde debuted at Houston's Tony Award-winning Alley Theatre, breaking box office records, and playing to sold-out houses. A subsequent production was presented at Houston's Theatre Under the Stars. A recording, based upon the former production, was released and yielded the hit songs, "Someone Like You" and "This is the Moment" and has sold more than 150,000 copies to date.

Jekyll's success story gained momentum when stars such as Liza Minnelli and The Moody Blues started performing and recording songs from the show. A new version of the complete score was recorded by Atlantic Records, which has sold more than 100,000 double CD's and continues to sell briskly.

Leslie Bricusse, the internationally renowned writer-composer-lyricist, has written songs for such motion pictures as Goldfinger; You Only Live Twice; Doctor Dolittle; Scrooge; Goodbye, Mr. Chips; Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory; Superman; Victor/Victoria; Santa Claus; Home Alone; Hook; Tom & Jerry; and various Pink Panthers. Stage productions include Stop the World..., The Roar of the Greasepaint, Pickwick, Scrooge, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Dolittle, in London's West End. Mr. Bricusse has enjoyed fruitful musical collaborations with Henry Mancini, John Williams, John Barry, Anthony Newley and Frank Wildhorn. He has been nominated for 10 Academy Awards, eight Grammys and four Tony Awards (including Jekyll & Hyde), and has won two Oscars, a Grammy and eight Ivor Novello Awards (the Premier British Songwriting Award). He was elected to the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1989.

Frank Wildhorn was the first American composer in nearly 25 years to have three original musicals running simultaneously on Broadway. His compositions have spanned the worlds of popular musical to ballet, and from stage to film and television. Artists which have recorded and performed his songs include: Whitney Houston, Kenny Rogers, Natalie Cole, Sammy Davis, Jr., Julie Andrews, Liza Minnelli, The Moody Blues, Tricia Yearwood, Peabo Bryson, Linda Eder, Betty Buckley, John Raitt, Brenda Russell, Tracy Lawrence, Michael Feinstein, Jeffrey Osborne and Carl Anderson. Upcoming musical scores/productions include Havana and Svengali. Frank is Creative Director of Atlantic Records' new division, Atlantic Theatre, and an Associate Artist of the Alley Theatre.

Robin Phillips has been associated with some of the world's most prestigious institutions, including the Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford Festival Theatre and Lincoln Center. He has directed some of the greatest names in the theatre, including Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Dame Maggie Smith in Antony and Cleopatra, Sir Peter Ustinov in King Lear, Sir John Guilgud in Caesar and Cleopatra and Denzel Washington in the New York Shakespeare Festival production of Richard III, as well as Cyrano and Richard III with Tony Award winner Brent Carver, among countless others. Among his numerous film credits, he played David Copperfield for Twentieth Century Fox. He also directed the lauded Canadian and U.S. touring productions of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Aspects of Love. Mr. Phillips' opera credits include his direction of the Canadian Opera Company's acclaimed production of Berlioz's Beatrice et Benedict. Mr. Phillips is the recipient of the New York Drama Desk Award and American Theatre Wing Design Award for Jekyll & Hyde.

Produced by SFX Theatrical Group and FOX Theatricals in association with Jerry Frankel and The Landmark Entertainment Group, Jekyll & Hyde features Scenic Design by Robin Phillips with James Noone, Costume Design by Ann Curtis, Lighting Design by Beverly Emmons, Properties and Set Dressing by Christina Poddubiuk, Sound Design by Karl Richardson and Choreography by Joey Pizzi. Orchestrations are by Kim Scharnberg, Musical Supervision by Jeremy Roberts, Musical Direction by Jason Howland, Vocal arrangements by Jason Howland and Ron Melrose and Music Coordination by John Miller.

Jekyll & Hyde also features Special Effects Design by Gregory Meeh, Wig Design by Paul Huntley and Fight Coordination by J. Allen Suddeth. David Hyslop is Production Stage Manager and Gary Gunas of SFX Theatrical Group is Executive Producer.

Jekyll & Hyde is also on tour across America and a German company is currently enjoying sold-out business in Bremen. A London production is also in the planning stages.

The performance schedule for Jekyll & Hyde is Tuesday through Saturday at 8:00 p.m., with matinees on Wednesday and Saturday at 2:00 p.m., and Sunday at 3:00 p.m. Ticket prices range from $45-$80. For tickets and information call Tele-Charge at (212) 239-6200. A select number of $20 tickets are available, day of performance only, at the Plymouth Theatre box office (beginning 10:00 a.m. daily.)


Thanks to Gretchen for alerting me to the rumor back in December and thanks to Susi for confirming this for me.


Previous entry | Next entry | Back to Archives | Back to The Place


1
Hosted by www.Geocities.ws