Six years ago, a solid production of the hyperbolic Goth musical “Jekyll & Hyde” pretty much put a little dinner theater in a Fort Collins warehouse on the local theater map.
Now, another solid, straightforward telling of the demon junkie of Basingstoke just might do for Greeley’s 5-year- old Union Colony Dinner Theatre what it did for the Carousel in 2002.
Union Colony is an intimate, 110-seat loft theater in the heart of downtown, with solid dinner fare. It attracts top students from the University of Northern Colorado’s acclaimed theater program, actors from the community and a dash of Denverites who will drive for food.
That last group includes three of Denver’s top musical thesps — Alison Mueller and Staci Jackson as good/bad girls Emma and Lucy; and Seth Caikowski, who had people buzzing as menacing good/bad guy Jekyll & Hyde in Performance Now’s far more adventurous recent staging.
You’d think that after that widely hailed performance, Caikowski surely would be milking (bleeding?) those same murderous roles all the way to Greeley’s meatpacking plants. But he deferred to a supporting role because he’s just come on staff at the UC and is also the production’s assistant director. So you’ll have to settle for seeing him as the drooling daddy whose dementia triggers the well- meaning Hyde to undergo psychological experiments on himself that don’t exactly cure the disease — but inadvertently manage to wipe Britain’s streets of some supremely moral hypocrites.
The tough title responsibilities instead go here to John Sosna, who, not surprisingly, is a UNC grad, but, surprisingly, was a criminal-justice major. His fine singing voice alone makes it clear how he landed his roles. And he overcomes a placid acting start once his snarling Jekyll arrives on the scene of the crimes. But audiences need to see some of the menace that lives under Jekyll’s civilized surface to really believe when it comes out in Hyde.
It’s is a thankless job, though — hardly any actor ever overcomes the unintentional, snickering silliness of the penultimate song, “Confrontation.” It’s a piece of musical cheese in which one actor must do battle with himself — while singing a mawkish one-man duet.
Faring much better as things go on are the real stars of this musical, society fiancee Emma and battered prostitute Lucy, whose mirrored appeal to the warring sides of Jekyll’s own persona is obvious. The knockout numbers belong to these women — Mueller’s “Once Upon a Dream,” Jackson’s “A New Life” and, especially their high-voltage duet — “In His Eyes,” which alone satisfies as this musical’s reason for being.
“Jekyll & Hyde” is an ensemble vocal showcase, and the 17-member company shows the requisite depth to pull it off right from the big opening number, “Facade.” Though the sets are minimal and the music is canned, these voices fill the room.
Director Cathy Salaymeh doesn’t take any real creative risks, save for a second act that grows far too graphic for even the least squeamish. (Seriously, “Sweeney Todd” is far more disturbing to watch on a stage, and it never shows an actual drop of blood).
But the nits, such as impossibly suburban whores, pale next to what is primarily a vocally realized staging. One that could be improved if Salaymeh could help her Hyde find more primal passion in the first act, and her Lucy to find more toughness in the second. Jackson’s an ingenue nonpareil, with a voice to match. But in character, her Lucy comes across as more Belle (of “Beauty and the Beast”) than a hardened woman of the streets with a hole in her soul.
“J&H” gives audiences much to ponder about man’s duality, and the dark impulses that lurk underneath our civilized surfaces.
But mostly this musical is a chance to sing out. And if this staging is any indication, we may soon be hearing of Union Colony all the way to Denver.
John Moore: 303-954-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com
“Jekyll & Hyde” *** (out of four stars)
Union Colony Dinner Theatre, 802 Ninth St., Greeley. Starring John Sosna, Staci Jackson and Alison Mueller. 2 hours, 20 minutes. Through Oct. 12. 7:45 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, 1:45 p.m. Sundays (dinner 75 minutes before) $34-$36. 970-352-2900,
