Jekyll & Hyde (Dance)

I wonder what it's doing for ticket sales to have both at the same time. is anyone seeing both?

I preferred Frankenstein to this - though this was fairly diverting and it was very warmly applauded at the end (partial standing ovation) by others.

The deal:
One hour 50 with a 20 minute interval.
Set in the 1950s. Dr Jekyll is a florist.
It reminded me of 'Little Shop of Horrors' (lots of dancing with flowers) with a touch of West Side Story (lots of fire escapes.) Overall it felt like a musical - without songs or dialogue.
The best bits were the Jekyll to Hyde transformations and the lighting was excellent.
And there were tonnes of props - which were giving them some grief.
A slip only in the programme announced that the Hyde understudy was on, which meant a bit of shifting amongst the cast, but I would never have known. Hyde was very strong and had to do some scary stuff - like a jump from a ledge to almost on top of a dancer prone on a bed.
The music was serviceable but not special.
We had great £10 PWC seats in the dress circle (row E), and the show was fine, but we'd somehow had expected something more powerful/cutting edge. I'm not really sure what they wanted to say with this production - the funny bits weren't quite funny enough and the scary/eerie bits (with a couple of exceptions) weren't alarming enough.
But I'll be interested to hear what others think.

It's an interesting one. A very "family-and-friends" audience who were completely onside before the show started.

The cast are great, but the story-telling less so. I loved the design, though it was a was a tad confused. They're dressed for the 1950's, yet the set looks Victorian. The score however is gorgeous.

One of my favourite theatrical experiences was DRUNK and this, unfortunately just doesn't match up. Not as bold or exciting, and after having seen just about everything McOnie has done in the last 18 months, is nothing new!

He's never done ballet. This isn't ballet. He's a musical theatre choreographer. 

I have 1 ticket for Jeckyll and Hyde for this Saturday 28th but unfortunately I can't go due to change of plans. Happy to sell for £25 - bought it for £45 - good seat in the stalls

Some of them will be, yes. ;-)

I actually saw it last Saturday. Quite a friendly audience then as well, particularly the gentleman sitting next to me.

I thought it was ok. Several dancers were apparently substituting according to the note out front but that didn't matter as I though they were all very good. The choreography is very repetitive though. I know someone further up mentioned they don't like Matthew Bourne's stuff but I actually prefer his shows. The variety within the choreography is much bigger there and they entertain more. Although it finished at 9.30pm, I felt it dragged a bit.

Had a PWC seat in W somewhere in the middle with a great view so no complaints about that.

I also caught the matinee. However, my reaction was quite different. The dancers are indeed good and while some of the choreography is a bit repetitive, there are some good touches, such as the first transformation. However, my main issue is with the story. Why take a great gothic horror with masses of dramatic potential and turn it into a terrible story of a put upon florist? Just as serious drama arose, it would be punctuated with a funny turn breaking up the flow of the story. For example, after Hyde first kills we were subjected to Jekyll judging a flower competition where the guys brought on their increasing large (phallic) flowers followed by the girls with their (I kid you not) nicely trimmed little bushes! Overall, it was all too much “feed me, Seymour” for me.

The opening post wanted this to surpass Frankenstein – some hope! And as for challenging Matt Bourne – not with this, I’m afraid.