Rating: 
Summary: Polar opposites?
Review: Perhaps it's fitting that for the musical "Jekyll & Hyde", which concerns itself with the duality of man, that the quality of the production is at times superb, and at times atrocious.This is, without a doubt, the most well-filmed Broadway stage musical I have ever seen. It also contains some of the poorest performance as well. Unfortunately, "10 high-definition cameras" cannot make up for the fact that David Hasselhoff is lousy in the title role. His singing is weak, his acting is weaker. This is the man who was responsible for closing the show's New York run; what more need be said? It's too bad the producers of this DVD didn't choose to film the cast which toured the US two years ago. Not only did that cast feature the superb Chuck Wagner as the title characters, but it was far more well staged. It also included songs that had previously been cut from the Broadway incarnation; "I Need to Know", "Bring on the Men", and others. As this DVD stands, it is all too obviously a last-ditch moneymaking scheme by the producers of the show, which closed shortly after this was filmed. Good production values, good supporting cast; but 85% of the time, the stage is occupied by Hasselhoff. Which means that 85% of the time, I'm thinking about turning the volume down and listening to either Anthony Warlow or Bob Cuccioli instead.
Rating:
Summary: Please, Stop the Madness
Review: I was very surprised to see that so many people enjoyed this version of Jekyll & Hyde, though I might ask why. David Hasselhoff is understandable (who gives this guy the idea that he can sing?) but the rest of this cast wasn't much better. Coleen Sexton's voice is extremely whiney and at times she looks like she's struggling to hit the high notes. Linda Eder did a much better job than she did and the role of Lucy is an alto role, not a soprano role. Andrea Rivette, I also didn't like much, she sounded like she was singing through her nose and her wig is just awful. Is Emma Always doomed to have terrible hair? On the plus side, she's better than Sexton. The rest of the cast isn't that great except for George Merritt and Barrie Ingham, they were just outstanding. If you want to hear them sing, buy the cd version of this where you'll hear much better singing and no Hasselhoff
Rating: 
Summary: So - so
Review: Hmm... Knight Rider singing? That's new. Okay for an amateur but definitely not acceptable for Broadway performance. What an embarrassment (and a slap on the faces of REAL talents not given the opportunity to play the role because they're not high-profile talentless celebrities). To the show's credit, the other performances are okay.
Rating: 
Summary: Great show, bad example
Review: I'm a huge musical fan and I must say that Jekyll and Hyde is absolutely one of my favorite shows.
Before seeing Mr. Hasselhoff's version of the film I had seen Sebastian Bach live in the role of Jekyll and had also listened to Robert Cuccioli (my personal favorite) in the soundtrack extensively, and I have to say that of the three most famous men to play the role, Hasselhoff is not exactly my favorite.
He simply does not do as well as the leading man of a Broadway show should. His vocals are mediocre at best, and pale in comparison to Bach and Cuccioli.
His performance, however, is not to say by any means that this show or this film in specific is bad. It is not. The score is absolutely golden, and George Merrit (Utterson) and Coleen Sexton (Lucy) are superb. This show is truly awesome, but it is simply not the best example of the show I can name--it is just the only one on DVD.
Rating:
Summary: Whose Idea was it to cast David Hasselhoff??
Review: A beautiful show, vocally enthralling with such captivating characters... so why ruin it by casting David Hasselhoff? You can argue that everything about this musical is so well done, and I can agree to an extent but I am telling you not to buy this because Dave ruins the whole thing. David acts the show well enough but he can't sing a show that has been declared one of the most challanging. David does this thing when he sings the really strong parts of the show he tries a vibratto and it fails... miserablly. The show has so many good qualities, so if you know someone who has it borrow it, defineately not worth the money to buy. Something to say for the show, is that the women all rock. Lucy and Emma own their parts heart and soul! Choose with care.
Rating:
Summary: A Good Showing
Review: For a fair and balanced review, let's subtract out David Hasselhoff for the time being. Don't worry, I'll get back to him. The music is wonderful whether or not you know the show. I would have liked close-captions for those unfamiliar with it, but I could see how that would become difficult with the choral parts. The cast was amazing. From the principles to the chorus, every person knew their part and their place. The music flows one piece into the next, although the ladies' songs can be a bit long-winded. The story puts a wonderful twist on the traditional Jekyll and Hyde. You can honestly feel for Henry and his obsession to eradicate madness. The set was minimalistic but completely versatile and compelling. The blood-red floor with the black-frame buildings complemented the show rather than detracting from it like a grand set would have done. The pieces moved flawlessly on tracks in the floor so you were never disturbed by stagehands. And the changing camera angles actually helped rather than hindered your watching enjoyment. All around, I enjoyed it.
Now let's put David back into the equation. For a man best known for talking to a car and bimbos on the beach, he did an admirable job. No, he isn't the best singer in the world. His vibrato is variable depending on his emotional intent, his tone is decent although sometimes he breaks off his air pressure, but he can certainly hold his own. And honestly, I've seen lesser singers in better roles. His acting can be over the top, but this might have been because the cameras were rolling that night. I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt because of his incredible portrayal of Edward Hyde. While he might be a bit grandiose as Henry Jekyll, he was perfectly cast as Hyde. Watching his body movements and those menacing, psychotic eyes gave me the creeps. He certainly had the passion and heart for this role, even if he was a bit of a ham. And with such a wonderful role where you're on stage almost every moment, who could blame him for hamming it up?
If David's singing and acting had been a bit better, and he had actually tried to use an English accent when everyone else was, I would have given it four stars.
Rating:
Summary: Jekyll and Hyde the Musical
Review: I agree with Michael P. Nolan comments but the music.
I think the music score is great. The production sucks. David H should stay with cars and the beaches. He destroyed the songs. People, who gave 5 stars probably did not see the original cast on Broadway or didn't hear the CD. I saw 15 minutes on HBO and switched to Disney channel. I would not even spend $3 to rent it.
Rating: 
Summary: I've even French kissed the DVD box!
Review: Despite that the musical itself is not perfect and that this cast most definitely is flawed, I find the video to be extremely entertaining. I've watched it dozens of times. As someone else mentioned, if you're an acting student, you could watch David Hasselhoff for what NOT to do as an actor. In fact, most of his performance in the first act is laughable and his singing is not very strong. But as the show goes on, he does get better. For the most part, he has a lot of bad acting moments and a lot of mediocre singing moments, but in the brief moments when he's good, he's really good and you find yourself impressed, but then the moment is gone and he's back to his overdone soap star routine again.
Coleen Sexton as Lucy has a bit of a whiny singing voice on the big songs but her portrayal of the character is very likeable. Andrea R. as Emma is great. Her singing is beautiful and acting is fine.
Overall this is definitely not the dream cast I would have used to make this video, but it is still entertaining despite all its flaws and if you like the musical, you should have it in your collection-even if you just watch it to laugh at it.
Rating: 
Summary: Bloody Awful
Review: Before I comment on this DVD, let me give you a little personal history about Jekyll & Hyde. A few years ago, the revival of Grease was the embarrassment of Broadway, as many of my friends thought. You know, first there was Rosie O'Donnell followed by Brooke Shields, which wasn't so bad, but then the show became just silly when everyone had her mother was playing Rizzo-Linda Blair, even Lucy Lawless-and by all reports it was just awful.
Then came Jekyll and Hyde.
It started off innocently enough. The original lead, some Italian guy with long greasy hair starred in the title role, and it was mildly successful. Then the backslide happened. The original lead was replaced by Jack Wagner, Melrose Place star and one-hit wonder. And then the worst happened-Hasselhoff starred in the show. Why? We don't know the logic of it. Finally, former Skid Row singer Sebastian Bach took over the role before, like a wounded animal, the show was put out of its misery.
Let's see what theatre critic Barry Singer has to say about the musical in his book "Ever After: The Last Years of Musical Theatre and Beyond."
"In theory, Wildhorn's music would seem to have been just what the Broadway musical needed, infusing the sounds of the moment, the sounds of Top 40 radio, circa 1997, into the Broadway musical mainstream. In reality, though, Wildhorn;s music was crushingly banal, comprised almost entirely of treacle and bombast, with very little nuance between. Just like the sounds of Top 40 radio, perhaps. But insufferably so.
With that in mind, I watched the DVD of David Hasselhoff in Jekyll & Hyde. It was funny, but probably not in the way that the author's intended. The first big ensemble number, made us snicker at the way they were so serious. And then came Hasselhoff's performance. Wow. If I ever need a lesson in what NOT to do, this would be it. He can sing, but for some reason he has this eerie vibrato on the long notes that just don't sound like sounds a human being should make. When he finally injects the formula in his arm and starts to turn into Hyde, he starts writhing on the floor in spasms. My girlfriend turned to me and remarked that she was embarrassed for him. She also remarked that the song "This is the Moment" (you know the big "hit" of the show) didn't sound like it belonged in a musical but rather over a montage of Olympic moments. Seriously, listen to it and try NOT to picture track and field runners in slow motions feeling the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat.
So rent or buy this DVD, if for a laugh if nothing else.
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