Written by orange• June 20, 2026• 6:34 am• Musical, Review, Rose Center Theatre, Uncategorized, Westminster

Jekyll & Hyde The Musical @ Rose Center Theater – Review

Photo by Ryan Salazar / Rose Center Theater

Written by Daniella Litvak

Robert Louis Stevenson’s beloved and classic novella, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, has been adapted many times since its debut in the nineteenth century. As with many works subject to multiple adaptations, those adaptations often take great liberties with the story. Sometimes the changes become ingrained because all adaptations incorporate them. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is certainly not immune to this, as Jekyll & Hyde The Musical shows.

Jekyll & Hyde The Musical has many of the usual features we associate with a Jekyll and Hyde story. The setting is Victorian London. Dr. Henry Jekyll (Matthew Bartosch) is a scientist seeking to separate the good and evil parts of the human psyche. He experiments on himself and unleashes his villainous alter ego – Mr. Hyde (also Matthew Bartosch). While Mr. Hyde is gleefully terrorizing London, Dr. Jekyll must confront whether he can or even wants to be free of Mr. Hyde for once and for all.

Jekyll represents the good aspects of our protagonist’s nature, but he’s arguably the most problematic part of the musical (from a story standpoint). As my companion pointed out to me, in the novella, Dr. Jekyll was seen as respectable and had good qualities. In comparison, the musical immediately begins with the London elite sneering that Dr. Jekyll is a weirdo. Then Dr. Jekyll proceeds to be a terrible friend to Utterson (Vincent Aniceto). If that weren’t enough, Jekyll acts disinterested in his upper-class fiancée, Emma (Kristin Caputo), and seems interested in having an emotional affair with tavern singer Lucy (Melissa Harris). Did I mention all this occurs before Jekyll transforms into Hyde?

There has been a lot of debate about whether Jekyll and Hyde are truly separate or not. However, if you do not show Jekyll’s better qualities, it is hard to care and view the loss of him as a tragedy. The musical tries to tell us Jekyll is a good man, but that’s the thing, it falls into the classic trap of telling us instead of showing us. Consequently, Jekyll is an unlikeable, drag.

It’s Hyde who – dare I say – makes the show come alive. Yes, he’s murderous, but he’s so entertaining! It makes you wish the transformation had happened earlier. Hyde’s murder spree is the subject of the musical’s best song, “Murder, Murder.”

Some productions have separate actors play Jekyll and Hyde. Fittingly, my companion and I were split on this point. From her perspective, having two actors would have better demonstrated the physical differences between Jekyll and Hyde, which was a key point in the novella. I, on the other hand, prefer one actor in the role. First and foremost, capturing the theme of duality in one person is a must. Second, the if role may be too much for one actor, it is too slight for two.

Bartosch did a fantastic job, and I don’t mean just as Hyde. Hyde, undoubtedly, gets the better material. However, Bartosch did well with what he had as Jekyll. His performance of “This is the Moment” was a standout.

The cast overall performed well – especially vocally. I wish more had been done to show their dance skills. Numbers like “Bring on the Men” could have handled more intricate choreography.

Like its title character(s), there’s a lot to dissect with Jekyll & Hyde The Musical, but when you put it together, you can be entertained.