Broadway's evil Mr. Hyde may be used to cutting throats, but this afternoon the alter ego of Dr. Jekyll will be cutting something else -- cake -- as the hit musical Jekyll & Hyde celebrates its 500th performance at the Plymouth Theatre. A small, between-show celebration will follow the July 8 matinee (show #500) of Frank Wildhorn's musicalization of the Robert Louis Stevenson novel.
In other J&H news, Luba Mason will succeed Linda Eder in the role of Lucy in the Broadway production. She will give her first performance in the Frank Wildhorn musical Sept. 1. Mason's credits include Paul Simon's The Capeman of last season, Hedy La Rue in the recent Broadway revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, plus The Will Rogers Follies and the national tour of Sunset Boulevard.
Jekyll & Hyde's two other stars, Robert Cuccioli and Christiane Noll, are signed to stay with the show through Jan. 3, 1999.
According to a production spokesman, Cuccioli is missing several performances in July (July 2, 7, 8, 9, 20-24, 29-30) because he's starring in an independent feature film, titled Butterfly Legend. Standby Robert Evan, who already does the matinees, takes over on those dates. He is also scheduled to play the role in the show's national tour, starting up March 1999 in Seattle. No co-stars have been announced yet. Here are the tour dates (as of July 8):
March 9, 1999: Grand Forks/Seattle, Paramount Theatre
March 30, 1999: Grand Rapids, MI, Devos Hall
April 6: Boston, Wang Performing Arts Center
April 13: Wallingford, CT, Oakdale Theatre
April 20: Detroit, Fisher Theatre
May 11: Minneapolis, Orpheum Theatre
May 18: Dallas, Music Hall
June 1: Tulsa, OK, Tulsa Performing Arts Center
May 15: Memphis, Orpheum Theatre
June 22: Toronto, Ford Center
July 20: Vancouver, Ford Center
Aug. 3: San Francisco, Golden Gate Theatre
Aug. 31: San Diego, Civic Center Theatre
Sept. 7: Los Angeles, Pantages Theatre As for Jekyll's international plans, here are the latest sites:
Nov. 1998: Australia's Capitol Theatre.
Jan. 1999: Madrid, Spain
Feb. 1999: Germany's Neue Metropol Theatre in Bremen
Fall 1999: Scandinavian tour
According to the Richard Kornberg press office, also in the works are productions in London, Mexico City, Venezuela and -- stand back -- Buenos Aires.
