By Michael Gioia
19 Apr 2013
Meanwhile, five avenues down and three blocks over at the Marriott Marquis in the heart of Times Square, Constantine Maroulis and the company of the re-envisioned Broadway revival of Jekyll & Hyde took their opening-night bow, an exciting culmination to a 27-week national tour.
Constantine Maroulis; guests Sierra Boggess, Aaron Tveit and Melissa van der Schyff Photo by Joseph Marzullo/WENN
Creatives Frank Wildhorn, known for the musical's iconic score, and Tony-nominated director Jeff Calhoun were among the first to enter the pressroom outside the after party on the eighth floor of the Marquis.
"The 27 weeks we've been on the road has just served to be our spring training — grooming ourselves for tonight on Broadway," said director Calhoun, who knew nothing about the musical Jekyll & Hyde before signing on to direct. "I'd be lying if I said [that my reason for directing the show was] other than initially [being] asked to do a job. And, I'm a director for hire, and I like to work, and so it actually started with that. But you couple that with my love for Frank Wildhorn and my love for [executive vice president of the Nederlander Organization] Nick Scandalios, the Nederlanders and those three leads — Constantine, Deborah and Teal [Wicks] — and how could I say no? I think it's a dream for any director."
"You've got to remember, I'm a jazz musician. That's what I am first, so I believe in keeping things alive and improving. That's why there are no two productions of Jekyll & Hyde around the world that are the same because I don't do cookie-cutout versions," added a smiling Wildhorn on his opening night. "In this case, what was so cool was that Jeff Calhoun had never seen the show before, so he literally went from scratch — back to the source material with [book writer and lyricist] Leslie [Bricusse] and I — and kind of recreated it."
