By Michael Buckley
24 Nov 2002

Betsy Palmer.

This month's column features David Hasselhoff and composer Frank Wildhorn and TV and stage actress Betsy Palmer.

This month's column features David Hasselhoff and composer Frank Wildhorn and TV and stage actress Betsy Palmer.

David Hasselhoff, who made his Broadway debut in the Frank Wildhorn/Leslie Bricusse musical, Jekyll & Hyde, played the dual role for the last three months of the run. A performance taped for Pay-per-view (that since has been released on DVD) comes to cable TV, airing Dec. 7 (9 PM/ET) on HBO Signature and Dec. 28 (4:45 PM/ET) on HBO plain.

"Overall, I was very pleased [with the result]," says Hasselhoff. "I had an amazing supporting cast. When you're surrounded by a great team, it makes it very fulfilling. Certainly, there are things I'd like to do over, but considering we didn't do any overdubbing, I think it came off pretty good.

"They taped several performances, in case something went wrong, but we opted to not piece it together. We wanted it to be as if you were seeing the show live. If you can't go to Broadway, this is as close as you can get. I put my heart and soul into the Tuesday performance [the week of taping]. They told me [after the curtain], 'That was only a rehearsal.' I said, 'What? By Saturday night, I'm going to be singing like Rod Stewart.' I tried to pace myself. Usually, by the end of the week, your chops are a little tired, but we went with the Saturday night performance."

Hasselhoff was offered Broadway roles in The Scarlet Pimpernel, as well as the most recent revivals of Grease! and Annie Get Your Gun. Commitments to his "Baywatch" TV series prevented him from accepting the first two. "Annie Get Your Gun and Jekyll & Hyde were offered at the same time. Growing up, I did a lot of shows in my friend's basement in Atlanta, and one of them was Annie Get Your Gun. So I knew it. When I saw Jekyll & Hyde on Broadway, I decided to go for the one you could sink your teeth into." (Might Hasselhoff be eyeing Frank Wildhorn's new musical, Dracula?)

After a few preview performances, Hasselhoff "got together with Frank Wildhorn, and found him to be very supportive, very gracious, very giving. He gave me his feedback and notes and some very good hints. I also studied extensively with my vocal coach, Trish McCaffrey, who taught me a lot of technique that I'd forgotten over the years of just doing pop music occasionally and recording. It's a big difference when you have to do 14 songs a night."

For Hasselhoff, the part of Hyde "was easy—compared to trying to find who Jekyll was. Anyone who's done the role can tell you it's insane. It involves a lot of running through corridors and under the stage, and a lot of hair [referring to the characters' wigs]. The first week, I kept turning to the stage manager's assistant, who was running with me, and asking: 'Am I Jekyll? Am I Hyde? Who am I?' He'd tell me, and I'd be thrust on the stage. Once I was onstage, I was okay.

"My [younger] daughter, Hayley, really enjoys theatre. I think she'll follow in my footsteps; it's what she wants to do. She came to the show quite often. In the 'Confrontation' number, when you sing the two characters at once, I'd be looking around the theatre for my daughter, 'cause I'm still a dad. So, I really had three characters going at once." When J&H closed in January 2001, the actor "was just beginning to make the show my own. But they stuck to the decision to close; they had run their course."

Admits Hasselhoff, "I still sing the songs in the shower. My daughters yell, 'Dad, the show's over!' I actually purchased all the wardrobe. So far, I've only worn it on Halloween. [Laughs] I've had offers to do [the musical] in Australia, and I'm entertaining ideas of bringing it to London, where it's never played."

Prior to the West End, however, the congenial actor may find himself a "Wandrin' Star." He notes, "I have been offered Paint Your Wagon, which is going to be on the road for about six months, and then going to Broadway. I'm still trying to work out the logistics. The [Lerner & Loewe] score is a beauty; I think it's a winner."

The only son in a family of five, Hasselhoff was born in Baltimore. He decided on an acting career at age seven, after seeing a production of Rumpelstiltskin, and first found fame as the frequently bare-chested doctor, Snapper Foster (1975-82), on the CBS-TV soap opera, "The Young and the Restless."

Prime-time success followed in "Knight Rider" (NBC-TV, 1982-86), playing renegade cop Michael Knight, who used a verbose vehicle (voice of William Daniels) to chase criminals. Hasselhoff then starred as L.A. lifeguard Mitch Buchannon in "Baywatch," which started on NBC in 1989, and was canceled after a season. However, it found a new life in first-run syndication, where it became a huge success. "We believed in it, and took on several jobs. The best part was owning the show and not having a studio telling you what to do.

"On network [TV], it had been sort of a murder-of-the-week. I said, 'Nobody's going to want to come to Malibu, because everyone gets killed.' [Laughs] We changed it to light entertainment with a message. It was about saving lives, not losing them—and had heart, humor, and action [not to mention beauties in bikinis]. We lasted 11 years." A 1994 People magazine article stated that the series was then "the most-watched show on the planet Earth...viewed by a billion people in 140 countries." A 1995 spinoff series, "Baywatch Nights," had Hasselhoff's character trade his trunks for private-eye attire. "It lasted 44 episodes. I think the world got a little over-Baywatched."

Presently in Calgary, Hasselhoff's shooting "a new comedy, 'Don't Call Me Tonto.' I play a retired rodeo cowboy, who gets involved in a 'Smokey and the Bandit'-type chase." His wife, actress Pamela Bach, and their daughters, Taylor, 12, and Hayley, 10, are joining him "for Thanksgiving and some skiing. There are little parts [in the picture] that my girls can play. They've both worked on 'Baywatch.'" Also upcoming are "a two-hour movie for Fox, 'Baywatch Reunion,' which will be on in February, and a major motion picture, in which I'll reprise the role of Michael Knight."

His "Knight Rider" role is the one that's given him the most satisfaction. "Not a day goes by when someone doesn't yell, 'Yo, Knight Rider!'" But David Hasselhoff says, "My biggest challenge was playing Jekyll & Hyde. I think there will be a time when I'll be able to do it again."

***

Frank Wildhorn describes Jekyll & Hyde as "'the little engine that could.' Right now, there are 16 productions around the world. I just returned from Europe, where I attended second anniversaries in Vienna—it's in a theatre where Mozart opened shows—and Spain. I love hearing [the score] in Spanish; it sounds so sexy!"

Adds the composer, "At the moment, Leslie Bricusse and I are in pretty serious talks with a studio about a movie version. Jekyll & Hyde is so special, because it was my very first theatre experience. It was also the first for Linda—my wife, Linda Eder—and my music team. We were kids; we didn't know what we were doing. It all started in 1990, at the Alley Theatre in Houston, Texas, under the auspices of [Alley's artistic director] Gregory Boyd, who directed it and helped us put it together. Now, it's 2002, and millions have embraced it."

How does Wildhorn like the DVD/cable version? "Honestly, I thought they did a terrific job. It was beautifully directed [by Don Roy King], and David Hasselhoff was wonderful! The whole thing was cool. But at the same time, I can't lie. I had very mixed emotions. I so much wanted Linda and the original cast to be able to do it. Do I want to hear anyone other than Linda [sing Lucy's songs]? How can I and Leslie Bricusse not feel sad that the people who made it a hit were not involved?" (Actually, seven members of the original Broadway company appear in the DVD.)

Next up for Wildhorn is Camille Claudel. "It's Linda's new project. We just finished a very successful workshop, and Clear Channel [Entertainment] will take us to Broadway. Then, end of summer/beginning of fall next year, we start the national tour of Dracula. Please God," notes Frank Wildhorn, "it will be as successful as—and follow in the footsteps of—Jekyll & Hyde."

*** Continued...

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