Touring Jekyll Announces Leads, More Dates, New Opening in Detroit

By Christine Ehren
February 26, 1999

The national tour of Frank Wildhorn-Leslie Bricusse's Jekyll & Hyde will now officially open in Detroit, MI Apr. 20 at the Fisher Theatre, using the engagement the week before in Wallingford, CT as a preview week. Joining the previously announced Chuck Wagner, who takes the title role, are Sharon Brown as Lucy Harris and Andrea Rivette as Emma Carew.

The national tour of Frank Wildhorn-Leslie Bricusse's Jekyll & Hyde will now officially open in Detroit, MI Apr. 20 at the Fisher Theatre, using the engagement the week before in Wallingford, CT as a preview week. Joining the previously announced Chuck Wagner, who takes the title role, are Sharon Brown as Lucy Harris and Andrea Rivette as Emma Carew.

Brown has already toured the country multiple times, first at thirteen as Dorothy in The Wiz. She won a Carbonell Award for the national tour of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and a Carbonell and Drama Logue Award as Effie White in the 1986-87 tour of Dreamgirls. Other theatre credits include The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber, One City, Thunder Knocking at My Door and as the "Seasons of Love" soloist in Rent. On film, she can be seen as Kim, Zack's assistant in A Chorus Line, as Lila in "For Keeps" and in "Sister Act II."

The final third of the musical's love triangle is Rivette. She appeared on Broadway and across the US as Ellen in Miss Saigon. Originally trained in classical ballet, Rivette has played Tuptim in The King and I, the Baker's Wife in Into The Woods, Magnolia in Showboat and Christine in Phantom.

After Detroit, the announced tour dates through May 2000 follow:

May 11-16: Minneapolis, MN, Orpheum Theatre
May 18-30: Dallas, TX, Music Hall
June 1-13: Tulsa Performing Arts Center
June 15-20: Memphis, TN, Orpheum Theatre
June 22-27: Providence, RI, Performing Arts Center
June 29-July 4: Grand Rapids, MI, Devos Hall
July 6-11: TBA
July 20-Aug. 1: Seattle, WA, Paramount Theatre.
Aug. 10-29: San Francisco, CA, Golden Gate Theatre
Aug. 31-Sept. 5: San Diego, CA, Civic Center
Sept. 7-19: Los Angeles, CA, Pantages Theatre
Sept. 21-26: St. Louis, MO, Fox Theatre
Sept. 28-Oct. 3: Boston, MA, Wang Center
Oct. 5-10: Charlotte, NC, Ovens Auditorium
Oct. 12-17: New Orleans, Saenger Theatre
Oct. 20-24: Ottawa, ON, National Arts Centre
Oct. 16-31: Baltimore, MD, Mechanic Theatre
Nov. 2-7: Philadelphia, PA, Merriam Theatre
Nov. 9-14: Atlanta, GA, Fox Theatre
Nov. 16-22: TBA
Nov. 23-28: Des Moines, IA, Civic Center
Nov. 30-Dec. 5: TBA
Dec. 7-19: TBA
Dec. 21-26: Miami, FL, Jackie Gleason Theatre
Dec. 28-Jan. 2, 2000: TBA
Jan. 4-16: Ft. Lauderdale, FL, Broward Performing Arts Center
Jan. 18-23: Tampa, FL, Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center
Jan. 25-30: Austin, TX, University of Texas
Feb. 15-20: TBA
Feb. 22-27: Portland, OR, Civic Center Theatre
Feb. 29-Mar. 5: Denver, CO, Buell Auditorium
Mar. 7-12: Kalamazoo, MI, Miller Auditorium
Mar. 14-19: East Lansing, MI, Wharton Center
Mar. 21-26: Newark, NJ, New Jersey Performing Arts Center
Mar. 28-Apr. 9: Chicago, IL, Palace Theatre
Apr. 11-16: Buffalo, NY, Shea's
Apr. 18-23: Raleigh, NC, Civic Center
Apr. 25-30: Houston, TX, Jones Hall
May 2-7, 2000: San Antonio, TX, Majestic Hall

Based on the Robert Louis Stevenson tale of a good doctor gone horribly bad when he begins drug experiments on himself, Jekyll & Hyde has music by Frank Wildhorn with lyrics and book by Leslie Bricusee. Songs include "This is the Moment," "Someone Like You," "Lost in the Darkness," "No One Knows Who I Am," and "A New Life." After an extensive pre-Broadway tour, Jekyll opened at the Plymouth Theatre Apr. 28, 1997.