ACT 1
London, 1888. HENRY JEKYLL, a brilliant young doctor and research
scientist, analyses the dual nature of Man--the good and evil (I Need To Know). He tears himself away from his work to attend a glittering, if superficial, social event (Facade/Bitch, Bitch, Bitch) celebrating his engagement to LISA CAREW, the eligible and lovely daughter of SIR DANVERS CAREW, an eminent and revered figure of London society, a
Chairman of the Board of Governers of the great London hospital to whom Jekyll is about to present the findings of his research. Jekyll
expresses his fears and doubts to Lisa. She reassures him that they will see it through together (Take Me As I Am).
Jekyll's fears, however, are well-founded. His radical proposals are
totally rejected the following day by the St. Jude's Hospital Committee, chaired by Sir Danvers (Board of Governors). Jekull insists he has found the key to seperating the good and evil elements of man's nature, but needs to conduct a human experiment to prove his theories conclusivley. His ideas are greeted with outrage and scorn by the high-minded but hypocritical governors. Their unanimous negativity crushes Jekyll's immediate plans, but not his determination to continue, wiht or with out their support.
Consumed with anger and frustration, Jekyll walks the dark streets of
London, consoled by his close friend and lawyer JOHN UTTERSON. Jekyll
recklessly decides to drown his sorrows in a bawdy London pub, "The
Dregs", where he encounters and is drawn to LUCY, a sweet-and-spicy,
seductive and sympathetic young lady of the night. (Bring On the Men)
They share a drink and a confidence or two, and an unlikely friendship
is born.
Returning home with renewed confidence and determination, Jekyll
convinces himself that the logical and only candidate is himself (This
Is the Moment). Recording his every move in a journal, Jekyll prepares and consumes his formula HJ7. Within minutes it takes effect-disastrously-transforming the gentle, quiet, civilized Jekyll into the vain, uninhibited, violent, libidinous monster EDWARD HYDE (Transformation).
The many remarkable qualities we have come to admire in Jekyll now
gradually give way to his basest animal instincts. In the persona of
Hyde, Jekyll starts to display all of the hidden and repressed evil
characteristics of his nature, with even more devastating consequences.
An impulse guides Jekyll back to "The Dregs". Lucy senses she knows him, but isn't sure (Lucy Meets Hyde). She is cautious, but she likes him. Hyde buys her for the night, but quickly becomes violent. Lucy runs away, and a ferocious fight ensues between Hyde and the other men in the pub. Victorious, Hyde glories in the power and strength he feels running through him (Alive), and pursues Lucy into the night.
Back in Harley Street, Jekyll beomces reclusive. Lisa, Utterson and Sir Danvers are increasingly concerned about him (His Work and Nothing More). Lucy, unaware that Jekyll and Hyde are the same man, visits Jekyll to show him the injuries from a violent customer at "The Dregs". Jekyll treats her wounds. Lucy's feelings forthe good doctor grow stronger (Someone Like You). Little is she aware of the terror the good doctor's alter ego is about to inflict on London.
ACT 2
The terrifying other half of Jekyll now emerges in its full horror to
wreak a terrible vengeance on society for its neglect and injustice
toward Henry Jekyll. In swift succession, Hyd dispatches five members of the Board of Governors from thi sworld in the most gory fashion
imaginable (Mass / Murder, Murder!). Jekyll's frustrations are finally
geing resolved by his avenging devil, Hyde.
Elsewhere in london, Sir Danvers cautions his beloved daughter about
Jekyll's recent unreliability, though he is motivated by his own
reluctance to lose her (Letting Go), while Lisa and Lucy pine for the
man they love (In His Eyes), unaware of the monster he has become.
The horrendous pendulum swings back and forth between Jekyll and Hyde,
gathering momentum as Jekyll continues to gamble with death, risking
everything in his desperate struggle to achieve his ultimate purpose:
the isolation of good from evil in man. It is, however, driving him
slowly but inevitably toward madness (The World Has Gone Insane).
At "The Dregs" (The Girls of the Night), Lucy also sees her dreams
fading (No One Knows Who I Am). The return o f Hde and their
irresistable attraction to one another make her increasingly aware of
the consequences of such a relationship (It's a Dangerous Game).
Lisa visits Jekyll, incurrin his wrath when he finds her reading the
journal in his laboratory. She leaves, aware that their romance is
disintegrating (Once Upon a Dream - Lisa).
Jekyll is in torment (No One Must Ever Know); the drama spirals
relentlessly upwards, and he strives desperately within himself to
revers the implacable fates that threatn to engulf those nearest and
dearest to him- Lisa, Lucy and himself! He persuades Utterson to revise his will in favor of Edward Hyde, in case he fails in his last efforts to regain control of the situation.
But fail is what he is doomed to do. He returns as Hyde to "The Dregs", where a disillusioned Lucy allows herself one last glimmer of hope (A New Life). She is reading a letter from Jekyll as Hyde enters. Jealous now even of himself-his other and better person-Hyde stabs her to death and slits her throat in a fit of murderous passion.
Realizing what he has done, Jekyll is in total despair (Once Upon a
Dream - Jekyll). He destroys his laboratory by fire. Utterson arrives
and meets Hyde. He demands to know where Jekyll is. Jekyll reveals
himself and his terrible secret, and the death of Lucy, to Utterson, and sends him to "The Dregs" to retrieve his incriminating letter.
Jekyll resolves to make on final supreme effort to overcome Hyde. He
drinks the last of the formula HJ7, looks at himself in the mirror and
sees...Hyde. they engage in a final desperate battle (Confrontation).
Who has won?
A month passes (The Wedding Reception). Jekyll marries Lisa. All seems
well, but at the wedding reception the indestructable Hyde emerges yet
again, and in a final scene of utter mayhem, when Lisa's life is
threatened, Utterson shoots and kills him. The goodness of Henry Jekyll finally drowns in the ocean of evil of his own creation - Edward Hyde.
- Transcribed by Thomas Campbell
