Jekyll and Hyde/YMMV


 * Alternative Character Interpretation: Sit down for a moment and think about this musical's take on Hyde. He still looks like Jekyll, just with loose hair and an evil grin. He brutally murders the people that pissed Jekyll off, and he rapes the woman Jekyll was attracted to but didn't dare become involved with because of the engagement to Emma, whom he later assaults at the wedding. For being a piece of romantic musical fluff, this show makes it easier than almost any other version of the story to interpret Hyde as simply a name Jekyll gives his repressed depravity. Congratulations, Frank Wildhorn, you have potentially beaten Alan freaking Moore at being Darker and Edgier.
 * That isn't an alternative interpretation, it's the canon one. In the source story, Jekyll straight up explains that that freedom is why he makes the potion, and it's why he continues to imbibe it. Even in the musical, Jekyll states that the potion makes him feel "twice as alive and tenfold more wicked, which intoxicates and delights me like wine." He's addicted to the freedom, and keeps up with it, not attempting to stop until his actions have gone well past the point of being unforgivable.
 * Complete Monster: Hyde manages to come across as this even when he only kills jerks.
 * Crowning Music of Awesome: "This Is The Moment"
 * "Alive" as well.
 * "Confrontation."
 * Epic Song: "Facade"
 * Faux Affably Evil: Hyde has a few nice lines.
 * Romantic Plot Tumor: Hoo boy... A huge percent of the songs and scenes in the musical are just the two love interests singing about being in love, they're good songs, but still.
 * Straw Man Has a Point: As Peter Filichia notes in his book Let's Put on a Musical!, the board members' unwillingness to sanction Jekyll's work is actually understandable.
 * It's possibly the biggest tragedy in the show, that the initial antagonists are right, and the hero is wrong.
 * Tear Jerker: The song "A new life" is pretty depressing enough as it is, much more so when you know what's about to happen afterwards.
 * What an Idiot!: If Lucy hadn't dragged her heels and sung "A New Life", she might not have been killed!
 * Well it was the middle of the night, I doubt any train tickets would be available to purchase at that exact moment anyways.
 * She was packing while she sang it. If Bricusse and Wildhorn had cut that song, Hyde probably still would've stormed in while she was cramming her bags.
 * The Woobie: Say what you will about Linda Eder's clearly superior vocal performance, but the DVD Release features Colleen Sexton as Lucy and she sure looks like someone killed her puppy.
 * WTH? Casting Agency: And how! Among the castings are theatre royalty Colm Wilkinson and Steve Barton, weird additions like David Hasselhoff and Sebastian Bach(?!?), and perhaps most infamously Takashi Kaga! And that's just for the character of Henry Jekyll/Edward Hyde!
 * David Hasselhoff was the final Jekyll/Hyde in the show's Broadway run (the ads had him noting "This ain't no day at the beach"). One of the performances was videotaped and released on DVD. Some consider his performance to be Narm Charm.
 * Takeshi Kaga was actually quite well-known for starring in musicals in Japan prior to his Iron Chef days -- he had also played Jean Valjean and Jesus, among other roles.