The Royal Players perform Jekyll & Hyde through Sept. 11-21 at the Royal Theatre. The musical—based on the 1886 gothic horror novella The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson—explores mankind’s capacity for good and evil through the main character, Dr. Henry Jekyll—the namesake for both the novella and show. 

Desperate to find a solution for his father’s declining mental state, Jekyll creates a drug intended to separate the ‘good’ part of man from the ‘evil.’ When he fails to find a subject for his experiment, he turns the needle on himself, thus creating his alter ego: Hyde. 

Jekyll & Hyde features UALR professor Rex Wilkins as Dr. Jekyll and Edward Hyde, Gabrielle Neafsey as Emma—Jekyll’s fiancée, Izzy Hammonds as Lucy—a performer at a bar who befriends Jekyll—and Sa’teh Hampton as Utterson, Jekyll’s lawyer. The two-hour production is directed by Summer Brinley with Amy Armstrong, a teacher at Collegeville Elementary, as the stage manager. 

“I have previously directed shows such as Frankenstein and Eurydice, which is based off of the same story as Hadestown, so the horror genre has always been in my blood,” Brinley said. “I have always been a big fan of the different non-traditional shows…Jekyll and Hyde the Musical has been a dream show on my bucket list to do for years, and I can’t believe it’s happening!”

Before the performance even began, the air was hazy with fog, and the seats were bathed in a watery red from the scarlet lights glaring onto the empty stage, illuminating the gothic skyline of the backdrop and the spiral staircase tucked to the back of center stage—twisted and lurking, serving as a reminder of the ever-present dark side of human nature.

“The vocal ability of this group is truly unmatched,” Armstrong said. “There is so much talent in this cast. Everything from props to lighting effects will completely blow you away from start to finish.”

The vocal range and talent from the cast was remarkable, with the scenes featuring Jekyll and Hyde serving as pillars of the show’s brilliance. The first transformation scene was terrific, even causing jaws to drop among the audience as guttural screams sliced through the otherwise silent theatre. 

“I am so excited for the audience to see the transformation scene,” senior Savannah Dillon, a member of the stage crew, said. “Rex [Wilkins] is such an amazing actor, and I’ve heard many people say that scene scared them with how good his acting is.”

In spite of the musical’s extraordinary quality, attendance has been lower than anticipated. 

“The biggest [difficulty] is getting the word out to the public that a spooky show like Jekyll and Hyde can literally change your life in a night with us at the theater,” Brinley said. “Every single character on that stage has a story, and [the cast has] taken my direction and done 10 times more than what I expected.”

**Tickets can be purchased at https://onthestage.tickets/show/the-royal-theatre/ **