#of course i dont mind ppl who DO like the musical

[elysiuminfra]

GOOD MORNING ANON thank u for this question :] i love talking about being a hater btw sorry not answering your ask directly i tried and tumblr wouldnt let me :( just kidding im not actually as big of a hater as i say i am. when i talk about the musical - im not talking about any recordings, im talking about the ORIGINAL album. because i havent actually been able to find good quality recordings of the musical. :( and. well. warlow's jekyll is my favorite jekyll hands down now onto thoughts. i think the musical is fine, i like to listen to it sometimes even. some of my favorite jekyll and hyde stuff people have made are musical animatics (which go hard.) and im fond of the actors who have played jekyll/hyde, i just think the've done excellent with casting for the musical over the years. HOWEVER. i have opinions. many of these are based on my own personal tastes, some of them are actual criticisms - all of them are subjective. dont let me dash any reader's enjoyment of it on the rocks. i dont think its a "good" adaptation of the original story. it sort of.... misses the point? of the. everything? it treats jekyll and hyde as separate, with hyde being "pure evil" and jekyll being. well. good. there's not a lot of nuance to it. it IS from jekyll's perspective, and jekyll is an unreliable narrator (one of the MOST unreliable) but i just dislike how it handles hyde's entire deal. because even with jekyll being an unreliable narrator, it still doesn't give any other nuance other than hyde is entirely separate and entirely evil and the source of all of jekyll's woes (not the point - its not OBVIOUS in the book, but it can be easily gleaned through jekyll's breakdown). not only that but the weird and unnecessary inclusion of violence against women and painting hyde (and by extension, jekyll) as a sexual predator. i don't think that's necessarily TERRIBLE WRITING, as. well i believe jekyll does have a lot of issues surrounding sex but i, personally, cannot see jekyll/hyde as a sex pest in the way the musical sees it. he's an effective villain for sure. i just wish it...... handled it better. i just can't see jekyll like that, not even in the original book. i also think the inclusion of not 1 but 2 female romantic interests kind of.... takes away from the original point, i think. what i liked about j&h proper is that it really is about jekyll's relationships with the other men in his life - particularly utterson and lanyon, and in the background poole and jekyll's unnamed father - and how his own issues and problems cause him to navigate those relationships (as well as him reinforcing toxic masculine standards) BUT THATS NOT THE STORY THEYRE TRYING TO TELL. which is fine!!! it's a story about jekyll, and how good his life was before he destroys it. i just don't like that they used misogynistic writing to tell that story. i wish the women in the musical were given far more depth than "jekyll's love interest" and "weary prostitute that hyde stalks", and that they had more.... substance. outside of jekyll/hyde. this isnt uncommon, and particularly not uncommon for musicals / media of this genre. women are just not given as much substance compared to the male leads. and its SAD :( another thing is the.... music. not the score itself - the orchestra is not particularly striking compared to some other musical soundtracks i listen to, however they do reuse motifs throughout the musical - and its exciting to pick that out! there are certain series of notes associated with jekyll/hyde. and i think thats cool because i love motifs. lyrically, i think it's lacking. i think it could have been far, far more interesting lyrics wise but im not sure why they didn't push for it? there's a lot of other musicals (frankenstein, for one) i can think of that are, musically, very stylistically similar but LYRICALLY far superior. i like that it takes a lot from the book, but the way it uses it... leaves something to be desired. the melodies are pretty good in some songs, though, ill give them that. i also dont like the idea of hyde as a crazed serial killer. the death of carew in the book was poignant. i think, it was jekyll's (hyde's, technically) first murder. i also dont think hyde (and by extension, jekyll) WOULD go on a crazed killing spree just for. whatever reason. i just don't really see it happening, but that's because the musical- once again- treats hyde as separate and fully evil and not part of jekyll. when i think of hyde - i think of, what would jekyll do if given the chance? serial killing is not one of those options for me. but the musical doesnt handle jekyll/hyde that way - all of it points towards jekyll not being in control, and not WANTING these things, but hyde, being SEPARATE, doing them anyway. because if.... if it didn't, it would paint jekyll as a very, very, very bad person. someone who 1. is willing to cheat on his fiance with a prostitute, 2. willing to HURT those he is sexually attracted to out of selfish desire when he's rejected 3. a potentially extremely abusive husband. i don't think this was the intention. i really don't. but if you put the musical through that lense, of jekyll/hyde being the same guy, well...... yeah i just dont think thats what they were going with. so i dont think, in the musical, they're portrayed as the same guy. which is not a kind of adaptation i like or prefer. to wind down, i think it's lacking. a bit... boring and somewhat tasteless. i think it couldve been much, much more. i think the lyrics could've been better, i think the writing could've been WAY better, i don't think, overall, it's a good "adaptation", or even a good retelling. i think it's misogynistic. i think it completely misses the point of the original book. i don't think it's even a "great" musical by musical standards. it's more.... just... lukewarm. i suppose. not "terrible" just not. good. BUT i do like some of the tracks, and i DO LOVE that UTTERSON is a big part of it! he's typically ignored in a lot of adaptations. i do love the dedication that theater groups bring to the musical (there's a recording of the russian version with an INSANE SET!!) - and i do love the actors that have portrayed these characters over the decades. i just wish the musical was..... i wish it understood the original message more. and wasn't obsessed with torturing women. and was actually good. and didnt suck. long story short. its not good. there's some qualities i like. but overall i think it sucks mad cheese. the end

#answers #of course i dont mind ppl who DO like the musical #i just think if one likes it they should be. very. very critical #and not blindly praise its writing because its NOT good. #anyway #jekyll and hyde #thanks 4 the question!