So after this epic upload, I was listening to the music from one of my favorite shows, Jekyll and Hyde. I got obsessed with it in 2002 when I discovered Linda Eder (a Broadway performer who was raised in Minnesota). I seriously listened to this soundtrack for nearly the entire winter, so now that whenever I listen to it after not hearing it for a long time, the first thing I see is snowfall and Christmas lights. I was also lucky enough to see it performed by Burnsville High School, who has one of the most incredible theater programs in the south suburbs. They were even doing a showing of it somewhere in Scotland as I saw ads for it in Glasgow and regretted the fact that there was no way I was going to be able to go. Despite the fact that it's not that well-known and the music isn't quite as spectacular as some shows, I suppose, I'm still a fan. Perhaps because it's based off of one of my favorite creepy stories by Robert Louis Stevenson.
Man is not one but two/ He is evil and good/ And he walks the fine line we'd all cross if we could. That's part of the chorus in one of the main songs, "Facade." If Henry Jekyll were working today, he'd probably be a psychologist trying to understand human nature. Unfortunately from him, that probably wouldn't save him from spiraling into taking experimentation too far and using himself to release his evil side. Which doesn't work out so hot. Because now he's just a normal man, both good and evil (leaning more towards good) with a totally evil maniac trying to escape from him. The musical of this saga is dark and powerful and really chilling (especially when you're listening to it amongst a misty October afternoon). This is one of my favorite songs that just haunts me:
I love the voice of the actor that sings this too - it's so emotional. Also, you can hear a bit of the voice he uses for Hyde lingering in some of the words, and it's super eerie.
This show is just tragic and utterly Byronic, I'm sure. A good man being corrupted by his faults though he intended to do good with his work - how much more of a tortured hero can you get? I also like that this adaption takes into account the women in Jekyll's life, something I always wondered about when I read Stevenson's story (because there were no women in that story and nothing make me wonder more about something than not addressing it all). There are some REALLY great pieces for the women characters in this show and I could share all of them, because some of them are SUPER FANTASTIC. I'm not, though, because that'd probably be tedious and annoying. Instead, I'm going to recommend two - "A New Life" and "In His Eyes." And I'm going to play the one that, for some reason, I just can't get out of my head today. It's really short, not super spectacular, but I just keep singing it to myself. So here it is - "Emma's Reason," a song where Emma, Jekyll's fiance, stands up for wanting to marry him even though everyone thinks he's bonkers. This isn't the whole song, but I can't find it in it's entirety, in English and without any extra weird stuff. So this'll do:
I don't know what makes this show so obsessive for me, but now I can't stop listening to it. A great soundtrack for Halloween, though, I must say.
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