Now, I saw this show went it first got to Broadway. Robert Cuccoli did an absolutely extraordinary job as Jekyll / Hyde. And Linda Eder sang the hell out of the role of Lucy.
In the video release, David Hasselhoff is Jekyll, and some chick named Coleen Sexton is Lucy.
What an absolutely pathetic, useless, performance. Hasselhoff cannot sing the role at all. It’s embarrassing. Sexton can sing, but she’s a pale shadow of Eder.
The worst part of it was walking in Times Square, looking up, and seeing a huge billboard of Hasselhoff dressed as Jekyll/Hyde with the caption: “This is no day at the beach.”
Jesus.
I wish Robert Cuccoli would do “Phantom of the Opera.” And David Hasselhoff was a typical case of what is known in theatre as “Stunt Casting”–putting someone in the lead who will bring fans in, no matter how bad they are. Later the lead was played by Sebastin Bach.
Actually, Sebastian Bach played Jekyll before Hasselhoff did; that’s why Hasselhoff is the one on the DVD/HBO special. It was filmed during the final weeks of the run.
But you’re right about one thing: they were both examples of stunt casting.
I seem to remember seeing on the Baywatch “True Hollywood Story” that Hasselhoff had this production filmed for a pay-per-view special. It aired the night OJ did his slo-mo car chase and no one watched Hasselhoff. Literally, no one.
No, no, no… OJ Simpson did his thing on June 17, 1994, way before Jekyll and Hyde was around. Opening night of the show was April 28, 1997, and Hasselhoff’s performance was broadcast on March 10, 2001.