THE PASSION OF JEKYLL AND HYDE
(in development)
An operafilm | An opera at the movies
Duration: 120 minutes
Music Text
Words and Scenario by Barbara Grecki and Daron Hagen, based on the Robert Louis Stevenson novel.
Story based in part on the 1920 Paramount movie screenplay by Thomas Robert Sullivan and Clara Beranger.
Scoring
- Live to Silent Film: (no voices); 1(=picc).1(=CA).1(=BC).1-0.0.0.0-1perc-pft-strings (1.1.1.1.1 minimum in players)
- Opera and Operafilm: S, Mez-S, T, T, Bar, B; 1(=picc).1(=CA).1(=BC).1 / 2-2.2.2.1-timp.perc(2)-harp-pft(=synth)-strings (5.5.4.2.1 in players)
Peermusic Classical (Burning Sled Music)
Territory
This work is available from Peermusic Classical for the world.
Staged World Premiere
in development; looking for a production partner
In Real Life | On the Screen
Dr. Allanson Lee, a research geneticist (T) | Henry Jekyll / Mr. Edward Hyde
George Larue, his dean (B) | Sir George Carew
Beatrice Larue, La Rue’s daughter (S) | Millicent Carew, Sir George’s daughter
Dr. William Rhoads (Bar) | Dr. Richard Lanyon
Teddy Linfield, a graduate student (T) | Edward Enfield
Tina, a graduate student (Mez-S) | Gina, an Italian exotic dancer
Movie Theater Manager (Bar) | Music Hall Proprietor
Two Paramedics (mute)
Coro (or ballet) of 5-20 "audience members" | demons
Time and Place
In a present day, nearly-empty crumbling old movie palace during a Halloween screening of the 1920 silent film.
Synopsis
While attending a screening with his fiancé of the 1920 silent film Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Allanson, a genetic researcher addicted to painkillers who identifies with actor John Barrymore and Robert Louis Stevenson’s tragic story debates the ethics of contemporary genetic research with his faculty advisor. As his body begins to detoxify, the student begins to lose his grip on reality: the audience become his writhing, dancing demons; he confuses his friends with characters in the movie. He convulses. His heart stops. Paramedics arrive; they administer CPR, beating on Allanson's chest in time with Hyde's on screen cudgel. The audience sings a requiem as his demons lift him up and convey him from the theater.
Links
Live to Film Version of Score Without Voices | Zen Violence Films Documentary | Wikipedia Entry for the 1920 Film
Watch the full length film with Hagen’s score.