It’s almost “the moment” for Constantine Maroulis to return to Broadway. The Tony-nommed star, known for American Idol and Rock of Ages, will return to the Great White Way in Frank Wildhorn’s Jekyll & Hyde. Maroulis will play the dual title roles of Dr. Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde in a 25-week national tour before hitting Broadway in the spring of 2013. The tour will launch at San Diego's Civic Theatre in San Diego on October 2, 2012.
Maroulis, who is currently starring in the Broadway-aimed Toxic Avenger at the Alley Theatre in Houston, was nominated for a Tony Award for his performance in Rock of Ages. A finalist on the fourth season of American Idol, his other stage credits include Broadway’s The Wedding Singer, off-Broadway’s Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris and the national tour of Rent.
Conceived for the stage by Wildhorn (The Scarlet Pimpernel, The Civil War and the more recent Wonderland and Bonnie & Clyde) and Steve Cuden, Jekyll & Hyde features a book and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse and music by Wildhorn. The new production will be directed and choreographed by Jeff Calhoun.
The musical, based on Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is about a London doctor who accidentally unleashes his evil alternate personality in his quest to cure his father’s mental illness.
Wildhorn’s version of the classic tale was first introduced as a concept album in 1990 featuring Colm Wilkinson and Linda Eder, and shortly thereafter had its world premiere at the Alley Theatre in Houston starring Chuck Wagner as Jekyll/ Hyde and Linda Eder as Lucy. Following a 30-city national tour, the Broadway production, starring Robert Cuccioli, Linda Eder and Christiane Noll, opened at the Plymouth Theatre on April 28, 1997 and earned four Tony Award nominations. After 1543 performances, and featuring such replacements as Sebastian Bach and David Hasselhoff in the title role, the production played its final performance on January 7, 2001.
A pre-tour preview engagement of the new production will be presented at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts in La Mirada, California from September 7-30, 2012.