The Strange Case of
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

WRITTEN BY: Joe Edkin & Stan Barber
PERFORMED AT: The Park Church, Elmira
PERFORMED ON: May 11, 12 (two performances), 18 & 19, 2007
DIRECTOR: Joe Edkin
SPONSORED BY: Elmira Little Theater
CAST:
* HENRY JEKYLL/EDWARD HYDE- Mike Lavarnway
* NANCY POTTER (voice)- Cindy Scott (formerly Cindy Clark)
* ANNIE MILLER- Amy Lange
* OLIVER- David A. Scott
* POOLE- Mike Carson
* FRIEDA- Ellen Boyd
* INSPECTOR ALEXANDER CARLTON- Jim Wellington
* LENA PLACE- Barb Griswold
* JOHN UTTERSON- Graham Howard
* PETER- Steve Hovis
* HASTIE LANYON- Jerry Holleran
* SARAH LANYON- Debbie Troia
* FATHER DANIEL- John Olcott
* EMILY- Christine Gill
* DAISY- Shelly May
* THOMAS- James Holtzman

PLOT: An esteemed scientist (Mike Lavarnway) creates an elixir that turns him into a dangerous criminal. A gothic drama, set in the late 1800's.

HISTORY: Wanting to do another ELT show, I turned down a lead role in CCC's April show "The Cherry Orchard" to do Joe Edkin's "Dr. Jekyll". Although I was initially determined to earn myself the lead role of Jekyll in this production, at no point during (or after) my three auditions did I ever really feel confident that I had nailed the part. Yet the more I'd read for the character of Oliver the pimp, the better I felt I'd done with it. So, it made perfect sense when the show's director (and co-writer) Joe cast me as Oliver the pimp, while giving Mike Lavarnway (who directed me in ELT's "The Mousetrap" two years earlier) the title role.
While I didn't get the Jekyll/Hyde role, I at least got to try my hand at some Hyde-versus-Emily fight choreography, which I'd rehearsed with Debbie during the audition period. The experience prepared me for my character's intense fight with Jekyll during the second half of the show.
The Oliver role turned out to be perfect, allowing me to immerse myself into an interesting character, while being just the right size as to not distract me from the increased workload at my job.
My fiancee Cindy (who later became my wife during production) was given a backstage position as one of the stage managers. Also enlisted for the crew was Debbie as costume designer, Marty King (who directed me in ELT's "Run For Your Wife") as producer, and Roy Reed (Cindy's husband in LCP's "Beauty and the Beast") as fellow stage manager, with props duties going to Doug and Judy Born (who'd recently done "Golden Age of Radio" with me) and Joel Wilbur (who directed me in "Beauty and the Beast").
During the second performance, I accidentally broke the leg of a chair (which we'd been borrowing from Park Church) during one of my scenes. ELT was insured in case of such things, so no real harm had been done.
The play went on five times over two weekends, with the last show being the overall best, not only in performance quality, but also attendance (over 100 people). Audience reaction to the story and acting was also positive. Friends found it long, but engrossing and well-performed.

OTHER INFO: Elmira Little Theater