Jekyll and Hyde
El Musical

Madrid Cast Highlights

Starring Raphael, Marta Ribera, and Margarita Marban
Music by Frank Wildhorn
Lyrics by Leslie Bricusse
14 Tracks

Well, this review is going to be pretty short. I didn't buy this CD for myself, I got it as a birthday present for my dad. He's teaching himself Spanish, and he has all these really terrible CDs by some woman called Tish something-or-other, which we were subject to sometimes on long car trips. Now, at least I'M mollified. (My sister, who hates J&H, still isn't.) When he wants to listen to Spanish and I'm in the car, he plays this – and I can enjoy the music at least. (Those Tish CDs are so horrible you actually start to pray for deafness. Really.)

Not to downplay this CD in any way. I don't understand a darn word, I take French at school – but the singers' voices' are really fabulous. The guy playing Jekyll/Hyde only goes by one name – Raphael – and I believe he's pretty hot stuff in Spain, and has been for a while. I actually think he's kind of old for the role, but you'd never know it from his voice on this recording. Marta Ribera as Lucy has a gorgeous and powerful voice, and Margarita Marban makes a lovely Emma.

The orchestrations always seem a little funky to me – I can't really put my finger on why, though. They aren't bad by any means. Just different. I like listening to Jekyll and Hyde in different languages because you can concentrate on how great the music is, instead of always focusing on the lyrics.

Any Jekkies out there that speak Spanish must buy this right now. All other Jekkies should purchase as soon as they have some extra CD money… well, nobody ever actually has extra money, but you know what I mean. If you go, hmm, haven't bought a new CD in a while, go for this one. Very very nice. Non-Jekkies, I leave it to you to decide for yourselves.