Jekyll & Hyde

When first reading the script for “Jekyll & Hyde: The Musical”, I immediately imagined it as a musical film. Set in 1890 in London, my setting is very dark, gloomy, and mysterious. For my Dr. Jekyll, I envisioned him to not be too worried about his appearance, so he is dressed in stereotypical Victorian fashion, but full of black and grey as he is pulled to the darkness. For his counterpart Hyde, Hyde is a lot darker, smoother, sinister, and scary. Hyde has a face that almost doesn’t look human, and eyes that look void of life. To show the progression of Jekyll’s pull into madness, I wanted parts of his costume to be built with moire fabric. The pattern of the moire will get more and more chaotic until the end when it consumes him at the wedding. For Hyde’s moire pattern, I wanted it to look like tiny cells splitting during the mitosis process, showcasing the split between Jekyll and Hyde sharing their same body.

The Board of governors are in a variety of blues and greens, some having lightness displaying their iciness, and some displaying slick black commonly worn by the Victorian wealthy. For some of the board of governors, I would want to display how they die by Hyde into their costumes. For the Bishop of Basingstoke, I had his Staff engraved with his own death; Hyde stabbing him through the head with his staff. For General Lord Glossop, one of his medallions would have a mouth on it, showcasing where Hyde stabs him leading to his death. For Lady Beaconsfield, I have a dead bird on her hat, signifying bad luck and death, and a high neck with a gold necklace, that ultimately leads to her demise via Hyde’s strangling.

At the Engagement party, we see Emma, being the brightest light in Jekyll’s life. She is at first seen wearing a light pinkish purple, very cold, but still the lightest color we see worn within our cast. I also wanted to incorporate flowers into her costumes, that slowly wilt throughout the film, this shows her innocence and purity, but also the damage that Jekyll has done to her. Later she is in a darker, rich purple, and carries the most color within the film while still being in the dark color palette.

For Spider, Gwenny, and Bisset, I wanted them to have warmer toned palettes, showcasing their divide from the sleek, slick, and cold rich group of Board of Governors.