In Covington, La., Playmakers Theatre has entertained the local community for 50 years. Although the small theatre is a 30-minute drive from Southeastern, the summer production of “Jekyll and Hyde the Musical,” which opened on July 11, gives students several reasons to make the drive.
“We are one of the longest continuingly running community theaters in America,” said Adolfo Rodriguez, director of the musical. “I was approached by our musical director Gail Adams about it, and I was familiar with this show. With any show I direct I look for a hook, and I found one that interested me. It was the idea of chemical dependency in our society and the idea of façade. Living so close to New Orleans but away from it at the same time, the Northshore is known for that sort of face and then the sin behind the face. That was the hook.”
In the play, Dr. Henry Jekyll, obsessed with finding a cure for his father’s insanity, hopes to get permission from the St. Jude’s Hospital board of directors to conduct human trials on the mind. After receiving a unanimous no, Jekyll decides to go ahead and conduct his experiment on himself in hopes that he can split the evil from a man’s mind.
Southeastern alumnus Brent Goodrich, a Lake Charles native, played Simon Stride, one of the board members who stood against Henry Jekyll’s experiments.
“I’m not originally from this area,” said Goodrich. “I’m originally from the Lake Charles area, so doing this, I got hooked into it with Karista [Filopoulos] and Kristina [Temple] from Southeastern, but it was definitely an unexpected blessing in my life, and I was really happy to be a part of it.”
Jekyll, played by Chris Newhouse or Shannon Williams, is celebrating his engagement to the beautiful Emma Carew, played by Karista Filopoulos or Katherine Hebert. After performing his first self-experiment, Edward Hyde is born and begins terrorizing his enemies, causing a rift between him and his fiancée Emma.
Filopoulos, a Covington resident and recent Southeastern graduate in vocal performance, takes on the role of Emma every other night. She was thrilled to perform her last show in Louisiana in her own backyard before going on to graduate school at Arizona State University.
“It feels good. It’s funny though because I’ve never actually done plays before at Playmakers before,” said Filopoulos. “This is my first play here, and I’ve always wanted to. It’s a great show, so I was really excited to do it.”
Goodrich and Filopoulos agreed that the drive to Covington to see the play is worthwhile because it shows support for local talent including Southeastern students.
“We are Southeastern green and gold blood, and we represent at the highest quality,” said Goodrich. “It’s just definitely a fun and enjoyable show.”
The director, Rodriguez, said that attending the play shows support for both Playmakers, Inc., and Southeastern.
“It’s a really good show,” said Rodriguez. “We have a very talented cast, many of whom are at SLU or have just graduated from SLU. So the fact that it’s a good show and the fact that you’re supporting fellow Lions is a great reason to come out.”
Although the opening weekend of Jekyll and Hyde the Musical was Thursday, July 11 through Sunday, July 14, there will be performances on the weekends of July 18-21 and July 25-28. On Thursdays through Saturdays, performances begin promptly at 8 p.m., and on Sundays performances begin at 2 p.m.
Students from elementary through university level have the opportunity to see the musical for the discount student price of $15. Other adults may attend for $25 per ticket. For additional information on the play or to reserve tickets, visit www.playmakersinc.com.