Alive - Jekyll And Hyde 1987 Demo

The song Alive from the 1987 Demo of the musical Jekyll And Hyde by Frank Wildhorn.

[@europa8292]

The reason I love the Wagner and warlow renditions is they really capture not just Hyde’s violence and sinister nature but most importantly his joy and happiness at the first time of truly feeling alive

[@TheStreetDog23]

I fully support you with this opinion! Their interpretation of this song is the best ♥️

[@dustbiter445]

This is the best version of Alive. The pace is phenominal. It feels as sinister as Anthony Warlow's version but has ten times the adrenaline. Frank Wildhorn you must release these 1987 recordings!

[@suzannerider9460]

This is Chuck Wagner as Jekyll / Hyde. He was also in Into the Woods (the stage musical) as Rapunzel's prince if I remember rightly.

[@judithhead8458]

He played both Princes! Cinderella’s Prince also.

[@blue_musicals]

Yes!! He’s played Both Princes and the Wolf in Into the Woods (Broadway and Tour), Javert in Les Mis (Broadway and Tour), The Beast in Bwauty and the Beast (Broadway), and Valjean in several regional productions of Les Mis

[@jimcashin8394]

I really want this released as an album. this and the Complete Gothic Thriller from 1994 are the best they have so much heart

[@ghostsurfer23]

I still like the Anthony Warlow version better, but this is probably a close second.

[@JackDanyaKemplin]

@Brucetherubbershark The "man in black" is Simon Stride; Lisa's ex boyfriend who has a facade of being a moralist though he is secretly the owner of The Dregs brothel.

[@aionlover3981]

His voice is amazing and it fits this character so well.

[@JackDanyaKemplin]

@Brucetherubbershark caused Jekyll & Lisa's relationship strain. Then after Lucy gets Jekyll's letter from Utterson, but before Hyde comes & kills her, Stride takes the letter from her, & then before the wedding Stride puts the letter in Lisa's dressing room, thus hoping she will read it finding out that Jekyll, as Hyde, cheated on her, thus ending the wedding, but then of course durring the wedding Jekyll turns into Hyde & you know the end. So that is the Stride subplot.

[@internetuser528]

wow. this is amazing, this musical has some great history.

[@al33ksa]

As much as I love Warlow, this is definitely my favourite version of Alive. I can almost feel Hyde's euphoria myself. Truly magnificent.

[@HaydenofEverything]

This version is transposed up a major second to B Minor, but the A still sounds absolutely marvelous. Chuck Wagner is just an absolute beast of a singer

[@user-ui3bb5th7k]

I agree Chuck makes Hyde sound new to the world then suddenly manic.

[@JackDanyaKemplin]

@Brucetherubbershark Utterson is Jekyll's best friend, but no one knew of Stride's evil side, true he was a jealous ex boyfriend, but he wasn't known to be as evil as what he actually is, & so when he suggested Utterson take Jekyll to The Dregs to get his mind off of the rejection Utterson thought about it, & decided a little distraction & fun might help Jekyll to forget about his formula & refocus his life on the upcoming married, besides a Batchelor party is in order.

[@jscho8674]

oh wow. I haven't heard this demo recording in years. Love it! I'm still mad Chuck Wagner did not get to originate the role on Broadway. grrr.

[@beetlejuice9920]

Very Good Voice.

[@JackDanyaKemplin]

@Brucetherubbershark he secretly spoke with the board of governors, convincing them that Jekyll was crazy, & during the meeting he egged them on in their rejection of Jekyll. Then he in the guise of a friend convinced Utterson to take Jekyll to The Dregs in hopes he could get Jekyll to cheat on Lisa thus ruining the relationship. Though Jekyll did not cheat, the effects of both the rejection & the meeting with Lucy lead Jekyll to decide to test the formula on himself. That of course (continued)

[@suzannerider9460]

The Dregs is also known as the Red Rat.

[@JackDanyaKemplin]

@Brucetherubbershark Yes, Simon Stride's earlier subplot was that he was Lisa's ex whom was overly possessive & controlling when they dated when she was 17, so she broke up with him & met Jekyll at a Spring ball. Ever since then Simon Stride has been jealous of Jekyll, & at this point the engagement party was before the board of governors meeting, so what happened was at the end of the engagement party Simon tried to convince her to call of the engagement, & when she refused he (continued)

[@suzannerider9460]

This is the nearest one to the original concept of the musical in the composer's mind. Why is this not on an album or anything like that?

[@suzannerider9460]

To add to the previous comment, the song is used to establish the character of Hyde,. It explains the motivation and how the character is feeling at the moment.

[@shalafisama]

Wow, that middle bit sheds some light on the 2012 concept recording of this song.

[@ThetrollISBACK-hv7uv]

2:29 best part

[@DoctorJekyllanMrHyde]

truly wonderful

[@suzannerider9460]

The 1987 version is probably the best version followed by the 1994 version.

[@jinx111]

musical brilliance from the beginning

[@JackDanyaKemplin]

@Brucetherubbershark The Spider didn't, The Spider was created after it was decided to remove Stride as the owner. So technically The Spider is what Stride's darker side evolved into. Similar to how in the Broadway version Nellie's darker side evolved into Gwenny.

[@Brucetherubbershark]

@holyguyver Wow. This sounds significantly more interesting then the script we've got. The script we've got is disjointed and confusing. Now I think that's because there's a lot of stuff that is either underdeveloped or unfinished.

[@JackDanyaKemplin]

@Brucetherubbershark Yes the Board Of Governors were still bad because they were stuck in tradition & hated anything new or unknown, unwilling to take chances, Stride simply enforced that feeling within them.

[@emilydiveley9661]

I love it. Thank you

[@suzannerider9460]

This is what is known as the "I am" song. Other examples of this are Emma's Reasons, Girls of the Night and Take Me as I Am.

[@xxeruss3080]

And to think this degenerated to that horrible Hasselhoff mess. Damn. This and Warlow's versions are so amazing. If they had continued on this road, I bet the musical would have a much better reception.

[@NisanAlexKarlca]

WOW!!!!!

[@suzannerider9460]

They should have stayed with this version. It explained the story much better.

[@Brucetherubbershark]

I read the script (and sent you a reply e-mail telling you what I thought about it). In short, I liked it (some of the added songs are great) and it clarified a lot of things (character motivations, plot points etc.), but it's way too big of a show to be taken to a production level.

[@Brucetherubbershark]

@holyguyver That's very interesting. Too bad that subplot was cut because Simon sort of "disappears" from the story after the engagement party scene. Obviously the show has changed considerably since this intial demo.

[@DawnOfDragonz]

It's on his deviantart account.

[@user-ui3bb5th7k]

Jack Danya Kemplin thank for this.

[@sundus928]

He's so HOT!! 😘

[@Disneylover2023]

omg wow the prince

[@JackDanyaKemplin]

@Brucetherubbershark Well I did last week try to send you a link to my Completeists' script of the show which has every song, lyric, dialogue line, scene, & subplot from every version of the show ever, merged into one coherent script.

[@wastelandeyes]

I know this is an extremely late reply (9 years later) but do you by chance still have this document? I would love to see it, I've been so interested in the history of this musical!

[@JackDanyaKemplin]

@@wastelandeyes www.deviantart.com/holyguyver/art/Jekyll-Hyde-Completist-script-208056196

[@Brucetherubbershark]

@holyguyver I'm playing The Spider in a community theatre production and I could never figure out what his place in the show was. Now things make a little more sense. Well, in case you can't tell by this point, I'm quite fascinated by all this. So if Stride had convinced the Board of Governors to reject Dr. Jekyll's proposal, were the Board members still bad guys, or misunderstood by Hyde, or what? And I thought Utterson was Henry's best friend. How did he end up getting influenced by Simon?

[@ThePitchFinder]

@holyguyver Excuse me I'm an avid fan of this show and this conversation has just been fascinating, is there anyway you could send me that Completeists script?

[@ryantherebel]

Could I have a link to the script as well? You've got me curious as well.

[@palmettosiucra4687]

This song best describes the Hydes of Wednesday on Netflix.

[@Brucetherubbershark]

Who's the "man in black"?

[@JackDanyaKemplin]

Chuck Wagner

[@Brucetherubbershark]

@holyguyver Wow. That's very insightful. So if Simon was the owner of the nightclub/brothel, then how does The Spider fit into this early version?

[@suzannerider9460]

Brucetherubbershark He is basically Lucy's pimp.

[@LxR7601]

I dedicate this song to the Trinity and their Christians who hurt me illegally as a kid. I am free now. I want you to remember the one woman who beat you.