Ryan Moss is both Jekyll and Hyde as CAOS Musical Productions bring Jekyll & Hyde: The Musical to the stage at Westbourne House, just outside Chichester, from February 19-22.
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00:00Good afternoon, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers, lovely to
00:07speak again to Ryan Moss. Now Ryan, this is going to be one of the biggest challenges
00:11of your acting, singing career, your stage career. You are on stage with Chaos Musical
00:17Productions in Chichester, shortly, in Jekyll and Hyde. And how on earth do you approach
00:23that duality, that you're playing two people, basically, aren't you? But you've got to connect
00:27them as well. Yes, yeah, no, absolutely. I've, I've not really treated them as two separate
00:35people, because they are still one individual. But they are two extremes of an individual,
00:43which is quite interesting. A lot of people would see Jekyll and think, well, he's just
00:47a normal guy. But to me, he, he's an extreme of what trying to do good can achieve. Throughout
00:56the show, he is trying to separate good and evil in every human being, because his father
01:03is suffering, his father is suffering with mental illness. And to Jekyll, and I'm sure
01:11other people in the Victorian time, that was evil, having overtaken his father's body.
01:18So he's trying to separate those two things. But I think with anything, when you go too
01:22extreme, such as Jekyll does, and starts experimenting on his self, it's never going
01:27to have good results. Absolutely. And really demanding, isn't it? Because vocally, you've
01:33got to make the distinction between the two. Very much, very much. I mean, it's, it's the
01:40most demanding vocally show that I've ever done. So really working hard on that vocal
01:46health. But yeah, Hyde's voice, because Hyde sings as well. It's, it's not all, it's not
01:53all roses with Jekyll and little love duets. There are some fantastic numbers, especially
01:59in the second act, that Hyde leads. And his voice is a lot lower in register. It's a lot
02:08more gravelly. It's got more resonance to it, in my mind. And then Jekyll's is a lot...
02:17I wish you could see yourself now, because you are perfectly for the role. Half in shade,
02:21half in light! I apologise, let me try and adjust that. No, no, no, it's perfect, it's perfect.
02:30I was getting there, and occasionally a bit of Jekyll. And you were saying, suggesting that
02:36you got the role, because you had a slightly different take on Hyde.
02:42That's what James told me, the director, which is always lovely. I think the way that I'm sure
02:50a lot of people would approach Hyde, and I'm not saying it's the wrong way, it's obviously a way,
02:55there are lots of different ways to go at any character, I'm sure. And the script does say
03:03that he has animalistic tendencies, but that doesn't mean he's animalistic for the whole thing.
03:09And to me, the thing that stuck with me is Lucy Harris, one of the other main characters in the
03:17piece, falls in love with him as Hyde. Whether that is love in the form of lust, or whether she
03:27is scared into loving him, it's open to interpretation, but she does fall in love with
03:34him. So there still has to be something about him that is attractive. So, thinking of that, my
03:43idea for the portrayal of Hyde is that he is a lot more confident, he's a lot more shoulders back,
03:49straight back, more debonair gentleman. But with the inkling that at any given second,
03:58he could go off, he could snap your neck. I suppose that's what you're saying, because
04:04you imagine a lot of people would be looking at ways to make the two characters very distinct,
04:09but you are kind of looking at ways to bring them together, aren't you? Which makes much more sense.
04:14Yeah, absolutely. I'm just trying to keep in mind that Jekyll and Hyde are the same body.
04:21They are parts of the same personality, but gone to extremes. So yes, while my characterization,
04:31I like to think, is considerably different for Jekyll and Hyde, hopefully it's close enough
04:40without it seeming confused. Because yeah, that's been our intention, at least.
04:45It sounds fantastic. So it's Jekyll and Hyde and it's Chaos Music Productions.
04:50Lovely to speak to you again. Thank you.
04:52And you, Phil. Thank you.