Teddy Tahu Rhodes to star as Jekyll and Hyde
The Herald Sun recently ran an article announcing Teddy Tahu Rhodes will star as Jekyll and Hyde in Opera Australia and GFO’s next co-production later this year.
While no cast announcement has been made through the official media and publicity channels from either production house, it is a likely match for the production. Rhodes appeared as the debonair French plantation owner Emile de Becque in Opera Australia and GFO’s first (extremely successful) joint venture, South Pacific in 2012-13, marking the Kiwi baritone’s first foray into music theatre.
2014 saw Rhodes return to the musical theatre world as King Monkut in The King and I – GFO/Opera Australia’s second co-production – directed by Jekyll and Hyde’s own Christopher Renshaw.
The international star, who worked as an accountant in New Zealand before pursuing a career in opera (and now music theatre!) will also appear as the demon barber of Fleet Street in Victorian Opera’s production of Sweeney Todd at Arts Centre Melbourne this July.
Read the Herald Sun article here
This production of Jekyll and Hyde is set to be a reworked version of the musical, which recently enjoyed a workshop in New York.
“I am very excited to finally bring this wonderful musical to Australia for its first professional production,” John Frost said when the show was launched earlier this year.
“At a recent workshop in New York, this re-imagined version proved to be a powerful and moving experience for everyone present, and I know audiences are going to be enthralled by the classic story and magnificent music.”
No, no – please NO! He is totally wrong for the part. I’ve been wanting to see this production live for years. But with him in the lead.