Jekyll & Hyde, The Grand Theatre, Leeds

Pellow stars as one man with two very different personalities – a brilliant but obsessive scientist whose sadistic alter ego wreaks havoc across Victorian London in a dark tale of love, redemption and the seductive power of evil.

From the opening bars of the musical introduction through the two hours of this spectacular production director Martin Connor has the audience on the edge of their seats anticipating what is to happen next. Great sets add to the drama of this musical and the musical performances from both Pellow and his co-stars are outstanding.

Marti has come a long way since he was the front man of Wet Wet Wet, who had that incredibly long run of 37 weeks in the charts in 1994 with Love is All Around. And yet it is love that is at the core of this storyline. Jekyll’s love for his fiancee Emma, and yet his desire for Lucy, one of the ladies of the night in London’s red light district. His voice seems to have matured during the last decade and his rendition of This is the Moment received probably the greatest applause of the night.

Sarah Earnshaw is superb as Emma and her duet Take Me As I Am with Pellow was one of the highlights of the show. I have known Sarah for more than 10 years as she was a performer with Rawdon Amateurs in 2001 when she played the role of Ann in Half A Sixpence and was also Sarah Brown in Guys and Dolls the same year when she was a sixth former at Leeds Girls High School in their production of that show.

Sabrina Carter as Lucy was also outstanding in her performance and her renditions of Sympathy, Tenderness and Someone Like You were absolutely delightful as was the duet with Sarah in In His Eyes.

And these three main principals were very well supported by the other cast members.

Set designs were superb and the scene changes slick and unobtrusive. Musical direction by David Steadman was excellent as was the choreography by Bill Deamer.

A great show at The Grand, one of the highlights so far this year.