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The Column Online released its annual Best In Dallas/Fort Worth Theater list today and Greater Lewisville’s Jekyll & Hyde: The Musical was among those listed by Senior Chief Theater Critic John Garcia as one of the best productions of 2010.  Jekyll/Hyde lead and Column Award-winning actor Brad Stephens was also listed among Garcia’s list of Breakthrough Performers of the Year. 

“My staff of Associate Theater Critics and myself has been working on our picks for what we considered was the best in theater within the DFW area since October,” wrote Garcia.  “In making my decisions for what were the best in musicals and plays, I seriously thought of a long list of rules, factors, and theories within my mind in picking what I considered to be listed as the ‘best’.  After all, I saw so many shows both as a critic and as a simple theatergoer.” 

Of Jekyll & Hyde, Garcia exclaimed, “I was completely blown away by how Director Sharon Veselic and her highly talented cast actually created a fantastic, thrilling, and visually exciting production.  The trio of leads tore into the score with vocal finesse with a hard working ensemble cresting right along with them in commitment and talent.” 

In addition, all three Jekyll & Hyde leads – Brad Stephens (Jekyll/Hyde), Courtney Sikora (Lucy) and Michelle Foard (Emma) – were listed in Garcia’s 2010 Breakthrough Performances of the Year.  “For me a ‘breakthrough’ performance is one in which I do not see whatsoever the common tics or the ‘usual’ acting craft or tools that an actor has used before in previous performances,” stated Garcia.  “I sit in the dark watching an actor go so out of the box and create a performance that I have not see them do before that it leaves me speechless.  That’s a break-through performance in my book.”

In his Special Achievement/Recognition category, Garcia named Foard and Sikora as Best Female Vocal Duet for their performance of In His Eyes and praised Sikora as Best Female Vocal Performance with A New Life.  “Sikora belted, soared, and glided with extra-ordinary vocal beauty within this solo,” he said.  The Frank Wildhorn musical also garnered a nod for Best Scenic & Lighting Design.

Jekyll & Hyde shares honors with six other productions: Flaming Guns of the Purple Sage (Theatre Too at Theatre Three); Give It Up (Dallas Theater Center); Into the Woods (Plaza Theatre Company); Lend Me A Tenor (ICT MainStage); The Dixie Swim Club (Pocket Sandwich Theatre); and Reckless (Sideman Productions). 

Read by nearly 19,000 subscribers worldwide, The Column is the only organization recognizing excellence in the Dallas/Fort Worth theater community.  The Column engages the contributions of fifteen critics and distributes reviews via e-mail to over 18,450 subscribers worldwide.  The Column Awards annually honors excellence in local theatre productions.  Additionally, The organization strives to raise funds for the fight against AIDS by primarily contributing to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and dedicates itself to developing a love of theatre in local youth.