In mid-October, the autumn atmosphere enhanced for us when we traveled to Coshocton, Ohio and enjoyed an alfresco style dinner in the shelter house of the Roscoe Barbeque Company near the Roscoe Basin.  We ordered Texas-style barbecued ribs and pulled pork and washed it down with sweet tea.  Both made for a delicious meal.  My husband ordered baked beans and green beans with bacon as his sides and was quite pleased with them as well.  We plan to return when we are hungry for BBQ in the future.  The atmosphere was delightful, as we placed our order in a historic home located near Historic Roscoe Village and along the Ohio-Erie Canal.   

A short drive up the hill after dinner, took us to the Coshocton Footlight Players. We had purchased our tickets in advance online for their production of Jekyll & Hyde: The Musical.  We arrived a little early, so we took a pleasant stroll and photographs in the old canal area and breathed in the fall foliage surrounding us; we also enjoyed the view of the Roscoe Basin below.  As it was closer to show time and the temperature was dropping, we decided to head into the comfortable theatre. 

With some time to wait, we were able to read the program and learned that the production was conceived by Steve Cuden and Frank Wildhorn, the book and lyrics were by Leslie Bricusse (a double-Oscar- and Grammy winning artist), and the music was by Frank Wildhorn (multi-Grammy- and tony-nominated artist).  The cast included Heath Chaney, who was outstanding as Henry Jekyll & Edward Hyde, Jenna Jordan with her comfortability on the stage as Lucy Harris, Sam Corbett, whose beautiful voice shined as Emma Carew, and about 10 more cast members made up a team of talented local thespians.  Of course, Jekyll & Hyde: The Musical found its base on the original book, Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson.    

 The theatre effectively conveyed the classic good vs. evil with the initial goal of Dr. Henry Jekyll trying to discover a scientific cure for his father’s mental illness.  Sadly, he fails and is unable to reach this goal; instead, he develops an evil side of himself with the name of Mr. Edward Hyde and the evil begins to consume him.  While Jekyll strives to find a cure, Hyde is on a murder rampage and lurking in London.  As a viewer, I found myself rooting for Jekyll to find a cure not only for his father, but also for himself.  At the same time, it was disgusting to observe the person Jekyll was metamorphosing into as Hyde.  Great show, Coshocton Footlight Players!  We plan to get tickets to see Almost, Maine next month.