Joe Giovannetti still remembers when he was in middle school at St. James School, when he and his classmates traveled by bus into Chicago to see Wicked, which was featured as part of the Broadway in Chicago series. Now, he is one of the principal actors in the critically acclaimed revival of Jekyll & Hyde, part of this season’s Broadway in Chicago series. The show runs until Nov. 8 at the Broadway Playhouse in Chicago.
Joe Giovannetti as Gabriel John Utterson in Jekyll & Hyde (Amy Boyle Photography)
“Performing in a Broadway in Chicago show has been surreal,” Giovannetti says. “I’ve been coming downtown to see shows at Broadway in Chicago theaters since I was a kid, so it still hasn’t sunk in that I get to be one of the actors that I idolized back when I was young. Seeing our show on the marquee and my headshot in a classic Playbill, it doesn’t seem real.”
Giovannetti plays the role of Gabriel John Utterson, sharing the part with actor Kevin Webb. Utterson serves as the narrator during the musical presented by Kokandy Productions. Consequently, the story is told through his prim and proper, Victorian perspective.
Suffice it to say, Giovannetti has come a long way since he started his acting career as a youngster in Setting the Stage musical theater workshop, as well as in musicals at St. James Church and Saint Viator High School.
Joe Giovannetti
“I would definitely not be doing this if I hadn’t had the countless opportunities to participate in theater productions growing up, at St. James and Saint Viator,” Giovannetti says. “And especially if I didn’t have the kind of parents who saw my love for theater and encouraged me, time and time again to pursue it.”
Now, with nearly a dozen professional roles under his belt, as well as two Jeff nominations, Giovannetti embraced the challenges with his character in Jekyll & Hyde. As he tells it, he joined the cast mid-run, after it had opened, when one of its actors, Kevin Webb, was cast in another show. Giovannetti now shares the role of Utterson with Webb, appearing on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and some Sunday nights.
“This was my first time ever learning a track in a show that was already built,” Giovannetti says. “I have understudied and replaced actors before, but always during the rehearsal process, and never after a show had already opened and ran for 50-something performances.”
(Amy Boyle Photography)
In all, he had three weeks to learn the role — and only three rehearsals with the rest of the cast. Through this intense process, Giovannetti says he came to love the role.
“Utterson often acts as a conscience to Jekyll and Hyde,” Giovannetti says. “He warns him of the dangers of his experiment, urging him to ‘play the game’ with the dismissive Board of Governors, bringing him crucial information and even confronting him as Hyde.”
When Giovannetti joined the cast, he felt it was important to honor the interpretation of the role as envisioned by Director Derek Van Barham and Kevin Webb’s original characterization. But, they also gave him the freedom to explore his own spin on Utterson.
“As an artist, I really appreciated that freedom and it’s allowed me to sink my teeth into a performance that’s faithful to Derek’s vision and yet feels totally my own,” Giovannetti says. “It’s a very unique experience—and it’s been awesome.”
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