REVIEW: Jekyll And Hyde, Mayflower, Southampton, until Saturday, April 2.

The questing Dr Jekyll is a man whose scientific curiosity knows no bounds and brooks no moral limits - and it’s that curiosity which plunges him into an epic battle between good and evil when he unleashes the Hyde within.

Decent man contemplating marriage by day, he becomes a monster hell-bent on revenge by night thanks to his steaming red potion.

And it’s a transformation Wet Wet Wet star Marti Pellow captures brilliantly. The cloak comes on, the hair is scruffed up, the red mist descends and his terrific vocals do the rest as the dark side chillingly takes over.

The tension mounts as Dr Jekyll tries to fight back in a battle which climaxes in confrontation as the two sides of the man literally go head to head on stage - thrilling stuff in a musical moves and thrills from its opening moments.

Marti Pellow gives a towering performance, capturing the agony of the good man who opens his very own Pandora’s box; but all around there is strong support, most especially from Sabrina Carter as Lucy and Sarah Earnshaw as Emma.

There are shades of Les Mis in the scale of it all; shades of Blood Brothers in the duality at the heart; shades of Sweeney Todd in the gothic horror of it all.

But best of all, it’s a cracking creation in its own right - and in Pellow it’s got the perfect star.

Phil Hewitt.