Dear "J&H" Enthusiasts,

I have listened to the soundtrack from "J&H" many times since I got it this year, and I have decided that I like Lucy MUCH more than I like Emma. In fact, I have decided that I don't like Emma at all!

Why? Well, I personally believe that even though Lucy has a much worse life than Emma has, Lucy wants something more from life. She's not afraid to feel many confused emotions, and yet, through it all, she wants to improve herself, become intelligent, reach for a better life, etc.

Emma, on the other hand, becomes one more of Broadway's foolish, head-over-heels, 110% hormonally-driven, silly, brainless, wasting away, lovesick girls who do everything wrong, and gain only the ability to be a tragic heroine because of their actions. She wants her father to let her go, but she ONLY wants him to do so so that she can go off chasing Henry as he chases his dreams. When she asserts her independence in front of Simon, she practically negates all that she's said, because when Henry enters the room, she says, "I'm complete!", meaning that HENRY COMPLETES HER! SHE'S no strong, independent, willful woman! She's just one more hormonal, "I'm gonna be wild by running after the rebel whom nobody likes!" type of girl!

Emma has it all, and she EVEN has a father who is willing to warn her about her precious Henry, but she won't listen. She won't even have ANY dreams for herself that are NOT Henry's dreams. Even HENRY tries to warn her about his precarious position in life, but she STILL won't listen to reason. In my opinion, she and Christine from "The Phantom of The Opera" would make the perfect college roomies; they could sit together, sipping tea, and remembering their strange, tortured lovers! ACK! Pass the Pepto, quick, I'm shurr!

I'd rather play the role of Lucy ANY DAY! SHE COULD have been written to be shallow, but she actually has a brain, a love for two men, AND some dreams for herself! Why did SHE have to be the MORE tragic of the two female leads in "J&H"?

Which of the two main female characters do YOU like more, and why?

Thank you in advance for your replies.

Well people like Lucy better because the show was written to be a star vehicle for her (Linda Eder.) Ironic as the show is called Jekyll & Hyde. I think they're both really cliche characters (Lucy is Nancy from Oliver) and not written well, but pretty much most of the show is poorly written. Emma simply doesn't have enough material to be a likable character.

Conflict, plain and simple. Lucy is the underdog, with a goal and obstacles, and has something to fight for. Emma is essentially a plot device to give Jekyll a reason to feel guilty. By herself, of course she has wants, but due to the structure of the story, is not given the chance to act on them except to make excuses for Jekyll to her father.

One of the many reasons I find this interpretation of the J&H story to be inferior to the earlier films. Heck, the 1989 tv musical version had a better overall arc, not to mention much higher stakes for Lucy and a better obstacle than... uh... for some reason not packing and running the hell away from an obvious killer before he kills her, too.