Emma Carew

Who is Emma Carew?

Emma comes from a proper, upper-class London family and loves Jekyll steadfastly even as his behavior grows more erratic and troubling. She stands in quiet contrast to Lucy Harris, offering a picture of the ordinary happiness Jekyll is gambling away in pursuit of his scientific ideals.

Her presence in the story underscores what is at stake beyond Jekyll's own life and sanity: the people who love him and cannot understand what he is becoming.

Emma's role in the story

As a supporting character, Emma appears in fewer scenes than the central trio of Jekyll, Hyde, and Lucy, but her music calls for a warm, legitimate soprano sound suited to the show's more traditional romantic ballads. The role rewards a performer who can convey unwavering loyalty and mounting worry without overplaying either.

Emma resonates with audiences as the anchor of normalcy in a story that otherwise spins into darkness, giving the musical a sense of what innocence looks like before it is threatened.

Emma Carew on stage vs screen

Broadway compared with the 1931 film of Stevenson's novella

Stevenson's novella gives Jekyll no fiancee; the character comes from the stage. The 1931 film calls her Muriel Carew, played by Rose Hobart, the daughter of Brigadier-General Sir Danvers Carew, a character taken from Thomas Russell Sullivan's 1887 stage version. The musical's Emma Carew, originated on Broadway by Christiane Noll in 1997, is likewise the daughter of Sir Danvers Carew.

Their fates split sharply. In the film, Hyde assaults Muriel and kills her father. In the musical, Emma sings Once Upon a Dream, and her wedding to Jekyll becomes the scene of his final transformation and death.

Emma Carew: frequently asked questions