Chicago Tribune
- Not Recommended
"...As the show flails about looking for a cohesive style, scene after scene gets overplayed. With some actors rushing their lines and others indulging in the grand fashion, the pacing goes haywire. And the show starts out so hyped up it has nowhere to build as H.C. turns that gossip gig into an anti-gay, anti-leftist crusade that Parnell likely figured to be a prototype of both McCarthyism and the Rush Limbaugh school of talk radio."
Chicago Sun Times
- Somewhat Recommended
"...You know the drill -- a bitter tale of obsessive filmmakers, power-crazed gossip columnists, running-scared producers, damaged young starlets, twisted sex, blackmail and murder. For good measure, you even can add a wildly melodramatic fight-to-the-death in the shadow of that emblematic cliffside HOLLYWOOD sign -- the one that seems to serve as a siren call to all those fated to be driven mad by their own demons, the fickleness of the silver screen or some unhealthy combination of both."
Daily Herald
- Highly Recommended
"...Director Andrea J. Dymond turns up the volume on this blustering production which unfolds on Kevin Hagan's soundstage and is accompanied by Mike Tutaj's film clips and newsreels projected on a velvet-framed screen."
Chicago Reader
- Somewhat Recommended
"...Sometimes the lines seem well-crafted zingers, other times fragments of realistic dialogue. Even more damaging to the effectiveness of this production is Steve Key's wooden performance in the lead role--and his tendency, on opening night at least, to stumble over his lines. Brian McCaskill is riveting, however, as the director's insanely ambitious nemesis, a Walter Winchell-esque columnist who clearly believes he must destroy Hollywood to save it."
Windy City Times
- Recommended
"...Director Andrea J. Dymond and her enormously talented production team and cast each lovingly scale the challenging heights of this play with plenty of style and panache. Sound and video designer Mike Tutaj is particularly noteworthy, since his sound-scape conjures the glamour of Hollywood high society while his video projections stunningly capture the silver screen look of the era."
Gay Chicago Magazine
- Somewhat Recommended
"...Though often on cruise control, director Andrea Dymond has succeeded in creating an overarching feeling to the piece - “Hyde in Hollywood” is presented in a film-noir style (sans fog and shadows), projecting suspense to the dialogue through an ominous edginess and quick response exchanges."
Time Out Chicago
- Somewhat Recommended
"...Here in the modern age, we can still appreciate Parnell’s raging against false moral superiority—goodness knows we’re still dealing with that—but the idea that film star Julian Hyde might be a—gasp!—homosexual seems slightly less scandalous now that all of us regularly debate around the watercooler whether or not Tom Cruise is really gay."
ChicagoCritic
- Recommended
"...Hyde is an ambitious work that features smart use of new film footage that moves the story along with excellent visuals by Mike Tutaj. The supporting players, David Bendena as Jake, Don Blair as Charles Hock, Michael Dailey as David and Eva Wilhelm as Betty offered terrific performances."
