DESCRIPTION:
This video is from the Senior Recital of Shawn Patrick Fletcher on April 26, 2012.

A composer of many genres, Frank Wildhorn (b. 1958) has created a home for himself on Broadway. Not very interested in music as a child, Wildhorn was a self-taught composer. Perhaps his most successful work, Jekyll & Hyde was a project that Wildhorn began as a student at the University of Southern California where he was pursuing degrees in history and philosophy. These studies widely influence the subject matter of Wildhorn's writings, and in 1999 Wildhorn became the first American composer to have 3 shows running on Broadway at the same time in twenty-two years, one of which was Jekyll & Hyde.

This musical tells the classic story of good versus evil, in which Dr. Henry Jekyll attempts to separate the two natures of man. After his peers reject his proposals and refuse to help, Dr. Jekyll attempts his experiments alone, he finds success comes at a high price. Dr. Jekyll soon finds himself battling to subdue his own evil nature, personified as Edward Hyde. Hyde begins murdering those who refused to help Jekyll in his pursuits and soon there is a clash between the moral extremes of Dr. Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde. "This is the Moment" takes place right before Dr. Jekyll performs his experiment. It is his moment to prove to everyone who didn't believe in him that he was right. This is moment to be forever remembered in history and the defining moment of his career.


This is the Moment

This is the moment!
This is the day,
When I send all my doubts and demons
On their way!

Every endeavor,
I have made - ever -
Is coming into play,
Is here and now - today!

This is the moment,
This is the time,
When the momentum and the moment
Are in rhyme!

Give me this moment -
This precious chance -
I'll gather up my past
And make some sense at last!

This is the moment,
When all I've done -
All the dreaming,
Scheming and screaming,
Become one!

This is the day -
See it sparkle and shine,
When all I've lived for
Becomes mine!



For all these years,
I've faced the world alone,
And now the time has come
To prove to them
I made it on my own!

This is the moment -
My final test -
Destiny beckoned,
I never reckoned,
Second Best!

I won't look down,
I must not fall!
This is the moment,
The sweetest moment of them all!

This is the moment!
Damn all the odds!
This day, or never,
I'll sit forever
With the gods!

When I look back,
I will always recall,
Moment for moment,
This was the moment,
The greatest moment
Of them all!

Book by Leslie Bricusse