Review: “Young Frankenstein”
By Courtney Bowerman
Once again, king of comedy Mel Brooks has turned one of his hits into a Broadway musical. This time, it’s “Young Frankenstein,” the film that originally starred Gene Wilder and Peter Boyle.
The musical is certainly not the same as the movie. The most obvious difference is the cast; Roger Bart, whom many of you might remember from “The Stepford Wives” and the movie musical version of “The Producers,” takes the leading role of Frederick Frankenstein. Since this show is fairly new, I had the rare pleasure of seeing Bart and the members of the original Broadway cast — including Cory English as Igor and Shuler Hensley as The Monster — perform on stage!
Since I’ve seen the movie at least a hundred times, I couldn’t help but compare the movie cast to the musical cast. Roger Bart definitely puts his own spin on the character of Frankenstein. Although he is fabulous, the most hilarious character on the show is Igor. He didn’t have many solos, but he easily had the best lines in the show. During the performance I attended, there were a few hilarious ad-libbed moments between Bart and English. They definitely made a great comedic duo, and I hope they do another show together.
Hensley’s Monster was almost exactly like Peter Boyle’s version, which gave the show some familiarity. Another standout performance was Joanna Glushak as the infamous Frau Blucher (cue horse whinny). She too knew how to act in the moment and move along with the audience responses, resulting in another improvised moment (although I’m not completely sure it wasn’t scripted). Her solo “He Vas My Boyfriend!” was disturbing but funny as hell.
In the transition from movie to musical, several aspects of the original plot have been changed. However, most of the classic scenes have been preserved; the best quotes like “Please Don’t Touch Me,” “Roll in the Hay” and “He Vas My Boyfriend” have even been converted into catchy musical numbers. They are all great, although the raunchy Mel Brooks jokes toed the line between tasteful and tacky quite often. Still, it’s all in good fun.
The best number, hands down, was “Puttin’ On the Ritz.” While the original version was just a quick gag, the musical has lengthened it into a spectacular musical number. Without that scene in the movie, I don’t think they could have ever made a musical.
There are also some very elaborate effects to create the illusion of lightning and electricity during certain important parts. In true Broadway fashion, it can get a little cheesy. On the other hand, this is technically a sci-fi/monster movie musical, so cheesiness should be expected.
Overall, “Young Frankenstein” is a hilarious musical that remains true to the spirit of the original movie. However, I really hope that they don’t make a movie version of it. The original is a classic and while the Broadway version is good, I think it’s best left on stage. Just look at what happened with the “Mamma Mia!” movie …
At the finale, the cast hints that a “Blazing Saddles” musical might be in the future. I don’t know how they could ever pull that one off, but I kind of hope that that Mel Brooks makes at least one more musical version of a movie. Even if the “Blazing Saddles” line was a joke, there is tremendous potential for “History of the World Part I” and “Robin Hood: Men in Tights.” Who knows what lies ahead?
Want to see what we’re talking about? Watch Sofia Deleon’s video review of the musical: