It's Alive! Young Frankenstein Opens On BroadwayIt all comes down to this evening.
After months and months of negative publicity for
charging $450 for the top seats,
not publicly sharing the grosses,
not paying dues for the Dramatists Guild,
dumping the beloved Cloris Leachman, and
star Roger Bart's bad back,
Mel Brooks' second film adaptation to be turned into a big splashy Broadway musical finally opens this evening.
Brooks' beloved
film Young Frankenstein gets fine tunered with the help of
Thomas Meehan and director/choreographer
Susan Stroman.
Bart takes on the title role, with
Megan Mullally, ahem, assuming the position of Elizabeth,
Andrea Martin instilling fear in horses as Frau Blucher,
Christopher Fitzgerald humping along as Igor,
Sutton Foster rolling in der hay as Inga and
Shuler Hensley puttin' on the ritz as the Monster.
While I've been highly critical of the aforementioned offenses, I also have been able to separate those issues from my enjoyment of the show during its Seattle tryouts. As cathartic as dissing it with a stinging review might have been,
I'm the first to admit that I rather liked Young Frankenstein.
The real test with tonight's opening and tomorrow's reviews is whether the critics can do the same, or if they'll use the "this was too much like the movie" line to pile on. Find out tomorrow in my critics' capsule.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:Bart's Back: Bad Omen? (October 24, 2007)
The Broadway Theatres Not Impacted By Labor Dispute (October 17, 2007)
Shubert Alley Schadenfreude, Or Mel's Funk (October 11, 2007)
Once Again, I Have To Ask.... (September 20, 2007)
Young Frankenstein's Gross Out Factor (September 7, 2007)
Seattle Times: Young Frankenstein's Shtick Gets Old (August 24, 2007)
Riedel's Deep Abby Normal?(August 17, 2007)
Young Frankenstein (The SOB Preview) (August 13, 2007)
Will These Eyes Meet? Hoping For Better Than 75% (August 10, 2007)
Is Mel Worth It? (August 4, 2007)
Thanks, Mel! (July 6, 2007)
What Motivates You To See A Broadway Show? (July 5, 2007)
That's Franken$$$$$TEIN! (June 29, 2007)
Cloris To Mel: Put Up Your Dukes! (June 13, 2007)
Pirate Queen Set To Abdicate Hilton Throne (June 6, 2007)
Billion Dollar Broadway Baby? Almost. (May 30, 2007)
Mel Brooks: "It Looks Like The Hilton Theatre" (May 25, 2007)
End Of Plank For Pirate Queen? (May 18, 2007)
It's Official: Mullally Cast In Young Frankenstein (March 9, 2007)The Hits From Coast To Coast (March 8, 2007)
Whither Goeth Chenoweth? (February 27, 2007)
Producers Out, Young Frankenstein In (February 22, 2007)
That's FrankenSTEEN: Just In Time For Halloween (January 24, 2007)
M-G-M: Movies-Going-Musical (January 3, 2007)
Young Frankenstein Workshop To Feature Monster Casting (October 11, 2006)
Labels: Andrea Martin, Broadway, Christopher Fitzgerald, Film, Megan Mullally, Mel Brooks, Musical, Opening Night, Roger Bart, Sutton Foster, Thomas Meehan, Young Frankenstein
Young Frankenstein (The SOB Preview) - The Paramount, Seattle, WA
***1/2 (out of ****)Is
Young Frankenstein any good? That would be "The $450 Question."
Or perhaps more incisively, is it worth $450 per ticket? That, my friends depends entirely upon your point of view.
Personally, I could never bring myself to spend that kind of money on a theatre ticket as
I think I've already made abundantly clear. But if all things are truly relative, I can tell you that I enjoyed this nearly Broadway-ready
Young Frankenstein much,
much more than
Jersey Boys, where the top seats fetch a farfetched $351.50.
Over this past weekend, I flew to Seattle to take in the out-of-town tryout of
Mel Brooks'
Young Frankenstein,
and I can tell you it has monster hit written all over it. Yes, plenty of tinkering remains to be completed (can somebody
please give a hand to sound designer
Jonathan Deans -- the entire first couple tunes were so muffled that I could barely understand what was being sung), and yes, it currently runs about a half hour
too long (vooof!), but overall, Brooks' latest film-cum-stage musical is funny, funny, funny.
And in answer to the original question, yes, it's pretty darned good, too.
Given that I saw the show only days into its first previews, what's remarkable is the nearly excellent shape in which
Young Frankenstein already is for a show that will be further fine-tuned in the weeks ahead.
Credit Brooks and
Thomas Meehan for embracing all of the signature lines and hysterical bits from the
film and running with them. They're not only all here, but the rapt audience clearly anticipates each one, cheering enthusiastically as each is delivered with relish (now I
finally know how all those Monty Python fans felt during
Spamalot).
Yet, Brooks and Meehan expand on the story by offering up a more fully-realized Elizabeth thanks to a wickedly funny
Megan Mullally, and Igor via an absolutely hilarious
Christopher Fitzgerald --
Wicked's original Boq -- in an uproarious breakthrough performance that makes you all but forget
Marty Feldman.
Fortunately, they're not alone. For my first-time
ever,
I finally saw Sutton Foster perform and got to see what the fuss is about; not only can she sing and dance with the best of them, she's a voluptuous laugh riot to boot as Inga. Her "Roll In The Hay" had me rolling in the aisle. As much as I hoped to see
Cloris Leachman recreate the role of Frau Blucher, there's no better substitute than the pricelessly droll
Andrea Martin, who delights with nodding approval from neighing horses; her "He Vas My Boyfriend" underscores her comedic versatility. And while a monster of few words,
Shuler Hensley makes for about the most lovable bogeyman ever -- just ask Mullally, who sings down the house with her risible "Deep Love."
The toughest role certainly falls on former second-stringer and Tony-winner
Roger Bart, who finally graduates to a leading role with plenty of comic pizzazz. While it takes a while for his Dr. Frederick Frankenstein to rise to the heights of
Gene Wilder from the silver screen version, his winning madness and heart ultimately win the audience over.
Despite sprinklings of vampires and werewolves, surprisingly few of the tunes by Mel Brooks capture the lunacy of
The Producers, but as noted above, this
is still a work in progress. Although I still recall the strains of the aforementioned "Deep Love," along with "Together Again For The First Time" when Frederick and Igor forge their bond, if I were to guess which tunes would go away to speed along the narrative, I'd suggest the throwaway "Welcome To Transylvania" or the needless "Please Send Me Someone" by the one-scene Hermit.
Perhaps it's for these reasons that the
real showstopping tune turns out not to be a newly written Brooks piece, but instead,
Irving Berlin's borrowed "Puttin' On The Ritz." Like a
Busby Berkeley extravaganza, this signature tune catapults
Young Frankenstein to the highest heights of hilarity.
Thanks to the unique vision of director/choreographer
Susan Stroman, these Transylvanian hills come alive, not only with the sound of music, but also with enchanting stagecraft.
Robin Wagner has outdone himself with Frankenstein's laboratory alone, but when you add everything from a ocean-going ship to Frankenstein Castle's grand hall, add a dose of
Marc Brickman's enchanting projection designs and throw in
Peter Kaczorowski's brilliant lighting design, suddenly there's more magic than you can shake a beaker at. Then, of course, there's
William Ivey Long's wide-ranging costume design that bridges New York chic with Transylvania geek.
I fully trust that the final product that bows on Broadway will be precision perfect, but this is as abby-normally terrific as you can get this early.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for Young Frankenstein tickets (Seattle).Click here for Young Frankenstein tickets (Broadway).Related Stories:Will These Eyes Meet? Hoping For Better Than 75% (August 10, 2007)
Is Mel Worth It? (August 4, 2007)
Thanks, Mel! (July 6, 2007)
What Motivates You To See A Broadway Show? (July 5, 2007)
That's Franken$$$$$TEIN! (June 29, 2007)
Cloris To Mel: Put Up Your Dukes! (June 13, 2007)
Pirate Queen Set To Abdicate Hilton Throne (June 6, 2007)
Billion Dollar Broadway Baby? Almost. (May 30, 2007)
Mel Brooks: "It Looks Like The Hilton Theatre" (May 25, 2007)
End Of Plank For Pirate Queen? (May 18, 2007)
It's Official: Mullally Cast In Young Frankenstein (March 9, 2007)
The Hits From Coast To Coast (March 8, 2007)
Whither Goeth Chenoweth? (February 27, 2007)
Producers Out, Young Frankenstein In (February 22, 2007)
That's FrankenSTEEN: Just In Time For Halloween (January 24, 2007)
M-G-M: Movies-Going-Musical (January 3, 2007)
Young Frankenstein Workshop To Feature Monster Casting (October 11, 2006)
Labels: Andrea Martin, Broadway, Film, Megan Mullally, Mel Brooks, Musical, Roger Bart, Seattle, Shuler Hensley, Sutton Foster, The SOB Preview, The SOB Review, Young Frankenstein
End Of Plank For Pirate Queen?
Just to get you caught up on the musical theatre version of musical chairs, the highly popular
Grinch played last season at the
Hilton Theatre, current home to
The Pirate Queen. A move to another theatre may on the surface appear to assure that
The Pirate Queen plans to be around for a while, right? Wrong.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for The Pirate Queen $55 tickets. Related Stories:
Labels: Film, Hilton Theatre, How The Grinch Stole Christmas, Megan Mullally, Mel Brooks, Pure Conjecture, Roger Bart, Shuler Hensley, Sutton Foster, The Pirate Queen, The Producers, Young Frankenstein
It's Official: Mullally Cast In Young Frankenstein
I had been told earlier this week that Mullally signed for the show. I've also heard that the producers have decided against casting the venerable
Cloris Leachman, who created the Frau Blücher role on the silver screen. The rumblings I've heard not only deem her too old (Leachman is, in my opinion, a remarkably young 80), but also indicate that
Young Frankenstein can really only begin anew if it's completely recast. Somehow, those neighing horses will never be the same.
Having said that, another of my fave actresses, the redoubtable
Andrea Martin, has supposedly been in the running to assume the role of Frau Blücher. But like Chenoweth, she's reportedly mulling over her own potential television deal. Same goes for
Roger Bart, who played Igor in the much-ballyhooed reading of
Young Frankenstein last October.
One thing that does seem certain is that the out of town tryout will be in Seattle this summer. Personally, I'm already planning a trek to America's Emerald City to see whether this Broadway bound tuner measures up, regardless of who's cast (although
it sure would be nice to finally see Sutton Foster...).
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Related Stories:
Labels: Andrea Martin, Broadway, Cloris Leachman, Kristin Chenoweth, Megan Mullally, Musical, Roger Bart, Rumor, Seattle, Shuler Hensley, Sutton Foster, Tryout, Young Frankenstein
Whither Goeth Chenoweth?
But with a potential starring gig on an ABC television series called "Pushing Daisies," what will happen to the looming
Young Frankenstein scheduled to replace
The Producers at the St. James Theatre later this year? The Tony-winning actress had earlier assumed the coveted
Madeline Kahn role of Elizabeth in last year's vaunted reading of the new
Mel Brooks tuner.
Chenoweth, of course, is performing her last couple weeks in the Great White Way revival of
The Apple Tree. In addition to her leading role in that show, she recently made her acclaimed operatic debut with New York's
Metropolitan Opera.
Needless to say, the ABC pilot has yet to be picked up, and much can happen between now and the time Young Frankenstein comes to fruition. But if she's now going West, who might replace her?
According to one of my favorite personal sources,
Megan Mullally is rumored to be ready to take Chenoweth's place. Mullally has not been on Broadway since 1995's celebrated revival of
How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying. Her only other stint there was in the 1994 revival of
Grease. Ironically, I just spotted Mullally
in the audience at a recent performance of the new
Company revival (stay tuned for a review of that show to come shortly).
While I have to admit that I'd be sad to see the promising new Brooks musical move forward sans Chenoweth, Mullally is one of the few other comedic actresses with the apropos chops to make Kahn's former role her own. Stay tuned!
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Broadway, Grease, Kristin Chenoweth, Megan Mullally, Revival, Television, The Apple Tree, The Producers, Young Frankenstein
