Young Frankenstein is a Broadway musical staging of Mel Brooks’ hit movie lampooning the old “creature features” of the 1940s and ’50s.
There are double entendres to spare, winks and nods to the audience, self-referencing production numbers, and lots of gags.
Fans of the movie will find every scene lovingly recreated. Fans of big Broadway spectacle (think Wicked, played for laughs) will see eye-popping scenic design. Fans of slapstick humor will go home happy.
Young Frankenstein doesn’t pretend to be anything other than what it is: A good time.
It’s a giveaway when the official title of a show has your name in it. The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein is this one’s full name, and it is a Mel Brooks show through and through, based on his movie, stamped with his over-the-top humor. He wrote the music and lyrics and co-wrote the book with Thomas Meehan.
The show opened with high-wattage Broadway star power including Roger Bart as Victor von Frankenstein (“That’s ‘Franken-steen!); Sutton Foster as Inge; Megan Mullally as Elizabeth; and Shuler Hensley as The Monster.
As with The Producers, the show was directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman.
- Hilton Theatre
213 West 42nd Street
- Opening: November 8, 2007
- Closing: January 4, 2009