The reason that Dan and I went to Seattle was to see the new Mel Brooks musical Young Frankenstein. It really was worth the trip and turned us on to a whole new city that we fell in love with. Here are a few of my impressions of the show.
It played at the Paramount in Seattle, which is a lovely old theater that seemed to be a part of the set. The sets themselves were great and the show had some nice special effects. There is a great musical number, "Roll in The Hay" with Roger Bart, Sutton Foster and Igor that was pretty unique. There are also 2 great show stoppers, "Transylvania Mania" and "Puttin' on the Ritz", both of which are big song and dance numbers. Andrea Martin made me giggle with her song "He Vas My Boyfriend" and Megan Mullally gives new meaning to "Deep Love".
The show itself was way too long, coming in at just under 3 hours. They will have to do some cutting, which will be hard, because the show truly follows the movie. Mel Brooks not only wrote the book, he also wrote the lyrics and the music. Since he is the producer it will be hard for him to cut his baby. There are a 3 or 4 songs that could be shortened, if not cut altogether.
The cast was very good, I especially enjoyed Andrea Martin's Frau Blucher and Megan Mullally's Elizabeth. Megan's voice was incredible and she was very funny. Roger Bart is good as Dr. Frankenstein, it will be interesting to see if his voice holds up after all the screaming he does. Christopher Fitzgerald is very funny as Igor and gets some of the best lines. Shuler Hensley Monster is good, it's too bad they don't use his beautiful singing voice more. Sutton Foster is one of my favorite Broadway stars and she is underused and misused in this show, she pulls her part off, but really does not have much to work with.
I want to see the show after it opens in New York, just to see if they cut it and how. It starts previews there on October 11 at the Hilton Theatre. If you like the movie, you won't be disappointed with the musical. The Seattle crowd loved the show and seemed very enthusiastic, it will be interesting to see how it plays in New York.
Of coarse Dan and I were a couple of Stagedoor Johnnies and hung around the back door lurking for autographs. We got autographs from Megan, Andrea and Roger and they were all very pleasant and willing to give some face time to their fans after a long night on the stage.
1 comment:
I saw it in Seattle as well - agree mostly, but Sutton Foster I thought was horrible! She definitely is NOT a comedic acterss, and she seemed entirely uncomfortable and apathetic in the role. She should not have accepted if she didn't want to do it, or felt she couldn't. So sad!
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