Carolyn and I had a very good time at Young Frankenstein. As much as at the previous Mel Brooks musical, The Producers? No, but if I spend my life expecting that, I'm going to be disappointed a lot. Just as you'll be disappointed by the stage version of Young Frankenstein if you go in expecting the movie. The film's best joke was for me, the slavish imitation of the look 'n' feel of an old Universal horror film. That, of course, isn't even attempted here. In fact, quite the opposite. The musical version is lavish and colorful and I don't know what they spent on the sets and special effects but they wouldn't have spent it if they hadn't thought this thing was going to run for many years on Broadway.
They could be right. There are moments that are disappointing and a few musical numbers that fall surprisingly flat. But there are also enough moments when the show is as good as you want it to be — the number that closes the first act, for instance. (I'll bet that's the one they do on the Tonys next year.) Or the "Puttin' on the Ritz" number where the Monster goes the full Fred Astaire route. Shuler Hensley's portrayal of the Monster is surprisingly affecting, given how he's burdened with the clunky makeup and costume, and has to grunt most of his role.
I really liked Roger Bart in what we might call the Gene Wilder role…and by the way, could Mr. Wilder's name be any smaller on the posters? The buzz in the theatrical community was that Bart was electric during the show's Seattle tryouts but owing to back problems, not quite as fabulous in New York. If that's so, he seems to have gotten over it. The "stealing the show" award though is probably evenly split between Christopher Fitzgerald in the role originated by Marty Feldman, and Andrea Martin playing Frau Blücher (horse whinny), the role played by Cloris Leachman in the film. Fred Applegate plays two roles — the local constabulary (the Ken Mars part) and the hermit (Gene Hackman in the film). In the latter, he has a short but effective number that stops the show.
Of course, there's no stopping this show. The musical numbers aren't up to the standards of Broadway's best — or even Mel Brooks's previous. But the story is fun and the energy is there and the sets and staging are incredible, and the whole thing managed to surprise me (in a good way) often enough that I'll probably go see it again some time when it isn't like docking the Space Shuttle to get tickets. On the other hand, I don't think I'll be playing the cast album a lot. This is one where you kinda have to be there.