Young Frankenstein Review- Page 2

[Brave Sir Robin2]

Posted: 8/14/07 at 7:42pm

Good to hear how well it turns out. Hooefully, Mermaid can turn up the magic and we will have a great season with A Catered Affair, In The Heights, and Xanadu.

[TheKryptoniteKid]

Posted: 8/14/07 at 9:39pm

Quote: "Here is where I suggest an evening show over a matinee. At the mat the Dr. screams things like “Let me the hell out!” but at the evening he screams, “Let me the F*CK out!” It caught me off-guard but it’s waaaaaaaaaaaay funnier."

As these are the try-outs, maybe HELL was changed to F*CK that evening. After all, I saw a matinee preview of THE PRODUCERS, and Nathan Lane said, "Who do you have to F*CK to get a break in this town?" The same happened for the matinee I saw in Melbourne.

[delucad15]

Posted: 8/14/07 at 9:49pm

Is the music better or about the same as the producers?

[WickedForever2]

Posted: 8/14/07 at 10:06pm

I like the music better, but The Producers has never really done it for me... although it has a similar feel to The Producers. It is a signature Mel Brooks/Susan Stroman musical and there are a lot of moments, particularly dance numbers that remind me of The Producers. I think the songs for this show are in the best shape, it's dialogue and the in between scenes that need editing.

And KryptoniteKid, you're right maybe it was just a change, there were certainly other small line modifications I noticed between the matinee and evening. I just assumed maybe it was a conscious decision to censor the show... but who knows? I'm going again next weekend to 4 shows, so we'll see!

[wicked4life51]

Posted: 8/14/07 at 10:09pm

love it
cant wait great wickedforever love you haha at least someone has good things to say about a tryout

[TheKryptoniteKid]

Posted: 8/14/07 at 10:17pm

I think people know if they're going to see a Mel Brooks show, there's going to be a four-letter word here and there... and they expect - nay, demand - it!

[WickedForever2]

Posted: 8/14/07 at 10:19pm

I loved it, it cracked me up how matter-of-factly Roger delivered the line. I vote to keep it always!

[WickedForever2]

Posted: 8/15/07 at 12:05am

Double posting, but whatever. On the off chance any of Mr. Brook's people are watching the message boards, I think the line "We go together like Kanter and Ebb-... *pause* -er. *shrug*" would make a great addition to "Together Again for the First Time."

[DayDreamer]

Posted: 8/15/07 at 3:24am

Don't mean to crash the party, but don't want to start another YF thread...

Just back from tonight's performance. What can I say... for some reason, I was totally underwhelmed by this show.

The actors are all fantastic, especially Andrea Martin and Christopher Fitzgerald. Sutton is beautiful, I wish she had one more song, but her dancing is superb. Everyone is truly great. The sets are amazing... the show is fun, but it didn't quite grab me. The production numbers seemed a bit out of place and way too long. I can't really put my finger on what I didn't like... I laughed enough, that's for sure. It's plenty fun...

Oh, and he did say F#ck tonight.

[dramaparoxysm23]

Posted: 8/15/07 at 4:49am

I am DYING to see this. If flying (or even driving) to NYC didn't cost so much, I would be there in a heartbeat - especially to see Megan onstage!!

[ChecksintheMayo]

Posted: 8/15/07 at 5:31am

He's said "Ohhhhh ****!" for a few days now.

Major changes were made to Act 1. The shoehorned "Alone" is gone now, as well as "Elevate me." The redundant "The Law" was shortened as well. I still think the dancing goes on too long in "Join the Family Business" and "Transylvania Mania."

[DayDreamer]

Posted: 8/15/07 at 12:40pm

... and "Putting on the Ritz." It didn't need the big production number at the end.

[Lorelai]

Posted: 8/15/07 at 2:06pm

Just to 2nd the comment about Megan being nice. I've met her a couple times and she's always been nothing but sweet. Has always takes time to talk with fans.

[WickedForever2]

Posted: 8/15/07 at 9:38pm

Do you happen to know how much time that cut out of Act 1? Cuz it was too long... I'm so excited to go back now and see the changes! And I also think "Transylvania Mania" is too long, and kinda awkward for some reason... It's like they were looking for an excuse to throw in a big dance number where one really isn't needed.

[LimelightMike]

Posted: 8/15/07 at 9:45pm

What's the running time for YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN thus far?

[WickedForever2]

Posted: 8/15/07 at 9:59pm

Before those cuts were made, 2.5 hours. Act 1 is 1.5 hours, Act 2 was an hour. Sounds like Act 1 may be shorter by about 15 minutes now.

[ChecksintheMayo]

Posted: 8/15/07 at 11:34pm

During the first preview, the first act ran about 1:35 or so. After the cuts, it ran a little over 1:20. "Alone" wasn't that long; it just felt that way.

Changes to act two were pretty insignificant. Some of Igor's dialogue was rewritten and Megan has a new dress during "Surprise" now. I guess someone mentioned that a rich socialite wouldn't be caught dead wearing the same dress twice.

From entr'acte to exit music, it still ran a little over an hour. Updated On: 8/15/07 at 11:34 PM

[LimelightMike]

Posted: 8/16/07 at 1:55am

How does the curtain call work thus far? And also, is there a "Goodbye" song like there was for THE PRODUCERS?

[WickedForever2]

Posted: 8/16/07 at 2:16am

The ensemble comes out in... 3 groups, I believe. The the sorta main characters like the Inspector and the Village Idiot take a bow. Then all the principal characters get their own. Megan, if I remember correctly, gets raised out of the floor on a platform and I think the others just run on and bow. Then they take a company bow or two and acknowledge the orchestra. Then they sing a little reprise type thing of "Together Again for the First Time" take a final company bow and the curtain drops.

[LimelightMike]

Posted: 8/16/07 at 12:39pm

That's great! I'm booking my seats NOW!

[WickedForever2]

Posted: 8/16/07 at 7:07pm

You won't be disappointed! Are you seeing it in Seattle or New York?

And, I love the production photos. I was waiting very impatiently for some of those!

[BearX220]

Posted: 8/17/07 at 2:25am

I saw the ninth performance Tuesday, 14 August in Seattle and thought I would add some notes. It's been interesting to see what other people think.

The show's strengths are its cast and production design. Roger Bart and Andrea Martin, in particular, are just wonderful. They are laboring in the shadows of icons (Wilder, Leachman, Kahn, Feldman) and for the most part they make you quit comparing. Bart's and Sutton Foster's effortless dancing and comic timing are astonishments. Bart, especially, has a moment where he appears to be picking up the "Transylvania Mania" dance steps on the fly that is just transcendent. You can't believe what you're seeing this man do.

Mullally is less of a home run. With cuts made quickly since the premiere, she's now in only one scene (of eleven!) in Act 1, in which she straight-up channels Madeleine Kahn. In Act II she's pretty much delivering her standard-brand helium-voiced self-obsessed "Will and Grace" persona. If you think that's great (I don't, particularly), you'll think she is as well. She can knock the house down with a song, too, and the Paramount in Seattle is a big honkin' house.

The sets and staging got repeated applause, deservedly so. In fact, the Seattle crowd, which is not know for theatergoing politesse (I've seen 'em stand up and walk up the aisle, turning their backs on casts taking bows), was really into the whole show and gave up a standing O at the finish.

The show's problems fall into two categories: bloat and prisoner-of-the-movie issues. The bloat they are clearly working on. The Act I I saw was still more than 90 minutes, and they'd already cut a Mullally number ("Alone"). They need to cut one or two more altogether, and shorten others. There are three huge, extended song-and-dance showstoppers: "Join the Family Business," "Transylvania Mania" in Act I and "Puttin' On the Ritz" in Act II. It's the latter that everyone will look forward to because the movie scene is so beloved. But it comes so late in the game, and the first two are such marathons, that "Puttin' On The Ritz" makes you think, "Omigod, here we go AGAIN," which is not how you really hoped to react to it. The show plays really, really long at this early point, but of course tweaks are what Seattle is for.

The prisoner-of-the-movie problem is a lot more difficult to tackle. Numerous set pieces are lifted from the movie whole and without embellishment. If they don't do it, audiences will miss them. When they do it, the effect is like what you get with English pantomine: you know exactly what's going to happen, no surprises, so actually seeing the movie gag, no more, no less, onstage is anticlimatic. When Monty Python went on tour and the crowds knew the sketches by heart and kept shouting the punch lines before the cast could utter them, I bet it felt about the same.

For this reason the hermit's cabin scene -- which is as familiar and surprise-free a reenactment as a Nativity play -- did nothing for me. There are lines that worked on film, like a Marty Feldman aside to the lens as Gene Wilder rants in the background, that are reproduced verbatim onstage but die without the cinematic intimacy. The "What knockers!" "Zank you, Doctor!" movie gag is inappropriate and, um, flat here -- Sutton Foster is lithe and lanky, not exactly a St. Pauli Girl -- but they reproduce it anyway.

There are gratuitous vulgarities, also, in the woodwork that feel out of phase with the overall tone of the piece. And i don't mean just the odd "f*ck" tossed out for effect. When Mullally gets a lyric in "Please Don't Touch Me" to the effect of "All the local boys know / Elizabeth comes first"... and when she ends up singing about her "tits, tits, tits"... it's not really funny, it's not really racy, it just feels low. There's no need for it. And I don't much like the mental image I have of old Mel Brooks spouting this stuff at the writer's table.

Still -- the positives outweigh the difficulties, and I know they'll tighten the show up. Andrea Martin steals every scene she's in. Bart as I said proves an incredible, energetic leading man. Christopher Fitzgerald is great too. (Fred Applegate as Kemp and the Hermit slows things down, though. I think the numerous Kemp / villagers scenes, which don't advance the story, are prime candidates for cutting.) If they can make Act 1 come in around 1:10 or 1:15 it'll leave the audience wanting more... and run for years.

I'll come see it again in NY next year and wish the cast the best... they're working their tails off in Seattle, that's for sure.


Updated On: 8/17/07 at 02:25 AM

[Tebester]

Posted: 8/23/07 at 11:38pm

I saw the show on Tuesday, Aug. 21 with a good friend and our 12-year-old sons. I totally agree with the review -- it was a hoot through and through and the sets were utterly spectacular. Some of the humor did appear to fly over the boys' heads, but no matter, they enjoyed it as much as we did. I saw Grease around Aug. 1 when I was back east and frankly, Young Frankenstein was a far superior production in my opinion. By the time it hits Broadway, YF should be a well-oiled machine and a runaway hit.

[brooksfan86]

Posted: 8/26/07 at 11:40pm

Dude, I just saw it yesterday and I LOVED it. It was really a whole lot of fun.
The one thing that disappointed me though was the Andrea Martin was out sick and I had to see her understudy D:

And I agree, the first act needs a little work. The second act was dynamite though. 'Man About Town' and 'Together Again for the First Time' were definatly my favorite songs. 'Alone' was cut out.

And also, I don't know if this was supposed to happen or if it was spontainious:

At the end, after the Monster saves the Dr., Igor runs into the scene and shouts:
"It's a miracle! My hump is gone! It's a mira-oh nope, wait...it's in the middle now..."

Also, when you were at the Mat, did they have a barrier up around the stage door? Cause they did when I saw there, so the actors had to come over to you and sign, and because there was such a huge mob you couldn't get very good pictures. (I got some though, and they were pretty good..)

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 8/27/07 at 12:12am

Why is your head bigger than any of the actors in your pictures?