YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN Out Of Town Tryout Reviews — Page 2

I'm pretty sure THE PRODUCERS received raves out of town.

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My sister and I attended a preview two weeks ago, and then went again last night. While on the one hand I agree with the Seattle Times review, on the other hand we both found it perfectly easy to ignore the flaws and needs-improvements of the show and enjoy it for what it is…an adorable, madcap musical comedy. Being a fan of the movie, I thought it was fun to see all the clever jokes revived on stage where they pack a more powerful punch (and the embellishments on some of the old jokes are hilarious!). My sister never saw the movie and found everything fresh and entertaining – I recommend seeing the show with someone who doesn’t know the material, so you can see it through their eyes as well.

Like other shows, YF is all about how you approach it: if you go expecting to criticize things, you’ll find plenty of negatives. But you’ll be entertained if you go with the mind to see a silly homage to the film with songs that are ridiculously catchy – if you allow yourself to be caught.

And the Stranger has a YF “fact sheet” with comparisons to the Producers here: http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/facts_about_young_frankenstein

"It's understandable that Brooks would get a whole lot more than Webber does from PHANTOM simply because of the fact that Brooks wrote the source material for YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN."

And the fact that Phantom is crap. IMO.

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Updated On: 8/24/07 at 02:38 PM

The Variety review is up..Mostly a rave.

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Indicating a 1929 Irving Berlin song as the indisputable high point of "Young Frankenstein" might sound like a slap to the otherwise original numbers in Mel Brooks' new musical. But it's entirely fitting that the most vaudevillian of contemporary American showmen, with his unabashed love of hoary humor and old-fashioned shtick, should find his greatest inspiration in a vintage source. The expansion of "Puttin' on the Ritz" from a single-joke vignette in the film to an elaborate, full-cast showstopper is also the most dazzling example of Brooks and Co.'s craftsmanship in reanimating pre-existing material with fresh musical life.


The new show doesn't scale the same dizzying comic heights, but "Young Frankenstein" is a big, boisterous entertainment stuffed with laughs and spectacle. Like the eponymous monster brought winningly to life here by Shuler Hensley, the show walks, talks, sings, dances and charms in the Seattle tryout that precedes its Nov. 8 Broadway opening. But at 2¾ hours, it needs to step out from its maker's shadow, receive a couple more volts of electricity and go on a diet before hitting New York.


Megan Mullally as Frederick's "adorable madcap fiancee," Elizabeth, is a self-worshipping WASP tart, mixing old Hollywood with traces of Karen Walker that fit just fine. She appears early with "Please Don't Touch Me," amusingly conveying her frigid feelings for Fred while clearly having serviced most of Park Avenue. Mullally returns with two delicious numbers in act two: "Surprise," in which she arrives unexpectedly to find Frederick and Inga entwined on the lab slab; and "Deep Love," in which some rough handling by the monster transforms her into a rhapsodic size queen with instant Elsa Lanchester gray shock streaks

http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117934491.html?categoryid=1265&cs=1

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Updated On: 8/24/07 at 07:11 PM

Here is some more:
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20070825/ENT/108250011

http://seattlest.com/2007/08/24/thats_young_fro.php

http://www.thenewstribune.com/soundlife/story/140907.html

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/theater/328954_frankenstein25q.html?source=mypi

THE STRANGER is an alternative newspaper that comes out weekly. Not the audience that Young Frankenstein is going for. They tend to hate everything that's not either outlandishly perverse or overly artistic. Young Frankenstein just isn't their cup of tea, and anyone from Seattle could have told you that last year when the show announced the previews in Seattle. (they also reviewed a preview, not a performance)

Misha Berson's smart review in the Seattle Times would be a much more typical reaction from a New York critic. She's knows her stuff and gets most everything right. It'll be trimmed even more for Broadway, I'm sure. They've got a month of downtime and then another month of previews. It'll be fixed (and there's not even that much wrong with it!!).

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