Young Frankenstein

Check out Michael Riedel's column in today's NY Post:

Workshop cast has been set (with the exception of Dr. Frankenstein)and it appears all will take it to broadway. What an amazing cast!!

Kristin Chenoweth: Inga
Sutton Foster: (Madeline Kahn's role)
Shuler Hensley: monster
Roger Bart: Igor
Cloris Leachman: Frau Blucher

Opens in Chicago in the summer then on the Broadway!

http://www.nypost.com/seven/10112006/entertainment/thea...r_michael_riedel.htm

October 11, 2006 -- PAGING Dr. Franken stein, paging Dr. Frankenstein.

A workshop pro duction of the new musical "Young Frankenstein" is only weeks away, and Mel Brooks is still looking for a star to play the title role.

Production sources say his first choice was Hugh Jackman, who's back in New York after touring Australia for a month with a hugely successful concert version of "The Boy From Oz."

But Jackman's schedule is jam-packed with movies, and even if he could carve out a few weeks for the workshop in November, he wouldn't be available to do the Broadway show for at least a year.

(As things stand, "Young Frankenstein" will open in Chicago in the summer and then Broadway a year from now.)

So Brooks and his director, Susan Stroman, have been auditioning other actors to re-create the part Gene Wilder played in the 1974 movie.

Just a few days ago, they met with former "Saturday Night Live" star Jimmy Fallon. The audition went well, but Brooks and Stroman are also talking to television star Tom Cavanagh ("Ed," "Love Monkey").

The rest of the workshop cast is set, and it's top-notch: Kristin Chenoweth is playing Inga, Sutton Foster has the Madeline Kahn role, Shuler Hensley is the Monster, Marc Kudisch is the police inspector, Roger Bart is Igor, and Cloris Leachman is reprising her role as Frau Blucher. All are expected to be in the Broadway production..."

Though I'm not a fan of "The Producers" I have to admit this project sounds exciting. Sutton and Kristin in the same show and Cloris Leachman reprising her role as Frau Blucher (horse whinnies in background)! Sounds like a must-see to me.

This is a table read and as such is preliminary, so it seems that Riedel (as usual) has jumped the gun. Originally, Broderick was the one who was to play Dr. F but of course he can't do the table read on 11/1 because he is in CA for Starry Messenger. While Kristin C and Roger B were pretty much in demand for the roles they will read anyway, I am not sure that that any of the cast is set in concrete beyond what Stroman and Brooks have previously said. We'll see. In the meantime, I am looking forward to this project which was sidetracked by the death of Brooks wife. I was glad to hear the announcement last week of the table read as that bodes well for the project moving forward.

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Haha, Mom - well, there is that! I see it more the more I think about it.

Whatever it turns out to be, they have a bit of a task ahead of them competing with the memories of the movie.

Army Archard did a piece in Variety last week, where he quoted Ms. Leachman as saying "it'll open on Broadway in May, 2007."

Cloris Leachman!?! Reprising her (iconic) role from over 30 years ago?!?

Holy crap!

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The Apple Tree is a limited run which we be closed by March. So Chenoweth will have plenty of time to do Young Frankenstein.

Best - if anyone could, it would be her! I'd attend just for her.

There are many mistakes in this column, which I won't go into, except to say, don't believe everything you read.
And by the way, Kristin is playing Elizabeth, the Madeline Kahn role, and Sutton is playing Inga, the Teri Garr role, at the reading. How Reidel continues to confuse these two roles is amazing to me.The rest of the reported casting is correct.

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Updated On: 1/26/08 at 10:20 AM

according to Kristin in an interview taped Oct 10th for air the 23rd of the Megan Mullally show she is indeed playing Elizabeth, NOT Inga.

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It would be interesting if my instincts turned out to be on the right track (concerning the Elizabeth role) - doesn't always happen that way!