Young Frankenstein

Mel Brooks converted his hysterical movie into a Broadway Musical and expectations were high: however this production just missed the mark.

The large cast consisted of experienced performers and those who were starting out and the gap between the standards was obvious and this performance wasn’t helped by slow scene changes (with plenty of torch light and hands etc. visible from the audience).

Tony Alcock had cast a strong principal line up with standout performances from Jessica Papst as the house keeper Frau Blucher, Martin Jennings as The Monster and the numerous cameo roles of Joel Beskin. 

Under the baton of Matt Pearson, the show had a strong music foundation and Paulo Natividad’s choreography was impressive and the Puttin‘ On The Ritz routine featuring The Monster was the highlight of the evening.

Quite often, when a movie is rewritten as a musical, the new version struggles to recreate the original magic – which is a shame.

On a lighter side, the visual effects were great and effective.

Hopefully the show will tighten up and deliver a production worthy of Mel Brooks.

Roger McKenzie