Young Frankenstein Musical Reviews

BLAZING SADDLES, SPACEBALLS Musicals Up Next from Mel Brooks?

Screenjunkies.com reports today that despite Mel Brook's last struggle on Broadway with Young Frankenstein (the production has fared well locally but opened to harsh criticism on Broadway), the funnyman has every intention of continuing to expand his brand on Broadway.  

Jokes Brooks to Screenjunkies on a possible new project: "If they change the critic of the Times, I might consider it. I don't think he's in my corner...I feel responsible for breaking open musical comedy. Until The Producers, a lot of musicals on Broadway, very little comedy. There was the great Stephen Sondheim and there was Leonard Bernstein but there were very few Guys and Dolls. It was 25 years before we came along with a truly funny musical comedy."

As for what could be the next famous film to hit the stage, Brooks is open to considering his whole catalog - Blazing Saddles, Spaceballs etc.  He says of the future, "...it's wonderful when you have hip audiences and bright people who know what you're doing and what you're saying and they appreciate it and they dig it. It makes you gloriously happy. The money ain't bad either."

Last represented on Broadway by Young Frankenstein, the musical opened on Broadway on November 8, 2007 to mixed reviews. The Broadway production closed on January 4, 2009 after 30 previews and 484 performances.  Prior to that, Brooks scored big with The Producers, which opened on Broadway on April 19, 2001, starring Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick , and ran for 2,502 performances, winning a record-breaking 12 Tony Awards.

StuffWeLike.com » Blog Archive » Young Frankenstein – Musical Review

Is a fun-filled, entertaining musical experience that celebrates its own ridiculousness with immense glee. With Vaudevillian gags and jokes, lavish musical numbers, and dazzling special effects, the musical is worth every penny to see up close and personal. It’s just fantastic.

This particular show I saw at the Pantages in Hollywood, which featured many from the Broadway cast including Roger Bart as Fredrick Von Frankenstein. He captures the essence of Gene Wilder’s role in the 1974 film while adding his own spin to the character.

One of the main issues with the musical is the popularity of the source material. Most people had never seen the original film version of The Producers , and other recent film-to-stage adaptations, one has to take a step back and realize that this is a different medium. Yes, many may feel that this is a cheap imitation of a great work of comic cinema, but just knowing that Brooks was behind this new version does help ease the minds of those who are unsure of what will happen.