By Roger Bart, 2007

Unlike The Producers, the musical version of Young Frankenstein was not met with critical adoration when it opened on Broadway in November, 2007. Mel Brooks had followed the same formula, transferring all of his own source movie's famous lines and plot points to the stage, but oddly, the cast album works better than the stage production, which is indeed often lumbering. Brooks' songs are still fairly derivative but here, undistracted by director Susan Stroman's flat staging, you can focus more on Doug Besterman's excellent orchestrations and on the adept cast itself.

As Dr. "Fronkensteen," Roger Bart is much less grating than on stage, for instance. As Inga, Sutton Foster exhibits some mad yodeling skills in "Roll in the Hay" and sounds like a classic Broadway babe on "Listen to Your Heart." Megan Mullally (Elizabeth) sells "Please Don't Touch Me," "Deep Love," and "Alone" (a bonus track cut from the show), while Andrea Martin (Frau Blucher) kills with the Brecht-Weill pastiche "He Vas My Boyfriend." And yes, Irving Berlin's "Puttin' on the Ritz" is included, complete with monster grunts and a long tap passage in this extended version.

The show may not be worth the hype, but the recording is a pleasant surprise. --Elisabeth VincentelliORIGINAL CAST RECORDING YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN MUSIC AND LYRICS BY MEL BROOKS -- IT'S ALIVE! From the creators of the record-breaking Broadway sensation The Producers comes this monster new musical comedy, YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, based on the Oscar-nominated smash-hit 1974 film.

A wickedly inspired re-imagining of the Frankenstein legend based on Mel Brooks' classic comedy masterpiece, the story follows bright young Dr. Frankenstein (that's Fronkensteen) as he attempts to complete his grandfather's masterwork and bring a corpse to life. Together with his oddly shaped and endearing helper Igor (that's Eye-gor), his curvaceous lab assistant Inga, and in spite of his incredibly self-involved madcap fiance, Elizabeth, Frankenstein succeeds in creating a monster - but not without scary and quite often hilarious complications.

With such memorable tunes as "The Transylvania Mania," "He Vas My Boyfriend" and "Puttin' On The Ritz," The New MEL BROOKS Musical YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN is scientifically-proven, monstrously good entertainment...and the only place you'll witness a singing and dancing laboratory experiment in the largest tuxedo ever made. YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN features music and lyrics by the three-time Tony Award® winner Mel Brooks, book by Brooks and three-time Tony Award® winner Thomas Meehan, and is directed and choreographed by five-time Tony Award® winner Susan Stroman. The show stars Roger Bart ("Desperate Housewives"), Megan Mullally ("Will and Grace"),Tony-Award winner Sutton Foster ("Drowsy Chaperone"), SCTV's Andrea Martin and Christopher Fitzgerald ("Wicked").

YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN opens at Broadway's Hilton Theater - Friday, November 9th! Young Frankenstein Photos More from Mel Brooks The Producers (Musical Highlights) The Producers (2005 Movie Soundtrack) The Producers (2001 Original Broadway Cast) The Mel Brooks Collection The History of the World, Part I High Anxiety Spaceballs Blazing Saddles (30th Anniversary Special Edition) Twelve Chairs

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