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I’m writing from the fortieth floor of Manhattan Plaza looking out on New York’s incredible skyline. Tina and Andy are both in tech for different shows, so have let us stay in their pad for a couple of nights. We are much obliged.
We had dinner at our favorite Ethiopian restaurant, Meskerem, and then had dessert at a trendy new (to us) place called 44&X, where one dessert and two coffees cost as much as dinner at Meskerem (and yet the chairs were plastic, and much to the horror of one well-to-do patron, the legs break rather easily).
Then it was off to the first offering of our seven-shows-in-five-days theatrefest: Young Frankenstein.
Let me begin by saying the the film of Young Frankenstein is one of my all time-favorite-know-every-single-line-and-still-laugh-out-loud movies, second only to Neil Simon’s Murder by Death. So it was nigh impossible to remove myself from the film as I watched its musical cousin this evening.
The stars of the show are Robin Wagner’s set-that-doesn’t-quit and Peter Kaczorowski’s dazzling lighting design. From the first lightning flash to the gigantic laboratory, to the projections that take us right into the action of the hay ride, it’s the kind of gazillion dollar spectacle that made me feel like I got my money’s worth out of my bazillion dollar tickets.
The performances are pretty uneven. I found Christopher Fitzgerald as Igor and Andrea Martin as Frau Blucher to be the most engaging, consistent and genuinely funny in their roles. And what is interesting to me is that of all the leads, their performances were most like the actors from the film who originated the roles (Marty Feldman and Cloris Leachman).
Roger Bart didn’t get going as Frederick Frankenstein until well into the second act. I can understand his choice to “start small” given the broadness of the material, but in the same vein, given the broadness of the material, “small” doesn’t fill it.
Megan Mullally as his frigid fiance, Elizabeth, has two things going against her. She seems to be working as hard as she can NOT to recreate Madeline Kahn’s brilliant performance from the film, and also NOT to present Karen Walker as Elizabeth. The result is a sort of 1940s society vamp that lingers in generic stereotype.
There was a flyer in the playbill encouraging us to reserve our copy of the original cast recording, due out in 2008. Therein lies the real problem with the show. For the most part, the songs in the show feel like an afterthought. Rarely do the musical numbers advance the plot, but rather they take famous lines from the film (”Roll in the Hay”, “He Vas My Boyfriend”) and stretch them into not funny songs. The two big production numbers, “Transylvania Mania” and “Puttin’ on the Ritz” provide welcome boosts to otherwise lackluster numbers.
The show will be a commercial success, no doubt, but like Boq, the tinman from Wicked up the street, it’s main problem is its lack of heart. It is filled with an incredible cast, who have scores of Tony, Drama Desk and countless other awards among them, but feels hollow. If it looks like a cash cow and moos like a cash cow….
Like my fellow blogger, Randy Rainbow, I only laughed out loud a few times, but I know when I get home and pop in the DVD, I’ll be laughing for two hours straight. I’m glad I saw the show, if only for the greater appreciation I now have for its muse.
I had some of the same problems with Young Frankenstein that you did. There was a lot I liked: Christopher Fitzgerald’s inspired, madcap Igor, Andrea Martin and Sutton Foster, the ride in the haywagon to the castle, “Puttin on the Ritz.” But I was disappointed with Roger Bart. Like you, I loved the movie and I watched it a few days before going to see the musical. I could still hear Gene Wilder saying “my name is pronounced Frohn-kun-steen!” When it came time for Roger Bart to say that line, I was really anticipating a great delivery, and it just kind of fell flat. I thought, is that it? I think he did get better as the show went on. I’m glad I saw Young Frankenstein, and I did laugh, just not as much as I thought I would.