‘Young Frankenstein: The Mel Brooks Musical’ @ North Texas Repertory Theatre
—Hannah Kneen
North Texas Performing Arts (NTPA) Repertory in Plano is getting into the Halloween spirit this October with their production of Young Frankenstein: the Mel Brooks Musical. Directed by Ashlee Elizabeth (Lizz) Bashore, choreographed by Allison Larrea and Sam Howard, and with music direction by William “Billy” Veer, this show tells the story of Dr. Frederick Frankenstein (Shawn Lane), grandson of the late but great Dr. Victor Bon Frankenstein (Johnny Vincent).
The show kicks off with the villagers of Transylvania Heights celebrating the death of the infamous Dr. Victor Bon Frankenstein. They’re finally free from his monstrous creations. Unfortunately for them, he had a grandson. Dr. Frederick Frankenstein (pronounced Fronkensteen) rejects his legacy, but nonetheless travels to his grandfather’s home to deal with the property, leaving his “madcap fiancee” Elizabeth Benning (Rebecca Litsey) behind.
He meets some colorful characters when he comes to town, the first of which is his soon-to-be henchman/sidekick, the hunchback Igor (Troy Murray). At first resistant, Frederick soon bonds with him over their shared love of music. He then meets his good-looking assistant Inga (Lily Gast), and finally the stoic and strange Frau Blucher (Andrea Fernandez Tom), whose name alone frightens the horses. The young Dr. Frankenstein is soon pulled deeper and deeper into the family business until he decides to create his own monster. Since this is a comedy musical, hijinks ensue when the monster inevitably escapes.
This show boasts a lively cast, a praiseworthy number of dirty jokes, and some catchy tunes. Unfortunately, there were minor technical issues in the production that detracted from the experience: microphone volume being set too low to compete with the music that overwhelmed the performers’ voices; issues with spotty and uneven lighting. (We’ve been assured that these and other “glitches” were worked through pretty quickly before the next performances.)
Projections (by Jodi Rose) on the back of the set did a nice job of harkening back to the 1974 movie and placing us in the right location for each scene. The set (a group effort led by Jo Alamares) was creative and looked good. At times, two large set pieces downstage blocked the view of the actors for audience members not seated in the center section. I’ll hope that was worked out too—the actors definitely were doing work I wanted to see!
Shawn Lane’s Dr. Frederick Frankenstein was consistently entertaining and suited the part perfectly. His interactions with Lily Gast’s Inga were always funny. Gast herself impressed me with her high speed yodeling in “Roll in the Hay”—and she was an interesting counterpoint to Rebecca Litsey’s Elizabeth. Her song “Please Don’t Touch Me” is sung to Frederick when he leaves for Transylvania Heights. Litsey’s conceited Elizabeth matches surprisingly well with Brandon Borick’s Monster when they hook up later in the show (and isn’t that an entertaining turn?). Borick makes an endearing Monster and, when he is finally able to use his voice, shows he has a very good one indeed. Troy Murray’s Igor had some funny moments, but a running gag about his hump moving from one place to another on his back didn’t work that well (the hump perhaps needed to be bigger?).
Matt John West stood out to me both as a chorus member and then as the oddly glamorous Hermit—who, ironically, has to be seen to be believed (the Hermit being blind, of course). Surprisingly, I think my favorite character was Andrea Fernandez Tom’s Frau Blucher. She was so stern and blank-faced that it was really funny when she let rip--revealing her past steamy relationship with the late Dr. Victor Bon Frankenstein. The incongruity of calling the mad scientist her “boyfriend” got me every time.
I can definitely say this spooky show is perfect for the season, and scared up plenty of enthusiasm from the audience.
WHEN: Oct. 6–15, 2023
WHERE: Willow Bend Center of the Arts, 6121 W. Park Blvd. B216, Plano, TX
WEB: ntparep.org
