Marie Clark Musical Theatre. Goodwood Institute. 31 Oct 2014
I had a very happy Halloween at the South Australian premiere opening of funny man Mel Brooks's comic musical masterpiece, ‘Young Frankenstein’. ‘Young Frankenstein’ played for over a year on Broadway around 2008, not long after his other comic musical masterpiece, ‘The Producers’. Both were popular films before stage hits.
Young New York brain surgeon Dr Frankenstein (say Frank-en-steen) sojourns to Transylvania merely to receive the estate of the late Dr Frankenstein - the one from the 1931 movie. Instead, he is enchanted and encouraged by Igor (say eye-gore) and Inga - the comely country girl cum lab assistant (Is that what you call it these days?) to continue his grandfather's work of monster-making in the old lab. The chorus of local yokels are endlessly fascinated and fascinating.
Director Brian Godfrey, musical director Ben Stefanoff and choreographer Rachel Dow are so simpatico with Mel Brooks' shtick that you couldn't tell where the writing genius ended and the production expertise began. Chris Daniels as the transplanted Frankenstein was absolutely delightful - he danced and sang the storyline and charmed his way through his every scene, which was nearly every scene. One look at Kristin Stefanoff as Inga in her cute little milk maid dress was enough to bring out the monster in me. Her numbers and nuances were fully professional. Katharine Chase accomplished the bitch of a role as the shallow fiancé through which Brooks mirrored the excesses of Manhattan. Shay Aitken made the monster come alive, finding the right balance between malice and cute. The ‘Puttin' On The Ritz’ number was a real boot scooter thanks to his monster's mal-footedness. Penni Hamilton-Smith landed a role that is totally aligned with her signature vocality and stage presence. Her solo number was an absolute hoot. Igor got the Anton Schrama treatment of complete head-to-toe transformation in a perfect blend of expectations and surprises. Schrama has a unique virtuosity comprising emotional sensitivity and theatrical craft that I can only marvel at. Bravo!
The creative triumvirate of Godfrey, Stefanoff and Dow led the chorus into wow territory for business, song and dance. Lighting designer Rodney Bates supplied watts needed except he did not oblige with the obligatory lightning and sparks that many expect to accompany the animation of the monster. Not enough noise either in my view. And the costumes? Not only was Renee Brice busy with the Singers, and in procuring and coordinating, but her movie quality make-up for the monster was magnifico. Bravo!
What's not to like about this show? From the opening number to the closing reprise, I was laughing when I didn't have a smile on my face. It was eye candy to watch, melodious to listen to, and multi-layered in comedy. Bravo!
David Grybowski
When: 31 Oct to 8 Nov
Where: The Goodwood Institute
Bookings: trybooking.com
