by Tracy Heck

Created on: February 25, 2010

Tuesday night the Detroit Opera House played host to the opening night of Mel Brooks' musical Broadway production Young Frankenstein the musical, opened on Broadway November 8th 2007 at the Hilton Theatre and began a national tour in September of 2009.

Based on the Oscar-nominated smash 1974 film Young Frankenstein starring Gene Wilder, the musical is a inspired re-imagining of the Mary Shelley classic book Frankenstein.

The 1974 hilarious comedy received two Academy Award nominations, including one for Brooks and Wilder's script, a spoof on the old Universal monster movies featuring a over the top performance from Wilder.

Both the movie and the musical revolve around the story of Frederick Frankenstein, an esteemed New York brain surgeon and professor, who inherits a castle and laboratory in Transylvania from his grandfather:  deranged genius Victor Von Frankenstein.

Frederick starts out denying his heritage insisting on being called “Fronkensteen” and refusing to carry on the family business but as time progresses he begins to feel a pull to the darkside as he befriends the hunchbacked Igor and housekeeper Frau Blücher and falls for his sexy lab assistant Inga.  Before long he is hard at work attempting to reanimate the dead and pushing away his fiancee Elizabeth.

In the current musical production, Frederick Frankenstein is played by Broadway veteran Roger Bart (The Producers, The Frogs) whose playful take on Wilder's role is a bit more subtle but just as much fun.

Cory English (Igor), Anne Horak (Inga) and Beth Curry (Elizabeth) put on strong energetic perfomancees but it is the delightfully over the top moments from Joanna Glushak (Frau) and Shuler Hensley (the Monster) that stand out.

Glushak and Hensley are responsible for the two best musical numbers He Vas My Boyfriend and Puttin' On the Ritz.  The elaborate nature of both songs make them natural crowd favorites.

Young Frankenstein boasts elaborate sets and special effects along with it's musical spectacle.  From start to finish the show is consistently entertaining.  The production is a hilarious take on the popular movie and a perfect night of escapism.

"Young Frankenstein" is playing at the Detroit Opera House from February 23-March 14.  Tickets are now on sale at the box office, all Ticketmaster locations, by phone at 1-800-982-2787 and online at www.ticketmaster.com or www.broadwayindetroit.com.

Tickets for the Detroit engagement range from $25-$85.  For more information visit YoungFrankensteinTheMusical.com.

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