YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN to Close January 4, 2009

The New York Times reports that Young Frankenstein will close on Broadway on Janury 4, 2009 after 30 previews and 484 performances. The announcement was made by Producer Robert F.X. Sillerman. The show opened in November 2007 at the Hilton Theatre and stars Roger Bart, Cory English, Shuler Hensley, Beth Leavel, Fred Applegate, Michele Ragusa, and Kelly Sullivan.

"Once again it has been a joy to work with such tremendous talents, Mel Brooks and Susan Stroman. Young Frankenstein's magnificent creative team and cast are second to none. As anyone who has seen this stunning production can attest, it is a spectacular and extravagant musical. In these uncertain economic times, my partners and I have decided to end our run on Broadway and focus our efforts on the first national tour, which will launch in September 2009," said Young Frankenstein's lead producer, Robert F.X. Sillerman.

Unfolding in the forbidding Castle Frankenstein and the foggy moors of Transylvania Heights, the show's raucous score includes "The Transylvania Mania," "He Vas My Boyfriend" and the unforgettable treatment of Irving Berlin's "Puttin' On the Ritz."

Tickets for Young Frankenstein are available at Ticketmaster.com, at (212) 307-4100 or at the Hilton Theatre box office. Young Frankenstein plays Tuesday evenings at 7pm and Wednesday - Saturday evenings at 8pm, with matinee performances on Wednesday and Saturday at 2pm and Sunday at 3pm.). All tickets range from $121.50 to $51.50 (including a $1.50 facility fee).  $25 orchestra seats are available at most performances. 

Based on the Oscar-nominated smash hit 1974 film, Young Frankenstein is the wickedly inspired re-imagining of the Mary Shelley classic from the comic genius of Mel Brooks.  When Frederick Frankenstein, an esteemed New York brain surgeon and professor, inherits a castle and laboratory in Transylvania from his grandfather, deranged genius Victor Von Frankenstein, he faces a dilemma.  Does he continue to run from his family's tortured past or does he stay in Transylvania to carry on his grandfather's mad experiments reanimating the dead  and, in the process,  fall in love with his sexy lab assistant Inga? Unfolding in the forbidding Castle Frankenstein and the foggy moors of Transylvania Heights, the show's raucous score includes "The Transylvania Mania," "He Vas My Boyfriend" and the unforgettable treatment of Irving Berlin's "Puttin' On the Ritz."

Released in 1974 to unanimous critical acclaim, the film received two Academy Award nominations, including one for Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder's script, also nominated for a Writer's Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.  Young Frankenstein was also the recipient of the two highest honors accorded films of science fiction: winning The Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation and The Nebula Award, given by The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America, for Best Dramatic Writing. Since its release, the film has become part of the national consciousness: in 2000, it was selected as #13 on AFI's 100 Funniest American Movies of All Time and in 2003, Young Frankenstein was chosen for preservation in the Library of Congress National Film Registry.

The production team includes three Tony Award winning designers of The Producers: three-time Tony Award winning set designer Robin Wagner, five-time Tony Award winning costume designer William Ivey Long and Tony Award winning lighting designer Peter Kaczorowski.  Jonathan Deans is the sound designer.

For information, visit www.YoungFrankensteinTheMusical.com. 

Photo Credit: Paul Kolnik