Review: YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN at Rochester Opera House

At the Rochester Opera House, currently hosting a rollicking production of the musical Young Frankenstein, the formula is simple. Give reverence to a film classic, add equal parts of infectious energy by outstanding talent and the result is non-stop laughter.

Directed by Jenry Towle this stage adaptation of the Mel Brooks’ 1974 film is monstrously fun. The Rochester team pulls it off remarkably well.

The musical follows the story of Dr. Frederick Frankenstein (Kevin Mahaney) (pronounced, insistently, “Frahnk-en-steen”), a respected New York professor who inherits his family’s castle in Transylvania. Despite his desperate attempts to disassociate himself from his grandfather, Victor, Frederick is inevitably lured into the attic laboratory. With the help of the hunchbacked associate Igor (Zeke Solis) (pronounced insistently as “E-gor”), the assistant Inga (Sarah Barry) (pronounced simply as spelled), and the haunting housekeeper Frau Blücher (Cam Clements), Frederick creates a creature--The Monster-- (Sam David Cohen) that sets off a chain reaction of not so subtle slapstick, sparring wordplay, lively choreography and fun to follow tunes.

Mahaney masters the rapid-fire dialogue and the physical comedy perfectly, particularly during “The Brain,” as he navigates the character’s swift descent from dignified scientist to manic madman. Equally essential is Solis as Igor, who delivers the gags with an engaging wink and an impish flair. Solis’ expressive facial work and precise comic timing ensure that every “walk this way” one liner lands squarely as it should. Mahaney and Solis don’t mimic their counterparts from the film version, Gene Wilder and Marty Feldman, but genuinely create their own portrayals that sell the comedy. The duo is especially sharp in the vaudeville inspired number “Together Again for the First Time.”

Barry, as Frederick’s ditzy assistant, adds the right amount of playfulness to her lustful pursuit of the scientist, literally rollicking in the tune, “Roll in the Hay” showing Barry’s vocal skill and limber gyrations. Clements, as Blücher, manages the fine balance between a character that is menacing and comic as she recalls her love affair with Victor in “He Vas My Boyfriend.” Both leading ladies need to tone down their foreign accents a bit as words become unrecognizable in their spoken lines and especially in their vocal numbers.

Molly Scott who plays Elizabeth Benning, Frederick’s fiercely aloof fiancée, steals the entire second act, as she doles her affections on the “overly endowed” Monster. Benning is a musical theater wonder in “Deep Love” with an amazing vocal range, and the comic moves to match.

Cohen is sheer perfection as Frederick’s creature brought back from the dead. Cohen, who appears to be about seven feet tall, performs most of the show with stilted moves and monotone groans brilliantly transforms into a tap-dancing sensation in the show stopping “Puttin’ on the Ritz.”  When the ensemble joins him with dynamic choreography the scene becomes reminiscent of a Busby Berkley screen extravaganza. Cohen also has a few lines towards the end of the show and displays a soaring operatic voice in an ensemble reprise of “Deep Love.”

Keegan Penney, as The Hermit, provides a memorable scene in the show teaching the  monster the basics of dining rituals. And on this opening night, Bran Reinking, the choreographer, professionally understudied the role of Inspector Hans Kemp.

A highlight not to be missed is a stirring rendition of “Welcome to Transylvania,” a barbershop quartet number magnificently sung by the male ensemble members with Reinking at the helm. It is followed by the ensemble’s high energy dance number, the “Transylvania Mania.”

The staging was minimal with multiple uses of backdrop projections that seem to crop up at more theaters these days. Not sure how I feel about this technology.

And while there is a pre-recorded musical soundtrack for this show, it does not diminish the hard work needed and mastered by music director, Samuel Tolley.

It is a brave theater that follows a production of a Mel Brooks favorite, “The Producers” with a production of another Mel Brooks hit, “Young Frankenstein.” Fortunately for area audiences, it is impossible to overdose on Mel Brooks.