Roger Bart on YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN: 'I'm Having a Lot More Fun With It'

Tony Award winner Roger Bart hits the Toronto stage as Dr. Frederick Frankenstein in the touring production of the Mel Brooks musical 'Young Frankenstein' which is set to open at the Princess of Wales Theatre Wednesday, March 17, as part of the Mirvish Theatre subscription season.

From the show's tour stop in Detroit, Bart spoke to the Toronto Star about his beginnings in theatre, the overwhelming need he feels to make people laugh, and how he initially felt about his earlier collaboration with Mel Brooks, 'The Producers'.

On comedy, Bart remarks: "I remember Jerry Lewis in The King of Comedy, how unbelievably dark he was in that movie. But he was funny, too, because clowns often have a rather morose side."

"So I guess that's how it organically originated in me. As the kid of two working parents, there was a lot of time to be alone and miserable. But what I used to fill those hours was figuring out how I could make them laugh and love me when I finally did have their attention."

In the article, Bart also says he caught the acting bug early on in his life. "We were doing a production of Oliver Twist in elementary school," he recalls, "and I was wearing a big top hat and a Green Bay Packers' T-shirt. Don't ask me why. I think we were doing it in the cafeteria, and I entered through a set of swinging doors from the kitchen. A follow spot hit me and I went, ‘Wow! Oh yeah, I could do this for the rest of my life."

Bart who previously worked with Mel Brooks in the Broadway production of 'The Producers' was asked whether, during rehearsals for that show, he could foresee the success the production would eventually reach. "Well, at the very first reading of the script, we were all falling out of our chairs and I literally had tears pouring down my cheeks at how naughty and witty it was. But a little voice inside my head asked, ‘Do you think an average audience will feel the same way?'"

While Brooks' 'Young Frankenstein' first opened on Broadway in 2007, it closed mere months later due to negative reviews. Bart says, "With the show itself, we've made some cuts since Broadway, I've loosened up and I'm having a lot more fun with it."

To read the rest of the story in the Toronto Star, click here.

'Young Frankenstein' plays The Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto from March 17 to April 18. For tickets and more information, click here.