The recent and lamentable passing of Gene Wilder, one of the most beloved actors of his generation, precipitated a re-cap of his career, including his performances in “The Producers,” “Young Frankenstein,” and “Blazing Saddles.” It was at a recent special screening of the latter that its writer-director Mel Brooks announced that the musical version of “Young Frankenstein,” which had flopped on Broadway in 2007, was going to be revived in London, with possibly New York to follow.“We’re going to do a streamlined version,” Brooks said to the audience. “It’s going to be in a theater in the West End in London about a year from now, and then if it really works, and people really love it, I’ll take it back to New York in a nice little theater. We won’t do an overblown production like we did originally.”“Overblown” was a good description of “Young Frankenstein,” which was one of the most-highly anticipated shows of the 2007-2008 season. But it failed to be the monster hit everyone expected it to be - especially coming, as it did, on the heels of Brooks’s “The Producers,” which still holds the record as the winner of the most Tony Award wins – 12 - in the history of Broadway. In fact, “Young Frankenstein” barely eked out a year’s run and lost a good portion, if not most, of its $16 million investment.The scuttlebutt at the time blamed the over-confidence of the producers, led by Brooks and Robert Sillerman, who booked the show into the largest theater on Broadway and introduced the premium priced ticket of $450. Their bullishness was not unexpected - after all, the musical featured the same team which had made “The Producers” such a smash, including director-choreographer Susan Stroman and co-writer Tom Meehan. The hype turned off the critics, especially Ben Brantley of the New York Times.“We may as well start with the obvious questions,” began Brantley’s review. “The answer to all of them is no. No, it is not nearly as good as ‘The Producers’ …No, it is not as much fun as the 1974 Mel Brooks movie, also called ‘Young Frankenstein’…. No, it does not provide $450 worth of pleasure.”Thus the use of the words “nice little theater” by a chastened Brooks in discussing the possibility of its return to New York after it opens in London, presumably next year. Stroman will once again be directing and choreographing a production that will features new songs and material in addition to such memorable moments as “The Transylvania Mania,” and “He Vas My Boyfriend.” Whatever shortcomings the last production had, the soft shoe to Irving Berlin’s classic, “Puttin’ on the Ritz” between the monster and his creator (pronounced “Dr. Fronkensteen”) always brought down the house.The down-sizing of “Young Frankenstein” seems like a smart and savvy choice and follows in the footsteps of the acclaimed revival of “The Color Purple,” which was considered bloated in its original 2005 production. Last June, director John Doyle’s minimalist production won Tony Awards for Best Revival as well as for Cynthia Erivo’s star-is-born performance. The show, which continues to do fairly solid business at the Jacobs Theatre, began life at London’s150-seat Menier Chocolate Factory. The West End house for “Young Frankenstein” may not be as intimate but it won’t be the dismal barn that was the Hilton Theatre when Doctor “Fronkensteen” last threw the electrical charges that brought his creature to life.
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