Review: Young Frankenstein, the musical at the Joseph Rowntree theatre

02/02/2024

Heather Gosling (she/her) reviews a recent production of Young Frankenstein, the musical

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Image by Jenny Jones

By Heather Gosling

★★★☆☆
On Wednesday evening, I headed into town to the Joseph Rowntree Theatre to watch Young Frankenstein, the musical by Pick Me Up Theatre. Based on the 1974 comedy-horror film Young Frankenstein by Mel Brooks, with a screenplay co-written by Brooks and Gene Wilder, the play is intended to be a reimagining and parody of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Young Frankenstein revolves around the grandson of mad scientist Victor Von Frankenstein, Frederick Frankenstein (pronounced Fronkensteen), who inherits his grandfather’s estate in Transylvania. But, he has one dilemma: does he run from his family’s past, or does he continue with his grandfather’s experiments?

James Willstrop brings a dynamic and fresh approach to the character of Frederick Frankenstein, who is the first to take the stage and belt out the opening number ‘The Brain’ while in the laboratory with his students. After receiving the news of his grandfather’s death and his subsequent inheritance of his estate, Frederick travels to Transylvania. He leaves behind his fiancee Elizabeth, played by Jennie Wogan-Wells who perfectly captures the character’s in her materialistic nature. When Frederick arrives in Transylvania, he meets the formidable housekeeper Frau Buckner, whose name invokes a terrified horse sound effect. The audience loved her solo ‘He Vas My Boyfriend’, which, I believe, was a stand out number.

Initially, Frederick resists following in his grandfather’s footsteps of grave robbing and reanimating corpses. However, Frankenstein is persuaded by Igor, played by Jack Hooper, to create a monster. He is helped by his assistant Inga, who was well played despite being painted as a one dimensional blonde bimbo character in the script. Jack Hooper is brilliant as Igor and is a great physical comic– he received a lot of laughs from the audience. His breaking of the fourth wall was also well received.

Frankenstein’s monster is played with heart by Craig Kirby who is initially a seven foot grunting giant, but is later transformed through brain transplantation into a man of sophistication for the full cast showstopper "Puttin’ on the Ritz’. The pitchfork-wielding villagers were entertaining, and  the villager who responded to ‘What does Transylvania need?’ with ‘A gay bar?’ was a highlight.

Despite a small issue at the start of the second act, the technical side of the show worked well with the lighting and sound effects and added to the gothic atmosphere. Musical director – Sam Johnson and his orchestra provided a brilliant jazzy soundtrack for this musical, and even engaged with the actors in parts of the play.

However, despite the brilliant cast, this play was not without its flaws. The play is meant to be a parody of horror films, but most of the jokes feel slightly out-dated. The punchlines of jokes that were once considered slightly smutty now feel slightly sordid. The jokes were either outdated references or sexist, and the women are either nymphomaniacs throwing themselves at men or are depicted as old hags. An effort to modernise the script would have been a risk worth taking here. After all, it is a musical about Frankenstein - why not experiment?

Editor's Note: Young Frankenstein, the musical is running at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre until 3 Feb. Tickets can be purchased here: https://www.josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk/whats-on/musical/young-frankinstein-the-musical/2655/#schedules