Note: This is a preview column about the upcoming show. I was able to preview some of it and talk with those involved with the production during Friday evening's rehearsal. Make sure to enter to win tickets and memorabilia from Galactic Comics and Games, too.
Are you feeling a bit “Abby Normal?”
Do you like dark, zany, and slightly bawdy humor?
If so, go see the Averitt Center for the Arts’ production of the musical Mel Brooks' “Young Frankenstein” at the Emma Kelly Theater in downtown Statesboro Oct. 13-16.
In a comedy of errors in the original film version the musical is based upon, Igor says the brain he found with the label "abnormal' actually came from "Abby Normal." The slightly abnormal production fits the month of Halloween and has a laugh a minute with some dark humor.
However, some of the PG-13 content of the musical does not suit young children. Nevertheless, I am certain middle and high school students, students from Georgia Southern University and regional technical colleges, and adults of all ages will be greatly entertained by this musical.
Co-directors like the fun, irreverent musical based on film; Love Brooks in general
Experienced director Eddie Frazier said just before Friday’s rehearsal, “I love Mel Brooks… The musical is irreverent and naughty.”
He said the Averitt Center for the Arts chose to do the production and asked him (well-known for directing many community and school productions) to direct it.
Frazier made sure the ensemble helped contribute well to the rehearsal on Friday evening and used humor in his directing. He said to the actors, “Don’t just stand there like a bump on a pickle.”
Frazier then showed them how to pantomime banter and other actions between one another as villagers or students. He also gave direction to the principal players.
Frazier has acted and directed for many years. Showing his skills, he put on a befuddled audience member voice to convey what would happen if the actors did not do their pantomiming.
He asked in a comical brogue, “Why are they just standing there?” Frazier also praised the actors when they continued to improve during rehearsal.
Next, Robert Cottle, the producer and the musical director, said on Friday, “The reason I wanted to do it is I think it’s funny... We were going to do it several years ago, but we had to cancel it because we had to do building repairs.”
Cottle helped the performers keep time with their numbers during the evening rehearsal. He also mentioned musical numbers being based on songs actually sung in the film such as “Oh, Sweet Mystery of Life.” He next said there are original jokes in the songs and dialogue.
(To me, some of the music sounds jazzy or ragtime-esque. But then the score reverts back to the melancholy violin used so often in the Universal Frankenstein series of films that the musical parodies.)
Cottle also mentioned at least one joke that has been added in the musical version of “Young Frankenstein” (there are several). However, I will not spoil it and save it for readers to see at the performance. I will give one hint... With the new material, a "Starbucks is born."
Some PG-13 bawdiness is apparent but not overdone
According to the story from a portion of Act 1 of the program as shown on https://www.averittcenterforthearts.org/young-frankenstein: “As Elizabeth Benning, Frederick's fiancée sees him off, it is clear that their relationship is far from physical as Elizabeth enumerates all the lustful situations from which she is abstaining.”
Ashley Horton (Elizabeth Benning) does an excellent job belting out a number about certain aspects of her female anatomy in a relatively tame yet hilarious way. Those used to Brooks films or even Brit-coms will be used to this kind of humor. Also, the musical beats a lot of streaming content as far as tameness.
Before her number, Horton and Brandon Adams (Dr. Frederick Frankenstein) emote well in a scene where she as his fiancé does not want to be touched or even kissed passionately. (They refined this scene well in rehearsal.) Even when Adams (Dr. Frankenstein) tries to chastely hug Horton (his fiancé) from behind, a comedy of errors with taffeta seeming like a name, not a fabric, ensues.
Adams in his role says Taffeta like a name to her, and Horton replies, “"TAFFETA, DARLING...IT WRINKLES SO EASILY!"
The plot and brain thicken
The story from Act 1, as shown on the aforementioned website, starts: “In New York, Frederick Frankenstein is ashamed to be a Frankenstein, insisting that his name be pronounced ‘Fronkensteen’ and that he is not a madman but, rather, a scientist. He then lectures his students about the greatest mind of science. After learning that he has inherited his grandfather's castle in Transylvania, he is forced to resolve the issue of the property.”
The ensemble cast of medical students in Frankenstein’s lecture do a good job pantomiming classroom interactions such as showing notes or talking behind the professor’s back. Adams (Dr. Frankenstein) does a great job with physical comedy in a demonstration with a subject. I will not spoil that for those who have not seen the movie.
Next, Brandon Adams utilizes a powerful, professional singing voice and manages to keep up well with the complicated lyrics of “The Brain.” At times, the song exceeds the tempo of the famous “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major General.” In the song, the young Frankenstein elaborates on his ancestor’s involvement with the original Frankenstein’s monster. This segue-ways to the technical nature of the brain, the nervous system in general, and a quick list of scientists. The rapid pace makes these details funnier somehow.
Family choreography combines in local Young Frankenstein
Danielle Adams, who has been a ballet dancer for approximately 16 years, said this production has been her first time doing choreography and that she wanted to do it because her stepson, Brandon Adams (Dr. Frankenstein), and her husband, Brooks Adams (The Monster), are both in the musical.
“I’ve got non-dancers. I am trying to make the choreography interesting and fun and still make it look good,” Danielle said.
Other principal players and one ensemble player add greatly to the show
Christie McLendon, just before formal rehearsal, did an incredible German dialect and serious introduction of herself on stage as Frau Blücher. In reply, I did my best horse squeal impression. Let me explain.
A running gag appears in the film when Frau Blücher introduces herself by name and others later mention her name. Each time they do, the sounds of distressed horses echo (the horses are actually shown the first time she introduces herself in the film and make that noise; then, just the sound of them comes out of nowhere thereafter when her name is mentioned.) Christie did not seem to mind my "Rocky Horror Picture Show"-style audience participation and laughed.
Next, in costume, Eric Mims, bugged out his eyes as Igor does in the film and music for a photograph. He kept the pose that a hunchback or one with a hump in their back would (what hump?... a joke from the film). I could tell he had the facial expressions down pat.
Also, Jamey Saunders (hermit and ensemble), who arrived very early to the rehearsal as I did Friday evening, said “Young Frankenstein” is his fourth production at the Averitt. As he is playing the blind hermit, he said he was going to trim his long beard recently but left it which is a nice touch for the role.
“I just love the movie, so I knew it was going to be fun,” Saunders said.
West End Ghouls (with apologies to the Pet Shop Boys -- The West End version of Brooks's Young Frankenstein)
Cottle said, “We are doing the West End version, which is closer to Brooks’s film. The Broadway one is a little more Broadway.”
This West End (of London, England) version of the musical is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI), and all authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. The original direction and choreography for the musical were by Susan Stroman.
Here is the full cast list for Mel Brooks's “Young Frankenstein” at the Averitt:
- Dr. Frederick Frankenstein: Brandon Adams
- The Monster: Brooks Adams
- Igor: Eric Mims
- Inga: Isabel Vicens
- Elizabeth Benning: Ashley Horton
- Frau Blücher: Christie McLendon
- Inspector Kemp: Alan Tyson
- The Hermit: Jamey Saunders
- Betram Batram: Bunyan Morris
- Felix: Thom Mortimer
- Ensemble - gravediggers, villagers, medical students, passengers, and mad scientists. All ensemble will play all of these characters: John Parcels, Alice Paige Dillard, Felicia Dunn, Nicole Deal, Kyle Stivers, Thom Mortimer, Jamey Saunders, Ryan Wolfe, Lydia Lippincott, Sydney Bonistall, Benny Stansel, and Tara Jeffers.
See the show
Performances occur Oct. 13-16 at the Emma Kelly Theater on 33 E. Main St. in Statesboro with all shows (but the Sunday matinee) happening at 7:30 p.m. The Sunday matinee happens at 3 p.m.
Tickets are $25 for non-members or $20 for members, those in the military, first responders, or city and county employees. Student tickets are $15.
For more information (and the rest of the story for Act I), go to https://www.averittcenterforthearts.org/young-frankenstein .
Galactic Comics and Games has out of this world Young Frankenstein offer
Keith Brown is the owner of Galactic Comics and Games on 21 E. Vine St. in downtown Statesboro. In cooperation with the Averitt Center for the Arts, Brown is having a “Young Frankenstein” prize package raffle. Brown recently extended the raffle until the evening of Tuesday, Oct. 11 (ignore the deadline date on the sign on the case in the photo).
Raffle tickets are $3 apiece or $10 for 4. Prizes offered in the package include two tickets to a performance of the musical, two “carded”/mint collectible figures from the film version of “Young Frankenstein,” and vouchers for popcorn and two drinks. Tickets can be purchased right up until the time of the drawing Tuesday evening. All types of payment are accepted, including cash and card.
Joe Ben Deal, employee at the store, said, “Those who are interested do not have to come to the store to buy a ticket or tickets; we can sell them over the phone or Facebook messenger.”
For more information about the raffle, go by the store on E. Vine St., call (912) 489-3123, or message their Facebook page.
