No explanation needed: Thomas Porat and Aaron Atkinson in The Wick Theatre’s Young Frankenstein (Photos by Amy Pasquantonio)
By Britin Haller
The Wick Theatre in Boca Raton is opening its thirteenth season with a Norb Joerder-directed musical that respects the Young Frankenstein movie people love without treating it as something too sacred to fool around with.
Going to a Mel Brooks’ show typically assumes a certain affection for his specific brand of humor favoring broad physical comedy, double entendres, and unapologetically ridiculous jokes that were old when Victor Frankenstein was young. And on those points, this version does not disappoint.
Music and lyrics are also by Mel Brooks, mostly anyway, who interesting enough can’t read music and literally hums his ideas into a tape recorder which a transcriber then writes down. The Wick’s in-house musical director, Bobby Peaco, keeps Brooks’ score moving admirably, because this is one show where fast pacing is crucial to the fun.
Based on the 1974 black-and-white cult-classic masterpiece of a film which Brooks directed, and co-wrote with its star, Gene Wilder, Young Frankenstein is set in the early 1930s, and is the story of Dr. Frederick Frankenstein, who’s just minding his own business teaching about the brain at John Hopkins University while engaged, and about to be married, to the high-maintenance Elizabeth.
But when Frederick gets word that his grandfather, Dr. Victor Frankenstein, has passed away leaving his castle and laboratory to his grandson, before you can say “What knockers!” Frederick is on his way to the ancestral home, first hopping a train to Transylvania, and then hopping on top of a busty blonde named Inga on the back of a hay cart.
Frederick desperately wants to be known for his scientific studies on the brain, not for his infamous relative who went rummaging around graveyards, which, of course, makes it all the more entertaining when that dignity starts slipping, and Frederick decides to finish his grandfather’s work of raising a man from the dead. And with the help of his trusty hump-backed assistant, Igor, the aforementioned Inga, and his inherited, and rather bizarre, housekeeper, Frau Blücher (neigh), Frederick is successful, at least according to the loosest possible definition of success, because what happens after the Monster comes to life is a real gas.
Wick treasure Aaron Atkinson proves he is up for the task as Frederick, wowing us with the vocal strength, dancing ability, and easy authority the role needs. With his seemingly endless supply of stamina, flawless timing, and rugged good looks, this should be the break-out part Atkinson needed to put himself on the proverbial leading-man map.
It’s hard to think of anyone but Marty Feldman as Igor, but Corey Vega does a great job helping us forget him as the doctor’s particularly enthusiastic partner-in-crime. Igor’s road to heaven is paved with good intentions, even if his delivery is solely lacking, and he causes poor Frederick more trouble than he bargained for because while Frederick keeps trying to conduct himself like a serious physician, Igor is operating under a completely different set of rules.
Vega nicely displays facial expressions and a physical comedy prowess that make him enjoyable to watch even when he isn’t center stage. Atkinson and Vega play off each other well, getting their partnership off to a cheerful start in “Together Again for the First Time.”
Also eager to please the good doctor in the part Teri Garr cemented her career on is Inga, a cheerful and bouncy laboratory assistant played by Katie DeRosa-Tango (in her South Florida premiere), whose long blonde curls and high soprano suit Inga’s exaggerated innocence. Her carriage ride with Frederick produces the bawdy, and very excitable, “Roll in the Hay,” while in “Listen to Your Heart” she plays to the sexually-deprived Frederick in all the right ways.
In the role that Cloris Leachman made famous in the film, Britte Hammeke presides over the household as Frau Blücher (neigh), whose very name prompts the horses into an ongoing joke. Hammeke, a performer who knows how to make the absolute most out of an entrance, and a bodice rip, is especially funny in “He Vas My Boyfriend,” a musical highlight where she reveals a decidedly less forbidding side. We literally can’t get enough of her.
In his towering footwear, and covered in green, Thomas Porat plays Peter Boyle’s Monster, allowing his size, stiff movements, grunts, and expressions to do the work of a being who has only recently acquired the use of his limbs. Making the creature appear sympathetic, without losing the comedy of it all, is likely harder than it looks, and Porat succeeds.
Shane Tanner earns laughs in two parts that couldn’t be more different. As Inspector Kemp, the local lawman with an artificial arm and leg, he is determined to protect the villagers from whatever the castle might unleash, and as the lonely blind Hermit (an uncredited Gene Hackman in the film), he offers the fugitive Monster friendship and hospitality.
Anyone who remembers the hot soup scene from the film knows that something perfectly dreadful is about to happen, but you’ll laugh anyway. Tanner plays it with absolute sincerity, which makes the mishaps funnier. His cry for companionship for the Hermit, on his knees no less, in the touching “Please Send Me Someone” breaks our heart.
Charles Page is Felix, the village idiot, who just makes us laugh.
And last, but definitely not least, paying great homage, but also putting her own wonderful spin on the Madeline Kahn role, is Leah Sessa playing Frederick’s intended, Elizabeth, in what is our favorite so far of her South Florida performances. As the self-absorbed woman who insists her fiancé adore her from afar during “Please Don’t Touch Me,” Sessa gives Elizabeth a big personality, and when she turns up unexpectedly at the castle, Sessa gets to take the silliness considerably further.
But it’s not until Elizabeth finally gets the chance to abandon her prim manners during “Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life” and “Deep Love” where Sessa’s incredible theatrical voice really wows us, because there aren’t too many singers who can belt out a song like Sessa.
This may be one of the most stacked ensembles ever with familiar names like Abbey Alder, Matthew Brightbill, Kevin Hincapie, Amanda Lopez (dance captain), Charles Page, Allyson Rosenblum and Cameron Scott. Making up the rest of the gifted group is Reagan Govaert, Anthony Lobo, Caroline Macchiarola, Max O’Connell, Kaeden Quillian, and Laura Swartzendruber.
The moment Frederick realizes his experiment has worked (sort of) is joyful, but the Monster’s biggest moment comes when the doctor decides the best way to introduce his creation to the world is through a polished vaudevillian song-and-dance routine with the Monster dressed in a tuxedo, top hat, and cane. Naturally. Married spotlight operators, Leslie Wolf and Douglas Walker, show off their precision skills, especially during “Puttin’ on the Ritz,” the Irving Berlin number that was one of the film’s great comic set pieces.
In one of Choreographer Robert Abdoo’s most delightful showstopping sequences, (the other being “The Transylvania Mania”), the enormously talented ensemble joins the act with crisp, energetic tapping. Seeing thirteen tappers dressed like the Monster, right down to shoe spats resembling his hot asphalt platform boots is a real treat, as is Kaeden Quillian appearing upstage as the Monster’s shadow.
Director Joerder keeps the large cast moving through a story that requires sudden arrivals, angry villagers, laboratory mishaps, and a fair amount of romantic confusion, but most importantly gives his performers room to enjoy the material. Everyone is having a blast up there, and it shows.
The production is also full of visual pleasures like Johnny Gagno’s costumes and wigs, from Inga’s storybook appearance, to Frau Blücher’s severe bodiced look, to the Monster’s unmistakable footwear and green sequined vest to match his skin. Kimberly Wick coordinated the sets that move us from Frederick’s lecture hall, to a Transylvanian village, to the spooky castle, and laboratory, where his experiment takes place. A revolving bookcase conceals a campy secret passage, while projections by the always noteworthy Josieu Jean and Kacey Koploff helping establish the gloomy surroundings and journey us through Transylvania.
Alex Worthley’s lighting, Justin Thompson’s sound and all the special effects work together especially well when the laboratory comes to life. Thunder, flashes of light, smoke and electrical currents give the creation scene the touches it needs to be simply mesmerizing.
After turning The Producers into a Broadway phenomenon that ran for six years, Brooks tried the same trick with Young Frankenstein, collaborating with Thomas Meehan on the book. They opened in 2007 with Roger Bart, Sutton Foster, and Megan Mullally among its stars, ran for 485 performances (not bad certainly, but not The Producers), and received three Tony nominations. It won none, it did, however, win the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Broadway Musical.
The version at The Wick is the revised West End production, which opened in 2017 and trims and reshapes some of the original material.
So in the end, please don’t attend Young Frankenstein expecting a lesson in medical ethics, or the refined wit of it all, because absurdity is the point. You go for the moving hump, the Abby Normal brain, and the sight of a giant Monster tapping his way through Irving Berlin. You go for the Mel Brooks’ humor that’s somehow still relevant today, some jokes which are subtle and clever, others so bad the audience literally groaned.
At The Wick, those pleasures are delivered by an extremely capable cast and a production that knows when to turn up the voltage.
Grandpa Victor would approve.
G-d willing, Mel Brooks turns 100 next June, and if laughter really is the best medicine, his legacy ought to be good for another century at least.
Young Frankenstein plays through Nov. 1 at The Wick Theatre & Museum Club 7901 N. Federal Highway, Boca Raton FL; 7:30 p.m. Thurs-Sat; Matiness 2 p.m. Wed, Thurs, Sat & Sun. Running time approximately 140 minutes includes an intermission. Tickets starting at $89. Call 561-995-2333, or visit thewick.org.
Britin Haller is a journalist, editor, and author who serves on the board of directors for the Mystery Writers of America Florida Chapter. As a celebrity wrangler, Brit regularly rubbed elbows with movie, sports, and rock stars, and as a media escort, she toured with NY Times bestselling authors. After appearing in local musicals and all-state choir, Britin studied theatre at Indiana University (Big Ten) and the University of Evansville (Rami Malek’s alma mater).
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