Young Frankenstein – Garrick Theatre

Young Frankenstein continues at the Garrick Theatre, London.

Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩

Mel Brooks’ comedy musical monster lumbers into London 10 years after it opened on Broadway and, although leaner than before, only just about manages to squeeze itself on to the intimate Garrick stage.

It certainly hasn’t matured over the past decade – it’s still puerile, misogynistic and packed with cringeworthy double entendres – yet it manages to retain the essence of the original movie and is undeniably funny.

The 1974 movie – a pastiche of, and homage to, the horror movies of the 1930s, and particularly those of Universal’s Carl Laemmle, Jr – is often cited as Brooks’ best film.

It was first reanimated for the stage in 2007, when director/choreographer Susan Stroman attempted to repeat her success with Brooks’ other big hit, The Producers. It didn’t work nearly as well, but still managed a couple of years in Broadway’s second-biggest house, The Hilton (since renamed The Lyric) before touring.

This London production, once again helmed by Stroman, is a much more trimmed down affair. Gone is the enormous (and, I imagine, enormously expensive) staging in favour of Beowulf Boritt’s small but efficient set pieces, and a few songs – music and lyrics by Brooks himself – have been excised, to the show’s benefit. The book, by Brooks and his Producers co-writer Thomas Meehan, has also been surgically reduced but thankfully keeps the jokes coming thick and fast.

The cast members gamely throw themselves into the material, and are clearly enjoying themselves. Hadley Fraser takes the title role as Frederick, the grandson of Victor Frankenstein – pronounced Fronkensteen, of course, to distance himself from his crackpot ancestor – and can’t be faulted. His opening number (‘The Brain’) is an impressive patter song extolling the virtues of grey matter, and he maintains this frenetic pace throughout the show.

His faithful Igor (Eye-gor) is the wonderfully cast comedian Ross Noble, who for me is a revelation, not just as a good singer but as a spry physical actor. He leaps around the stage like a maniac and makes the iconic role – played in the movie by Marty Feldman – his own.

Reprising his role as the original Broadway Monster is Shuler Hensley. His creature is a genuinely sympathetic character, and he of course steals the show with ‘Puttin’ On The Ritz’ – a classic movie moment that pops as perfectly on stage. There’s a lot resting on this number – the sense of anticipation is palpable (and almost distracting) until that moment – but as an extended dance break it doesn’t disappoint.

Rounding off the male leads is the brilliant Patrick Clancy as the Transylvanian Inspector Kemp and the blind Hermit who befriends the Monster. The Hermit’s solo number, ‘Someone’, is a study in performing comedy, even if the blind jokes are painfully predictable. Like this show’s spiritual cousin, The Toxic Avenger (currently at the Arts Theatre and also starring a green monster), the comedy is low – like, really low – but in the right hands can still have audiences rolling in the aisles.

Summer Strallen, Dianne Pilkington and Lesley Joseph flesh out the female roles, as, respectively, the busty, lusty local girl Inga, Frederick’s fiancée Elizabeth, and the housekeeper Frau Blücher.

All three are a joy to watch, with Joseph another revelation. Her deliciously dark and Kurt Weill-ian Frau Blücher – just saying her name is enough to scare the horses – is a highlight of the show, and her ‘Pirate Jenny’-esque ‘He Vas My Boyfriend’ showcases her comic talents.

Sadly, the female roles aren’t the most progressive. Brooks’ 1970s sexual manners don’t sit well in the light of this week’s sexual harassment news; there’s a particularly awkward moment when the Monster forces himself on Elizabeth, only for her to willingly submit to him once she eyes his sizeable manhood. Not cool.

This dated feel could be the show’s Achilles heel, but might also be what gives it its comic charm. It’s pantomimic or vaudevillian – certainly not the highest form of comedy – and places no demands on the audience. Didn’t get the joke the first time? Don’t worry, it’ll come around again soon enough. Jokes about gay bars not your thing? Or foreigners? Or the disabled? No worries, there’s a saucy Benny Hill-style gag just around the corner.

Musically, the songs are mostly disposable – it says a lot that the musical highlight is an Irving Berlin number – but they’re fun and engaging in the moment. MD Andrew Hilton and his nine-piece band ensure that everything serves the comedy, as it should.

So, Young Frankenstein will delight fans of Mel Brooks and his brand of comedy, and could well be a gateway for audiences who might otherwise not choose to sit through a musical, or even come to the theatre at all.

It also fits the festive market well, being an enjoyable alternative to a more classic pantomime. Best of all, you can check your brain into the cloakroom – but just be warned: it might not be there when you leave…

Craig Glenday

Tickets for Young Frankenstein at the Garrick Theatre are available HERE.