Young Frankenstein – Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool

Curtis Patrick and Daniel Brocklebank in Young Frankenstein at the Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool. Picture: Cian Ryan

Young Frankenstein continues at the Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool until 3 January 2026.

Star Rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Following a triumphant seven-week run at its Ancoats venue, Hope Mill Theatre has now transferred its production of Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein to the Liverpool Playhouse, where it will play for the Christmas period.

This is the first in what is hoped to be an ongoing partnership with the Liverpool venue, and the immediate thought on seeing it is how did it take 10 years to get them here? The stage is a great size to accommodate the production and Sophia Pardon’s resourceful set design, while the auditorium feels well suited to the scale of the music and performance, without losing the intimacy of Hope Mill’s home space.

Mel Brooks adapted his cult classic film Young Frankenstein in the wake of the success of The Producers, and much of the comedy, both verbal and physical, is owed to Gene Wilder, who wrote the bulk of the original screenplay (the musical’s libretto is by Brooks and Thomas Meehan). While The Producers is an obvious choice as musical material, being itself based on the production of a show, Young Frankenstein seems on paper to be a bigger stretch. It is interesting to note that the only scene in the original film that features a musicalbstyle production number is ‘Puttin’ On the Ritz’ and that scene was the brainchild of Wilder, who had to fight with Brooks to get it into the script. Brooks thought it was too ridiculous and would ‘break’ the picture. Happily, Brooks eventually admitted the genius of the idea, and it is this that effectively paves the way for the full musical adaptation.

Brooks’ score makes extensive use of another element from the picture’s original music, in John Morris’ ‘Transylvanian Lullaby’ theme, which recurs frequently throughout the show. The rest is glorious pastiche of everything from burlesque to Broadway, and it is splendidly rendered by the pit band under the direction of Francesca Warren.

This production, as has become the tradition for Hope Mill, makes astonishingly good use of a moderate size cast to create the illusion of a stage filled to bursting with people. An eight-strong ensemble supports a cast of seven principals, and Nick Winston’s masterful direction and choreography performs some sort of alchemy, which calls to mind the outstanding work he did on Hope Mill’s Mame in 2019.

This is a show filled with glorious individual comic performances, each of which is a solo tour-de-force, but the intricate comic timing with which they fit together is honed to perfection. This is all the more impressive considering that the roles of Frederick Frankenstein and his frosty fiancée Elizabeth are freshly joining the existing ensemble for this Liverpool transfer.

Daniel Brocklebank, possibly best known for his role in Coronation Street, turns out to have some impressive dance and tap skills in addition to his commanding stage presence, and his depiction of the maniacal mad scientist trapped in a mild mannered doctor’s body is joyous. He has two love interests jostling for his affections, the first of which is Amelia Adams as his erstwhile fiancée. Adams sparkles as the untouchable Elizabeth, and while she is sparing with her affections she pulls out all the stops with vocals of operatic stature. Then comes the uninhibited laboratory assistant Inga, played by Julie Yammanee. The actress and singer too has great comic timing and vocals to match, but sadly she suffered an injury partway through the press night performance, so we also got to witness her cover, Jessica Wright, who up to this point had been dancing in the ensemble. It must be said that her continuation of the role blended in seamlessly.

Continuing the dizzying array of key roles is Jessica Martin as the mysterious Frau Blücher, who has many deadpan comedy moments but hits her highlights in her solo ‘He Vas My Boyfriend’, in which she channels Marlene Dietrich, and in a scene that opens the music hall sequence in which, with very few words, she reduces the audience to almost uncontrollable laughter.

Simeon Truby doubles as the blind hermit and the one-armed and one-legged Inspector Hans Kemp, roles which he manages to separate beautifully, and in which he produces some great visual comedy. Then of course we have The Monster, played by Pete Gallagher, who towers over the rest of the cast. Reduced by the script to using grunts for almost all the show, he conveys so much of the emotion with his face, which is no mean feat given the heavy prosthetic makeup he is wearing. He is almost a carbon copy of Peter Boyle’s Monster in the film, and his transformations in both the music hall and brain transference scenes are hysterical, and masterfully done.

But if one actor generously but entirely steals every scene he is in, it is Curtis Patrick as Igor. Marty Feldman, who created this role on film, left big shoes and a big hump to fill, not to mention the face, but Patrick plays the part as though it were written for him. It is surely worth the ticket price for his performance alone, although he plays much of it slinking around behind the other principals. He is pure comedy gold, and notably triggered the standing ovation that met the curtain call on this occasion.

Audiences will certainly enjoy so much more of Brooks and Wilder’s 1974 film if they are familiar with James Whale’s 1931 Universal production of Frankenstein. In the same way, much of the real fun in watching the musical is to be had if you know the film it is based upon. You can feel the audience anticipating all their favourite sight-gags and one-liners. This said, it is such a passionately funny and polished production that it is sure to send the uninitiated out in search of the picture.

Young Frankenstein is two hours of uproariously funny and often risqué comedy (note the 13-plus age advisory) and it is a perfect choice for anyone seeking an alternative dose of Christmas laughter to traditional panto.

Nigel Smith