Puttin' on the Ritz: Mel Brooks' "Young Frankenstein" London Cast Comes to CD from NoteforNote Music

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Young Frankenstein, billed as The New Mel Brooks Musical, came to Broadway in fall 2007 as one of the Great White Way’s most hotly-anticipated tickets. A musical adaptation of Brooks’ beloved 1974 film, the production reunited the creative team behind The Producers, the record-breaking, multiple Tony Award-winning show that had closed in spring ’07 after six years and 2,502 performances: composer, lyricist, and librettist Brooks; co-librettist Thomas Meehan (Annie, Hairspray); director-choreographer Susan Stroman (Contact, The Music Man); set designer Robin Wagner; costume designer William Ivey Long; lighting designer Peter Kaczorowski; arranger Glen Kelly; orchestrator Doug Besterman; and musical director Patrick Brady. Adding to the excitement, The Producers‘ original Carmen Ghia, Roger Bart, “graduated” to the role of Dr. Frankenstein (that’s pronounced Fronk-en-steen) originated on film by Gene Wilder. He led a starry cast that included Megan Mullally, Andrea Martin, Sutton Foster, Shuler Hensley, Fred Applegate, and Christopher Fitzgerald. But lighting rarely strikes twice, and Young Frankenstein was greeted with mixed reviews rather than the rapturous plaudits The Producers had received. It folded on Broadway after a respectable 484 performances at the cavernous Hilton Theatre (today The Lyric Theatre, home of Harry Potter and The Cursed Child). But Brooks and Stroman didn’t give up on Young Frankenstein, and a rewritten version opened a decade after the original at London’s Garrick Theatre.

That reconceived West End production not only proved a success but yielded a new cast recording which was sold exclusively at the theatre during the show’s run. Now, Notefornote Music is giving this monstrously good recording a new lease on life with its first-ever wide CD release. The London production was once again directed and choreographed by Stroman, but featured an entirely new physical production by Tony Award winner Beowulf Boritt (Act One). William Ivey Long revisited his outrageous costumes. Crucially, Brooks and Meehan (who sadly passed away in August 2017 before the revival’s October opening) substantially reworked both the book and the score. The songs “The Happiest Town in Town,” “Join the Family Business,” and “Life, Life” were all cut as well as much of “Man About Town.” Brooks supplied the new musical numbers “It Could Work” and “Hang Him ‘Til He’s Dead.” Still other songs were revised, and composer John Morris’ “Transylvanian Lullabye Theme” from the original Young Frankenstein film was woven throughout the score including in the Overture, “He Vas My Boyfriend,” “It Could Work,” “The Experiment,” and “Hang the Doctor.” Naturally, Irving Berlin’s showstopping “Puttin’ on the Ritz” was left intact.

Hadley Fraser (last seen, briefly, in the West End revival of City of Angels before COVID-19 hit) starred as Frederick Frankenstein with Ross Noble as Igor, Lesley Joseph as Frau Blucher, Dianne Pilkington as Elisabeth, Summer Strallen as Inga, Patrick Clancy as Inspector Kemp, and Shuler Hensley reprising his Broadway role as The Monster. Upon the musical’s opening on October 10, 2017, the reviews were raves. Michael Billington in The Guardian opened his five-star assessment: “Mel Brooks recently predicted how London critics would react to this musical version of his 1974 horror-movie spoof: ‘They’ll say it’s good but not as great as The Producers.’ Well for this critic, it’s every bit as good as, if not better than its predecessor…” The Independent called it “deliriously silly” and praised its lack of aspirations “other than to unleash laughter. On that front, the show is a signal success.” The Telegraph opined, “Want to howl with laughter? Walk this way to Young Frankenstein.” The musical played a successful season, closing on August 25, 2018.

The Original London Cast Recording was captured live at the Garrick over several performances; it features Nic Greenshields as The Monster in the place of Shuler Hensley as the American actor departed the production roughly five weeks after the West End opening. The album was recorded by Mike Ryles and Rob Jones, produced and mixed by Paul Gatehouse, and mastered by Andy Water at Abbey Road Studios.

Notefornote’s CD release is due to ship from the label in March. However, those who order now will first receive the album in high-resolution digital (96/24). The stage version of Young Frankenstein is far from dead; ABC-TV announced a live television version that was derailed by the pandemic. This release will give listeners a chance to enjoy the current, “new and improved” version of the show and score as performed by a top-notch cast. If you’re blue and you don’t know where to go to…how about pre-ordering Young Frankenstein at the link below?

Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein: Original London Cast Recording (Notefornote CD NFN-1021, 2021)