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Puttin’ on the Ritz: Mel Brooks’ “Young Frankenstein” London Cast Comes to CD from NoteforNote Music

January 27, 2021 By Joe Marchese 1 Comment

Young Frankenstein OLC

BUY NOW FROM NOTEFORNOTE MUSIC

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)

  1. Overture
  2. The Brain
  3. Please Don’t Touch Me
  4. Together Again
  5. Roll in the Hay
  6. He Vas My Boyfriend
  7. It Could Work
  8. Hang Him ‘Til He’s Dead
  9. The Experiment
  10. He Vas My Boyfriend (Reprise)
  11. Welcome to Transylvania
  12. Transylvania Mania
  13. He’s Loose
  14. Listen to Your Heart
  15. Surprise
  16. Please Send Me Someone
  17. Puttin’ on the Ritz
  18. Deep Love
  19. Hang the Doctor
  20. Deep Love (Reprise) and Finale
  21. Finale – Together Again
  22. The Bows
  23. Exit Music

Categories: News Formats: CD, Digital Download Genre: Cast Recordings Tags: Mel Brooks

Joe Marchese

JOE MARCHESE (Editor) joined The Second Disc shortly after its launch in early 2010, and has since penned daily news and reviews about classic music of all genres. In 2015, Joe formed the Second Disc Records label. Celebrating the great songwriters, producers and artists who created the sound of American popular song, Second Disc Records, in conjunction with Real Gone Music, has released newly-curated collections produced by Joe from iconic artists such as Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin, Laura Nyro, Melissa Manchester, Chet Atkins, and many others. He has contributed liner notes to reissues from a diverse array of artists, among them Nat "King" Cole, Paul Williams, Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield, B.J. Thomas, The 5th Dimension, Burt Bacharach, The Mamas and the Papas, Carpenters, Perry Como, Rod McKuen, Doris Day, Jackie DeShannon, and Andy Williams, and has compiled releases for talents including Robert Goulet and Keith Allison of Paul Revere and the Raiders. Over the past two decades, Joe has also worked in a variety of capacities on and off Broadway as well as at some of the premier theatres in the U.S., including Lincoln Center Theater, George Street Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, and the York Theatre Company. He has felt privileged to work on productions alongside artists such as the late Jack Klugman, Eli Wallach, Arthur Laurents, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. In 2009, Joe began contributing theatre and music reviews to the print publication The Sondheim Review, and in 2012, he joined the staff of The Digital Bits as a regular contributor writing about film and television on DVD and Blu-ray. Joe currently resides in the suburbs of New York City.

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Comments

  1. Steve C says

    January 28, 2021 at 1:30 pm

    Loved Young Frankenstein on Broadway! I hope the TV production happens, and they don’t screw it up!

    RIP Cloris Leachman (the original Frau Bleucher)

    Reply

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