The Producers
,
Mel Brooks
' first foray into
musical theater
after a lengthy career as a writer/director/actor in TV and film comedy, was an enormous hit in part because it surprised people;
Brooks
had written songs occasionally for his movies (
among them), but his competency in coming up with a full
musical
score was not expected, and it won him a Tony Award. In fact,
won Tony Awards for just about everything it could be nominated for and began a multi-year run. No small part of that success, however, was due to its two stars,
Nathan Lane
and
Matthew Broderick
, who turned out to be difficult to replace.
' second attempt at a stage
Young Frankenstein
, also based on one of his films, shouldn't have that particular problem.
Roger Bart
, who stars as
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein
, was also in
in a supporting role. He is given some strong support himself this time, in a cast that includes Broadway veterans
Sutton Foster
Andrea Martin
, and
Shuler Hensley
. But with his limited, boyish tenor, he doesn't really stand out. It would not be hard to imagine stronger stars who might replace him and continue the show's run, starting with
Broderick
if he were willing. Among the supporting cast,
Martin
makes the strongest impression as
Frau Blucher
, singing a song developed out of the famous movie line,
"He Vas My Boyfriend."
Foster
, typical for any
effort, is expected to be a cheerfully slutty vamp, which is just not the sort of part to which she's suited. (This is a Broadway star who shone in
Thoroughly Modern Millie
The Drowsy Chaperone
, and even
Little Women
, but a sexpot she's not.)
Hensley
, as
the Monster
, doesn't get to do much musically except, of course, wail his way through
Irving Berlin
's
"Puttin' on the Ritz,"
as
Peter Boyle
did in the movie. Without star power, then, the show relies more than
did on
' score, which consists of pastiches of 1930s
show tunes
, keying off the
's overall parody of the 1931
Frankenstein
film directed by
James Whale
. Typically,
leans on mild and explicit vulgarities and sexual references as punch lines; his is not a humor of wit, so much as old-fashioned bawdiness, of course. It's sophomoric by definition, but in a movie as well as a stage show, there's so much of it that it overwhelms the audience until laughter is extracted, willingly or not. On a mere cast album, however, it rarely seems funny. So, one is left with mediocre evocations of the style of
Berlin
Jerome Kern
George Gershwin
, plus dirty words. ~ William Ruhlmann