It doesn't take a brain surgeon to reanimate one of the top 15 comedy movies of all time. What it does take is the comic genius of Mel Brooks and the inventiveness of director/choreographer Susan Stroman and her team of inspired designers to bring Young Frankenstein to musical life on stage.

Mel Brooks' new musical Young Frankenstein, like his Oscar-nominated 1974 film from which it has been re-imagined, spoofs yet pays homage to the Universal Pictures horror films of the 1930s. All are based on Mary Shelley's monster tale that finds Dr. Frankenstein, a respected New York brain surgeon and professor, inheriting a castle and laboratory in Transylvania from his mad scientist grandfather.

Mel Brooks Becomes Each Character as He Writes the Music and Lyrics

The Monster High Fives Mel Brooks

"What's wonderful about a movie script becoming a musical in this case is that the man who created this movie script is now making this movie script come to life in song, in dance and making it live," insists Susan Stroman. "And of all the things that Mel Brooks has accomplished, all the movies, the records and events he's done, creating a Broadway musical was the most fulfilling for him artistically. He loved doing The Producers and I think after he finished, he wanted to do it again."

Once he'd made up his mind, it was all about picking the right piece. They knocked around several ideas but Young Frankenstein kept lumbering back to center stage.

"One day, he called and said, ‘I've written a song for Frau Blucher called ‘He Vas My Boyfriend'," Ms. Stroman recalls. "He sang the song to me over the phone and said' I think there might be something in this, making Young Frankenstein into a musical. So we started to get together and talk about it and the songs just started to flow out of him. The wonderful thing about working with Mel is you are in a room collaborating and he actually becomes these characters in order to find the lyrics and find the music."

Elements of a Broadway Musical Were Inherent in the Film

Director/Choreographer Susan Stroman

According to Ms. Stroman, there were numerous elements of a traditional Broadway musical inherent in the film. "There's not only a love story between Dr. Frankenstein and Inga but also Dr. Frankenstein and the monster, it's very much a father and son love story. So that alone makes for a good Broadway musical, a good love story or two."

And there was ample opportunity for dance. With the show set in Transylvania circa 1934, she incorporated Romanian and Hungarian folk dances for the villagers and, of course, the classic Irving Berlin top hat and tails number for the monster.

"Mel included that wonderful song, ‘Puttin' on the Ritz,' and what a perfect chance to choreograph a big tap dance number," Ms. Stroman explains. "Dr. Frankenstein wants the monster to be loved and admired because he has come to life. So here's this monster that not only can now move but he can sing and dance, the ultimate movement to convince the scientists and villagers that it's a miracle."

There Are Innumerable Challenges Creating a Stage Musical From a Movie

The Company doing Transylvania Mania, photo by Paul Kolnik

The challenge of doing a movie as a stage musical, particularly a film as beloved and acclaimed as Young Frankenstein,  is that it has its own vocabulary. In this case, it's a lexicon that is all Mel Brooks. The creative team knew they had to do justice to the original material but take it to a new level.

They are the same group of Tony Award-winners that brought
The Producers to Broadway:  Writer Thomas Meehan, Musical Arranger and Supervisor Glen Kelly, Scenic Designer Robin Wagner, Costume Designer William Ivey Long and Lighting Designer Peter Kaczorowski.

For Robin Wagner, known for large-scale, fast-moving, automated sets that are always full of surprises, Young Frankenstein presented curious problems to solve.

"We didn't want to leave anything out," explains Mr. Wagner, "and yet we needed to translate the signature quality of the film but make it work on stage, thrill the audience yet keep the actors safe and all the while make it funny. So the sets are all full of gimmicks and effects to express the Mel Brooks humor."

Designing the vintage costumes was a delight for William Ivey Long whose favorite period for clothes is the mid-1930s. His dilemma was costuming the inhabitants of Transylvania and Dr. Frankenstein's castle.

"You start with all your books, the research and 4 X 8 boards," Mr. Long explains. "We had 14 of them covered with research of early Romania, early Transylvania and all the Frankenstein films going back to Mary Shelley's book. Then Mel and the creative team met in my studio, surrounded by all those visions, and we'd put post-it notes on whatever they responded to and that's how we began to refine the process."

The Monster's Look Needed a Makeover

Shuler Hensley as the Monster and Roger Bart as Dr. Frankenstein, photo by Paul Kolnik

There was one design element they could not replicate and that was the monster himself. The iconic Frankenstein look had been copyrighted by Universal Pictures. 

‘We couldn't do the nuts, the bolts and the stitches in exactly the same way," Mr. Long admits. "So, we started by not looking at the original monster and invented our own. Then we looked back at the original to make sure that it didn't violate the copyright. Plus, ours was pretty darn green."

For director/choreographer Susan Stroman, Young Frankenstein succeeds as a musical because it is plays as an ensemble production on stage and off.

"The idea of taking this story of this mad genius creating a monster seemed to excite everyone on board," explains Ms. Stroman. "Of course the music and writing were so strong but every scene took every department to make wonderful or to make magic. From Robin's spectacular sets, William's impeccable costumes, Peter's masterful lighting, Jonathan Dean's spot on sound to Marc Brickman's amazing special effects, Young Frankenstein was the most fulfilling musical for me artistically in the sense of the collaboration with the designers. It was thrilling."



For more on Young Frankenstein. To listen to Backstage with Susan Stroman.

Photos of Susan Stroman and Mel Brooks courtesy of Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein.

Back to SHNews