Another Screwball Mel Brooks Musical

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Photo: Sunset Playhouse - Facebook

Sunset Playhouse 'Young Frankenstein'

Sunset Playhouse's 'Young Frankenstein'

The Sunset Playhouse warms the stage this spring with the musical adaptation of Mel Brooks’ cult classic Young Frankenstein. A charismatic Eric Nelson plays the title role of Victor Frankenstein’s grandson Frederick. His aspirations towards being a respectable neuroscientist are challenged when he inherits the estate of his late grandfather and flies off to Transylvania to deal with it. There he meets the grandson of his grandfather’s lab assistant Igor. Casey Van Dam cleverly fuses a sharp sense of comedy with a remarkably fluid musical theatre poise that perfectly fits the splashy Broadway campiness of Brooks’ weird and appealingly misshapen musical. 

Aly Olson-Turek serves beautifully as the love interest for the title character. Brooks doesn’t ask for much from one of the more prominent female characters in the ensemble, but Turek brings a warm and engaging presence to the stage which amplifies the significance of the role quite a bit. Cheryl Roloff rounds out the central ensemble as Frau Blucher. Roloff makes for something of a comically powerful presence onstage in and amongst the rest of everything that’s going on. Brooks forces a very large cast to juggle a great many different comic and musical elements. 

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Photo: Sunset Playhouse - Facebook

Sunset Playhouse 'Young Frankenstein'

Sunset Playhouse's 'Young Frankenstein'

Katie Johnson’s set design makes use of a brick background that features atmospheric video projection to establish a mood and feel that matches the original black and white film. The musical theatre/screwball comedy hybrid bounces and bumps around the stage with a very clean visual presence thanks to very clever costume by designer Lisa Quinn. Director Tommy Lueck brings together a weird array of different disparate elements to foster an enjoyable evening at the theater.

The Sunset Playhouse production of Young Frankenstein runs through May 7 at the Furlan Auditorium, 700 W. Wall St. For ticket reservations and more, visit sunsetplayhouse.com.