Young Frankenstein

Thank you very much for inviting me to your production of ‘Young Frankenstein’. I was greeted at the box office by a wonderfully warm front of house team who do a fantastic job of welcoming patrons and making them feel welcome at the Devonport Playhouse. 

‘Young Frankenstein’ is a new(ish) musical comedy based on the 1974 film of the same name by Mel Brooks. Grandson of the infamous Victor Frankenstein Frederick Frankenstein, pronounced "Fronk-en-steen" (or is it stein?), inherits his family's estate in Transylvania. With the help of a hunchbacked side-kick, Igor (pronounced "Eye-gore"), and a leggy lab assistant, Inga.

Upon speaking with the team at the box office it was brought to my attention that there had been illness in the cast that afternoon and that tonight, on opening night, another member of the cast would step in to play the role of Elizabeth having only starting to look at the part at around 4pm that evening! Might I say, what a phenomenal job this lady did. Had I have not been informed of the sudden change of cast for that evening I would have been none-the-wiser as I am sure most of the audience would even with the announcement made before the show began. Brava for taking on the challenge and bowing it out of the water.

Sound

I am always pleased to see a live band for a production. Ably led by Musical Director Gary Hawkins was a fanatic 8 piece band consisting of Reeds, Trumpet, Trombone, Drums, Bass and two pianos. The band are very well-versed in the pit band scene and created a fantastic sound which was well balanced with the vocals on stage. 

The vocals were mostly clear with some excellent harmony throughout the ensemble numbers. A large number of head-worn microphones enabled the dialogue and lyrics to be heard clearly above the band. It could be noted however that some of the music may have benefitted from being a touch slower as with a huge number of syllables to pronounce in some of the songs the diction did get a little lost and I found myself struggling to understand what was being said. 

Set

Andy Martin as always produced a fantastic set for this production. Plymouth Theatre Company benefit greatly from owning the theatre which enables Andy to begin building the set in place weeks in advance. The set was filled with gothic details and plenty of lighting integrated within the set that brought the lab to life as Frankenstein attempted to re-animate the body.

The set was cleverly designed enabling quick changes to happen through the use of fly bars and the rotating set at rear of the stage.

Costume

Costumes were superb throughout. The costumes, hair and make-up for the angry villagers was excellent and really helped to portray an image of madness. The costumes suited the gothic theming of the production. The show girls outfits were dazzling with glitter and adorned with feathers on the back and the headpieces. The monster costume was effective with high platform boots allowing the monster to tower above the rest of the cast. He transition from a fairly empty stage in to the Frankenstein mansion was slick and well managed.

Characterisation was strong throughout the performance; though there were occasions where characterisation compromised the clarity of the vocals. Overall, this show had an excellent casting. Elizabeth had a beautiful voice and as mentioned previously did an incredible job at such short notice. Please don’t touch me was very well done and had just the right delivery allowing the comedy to flow naturally. Frau Blucher was superb. Her characterisation was on point and she never slipped from character. The voice, the dead-pan expression and the intensity brough a fantastic energy to this performance. ‘He was my Boyfriend’ was hilarious. Igor had fantastic characterisation throughout and played the part very true to the original film with his cockney accent and low, gruff tone to his voice. The Barbershop ‘Welcome to Transylvania’ was sublime with beautifully balanced harmony. ‘Transylvania Mania’ was full of energy and was a thoroughly enjoyable number.

Thank you once again for an enjoyable evening.

Kind regards

   Ryan Procter

   District 3 Representative

Any observation made by the reviewer can only be based on what he sees at the performance in question. The reviewer may have received information in advance of the performance, and it is inevitable that his assessment will be effected by that knowledge.

The N.O.D.A. Representative’s intention is to give an objective critique of the overall production and in particular the performance viewed. It should be remembered that any review of this nature can only be objective as far as the techniques used during the performance observed. Any criticisms expressed may not have been valid at other performances, and are only made to encourage higher standards in Amateur Theatre.

It is hoped that the audience’s appreciation of your efforts will have given everyone a lift and encouraged you to greater achievements in the future and that the observations made by the reviewer will prove helpful in improving future productions.

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