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| YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN |
Directed and Choreographed by Susan Stroman / 2007 |
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"…A good deal of the credit also goes to director-choreographer Susan Stroman, who works her magic just as she did with "The Producers". Not the least of her many bright inventions is an 11 o'clock number she joyfully builds around Irving Berlin's interpolated standard, "Putting on the Ritz," where she shows off the tamed monster (a comically braying Shuler Hensley) and an accompanying chorus in top hat, tails, and platform boots. Although that extended turn is the tuner's pinnacle -- and puts the amusing but slighter Brooks score in the shade -- cute-enough numbers are handed around to the troupe of scene-stealers sharing the stage and immensely enjoying themselves.…Brooks loves clowns, so it's no surprise that he and Stroman keep this rowdy collection singing and dancing sufficiently well to get patrons as happy as Transylvanians learning that Victor Frankenstein has gone to his reward.” by David Finkle at theatremania.com |
| "...and the music is carried along by the hilarious lyrics and Stroman's exuberant staging. …The director-choreographer's formidable skills are best illustrated in such numbers as "Roll in the Hay," in which she uses the long limbs of Sutton Foster (as the comely assistant, Inga) to riotously lascivious effect, and the show's centerpiece, Irving Berlin's "Puttin' on the Ritz." The latter number, here the showstopping equivalent to "Springtime for Hitler" from "Producers," has been greatly expanded from the film version, with the elaborately comedic choreography owing debts to such figures as the Marx Brothers and David Parsons.” by REUTERS at Hollywood Reporter |  |
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"…Stroman has some inventive moments of choreography: boys and girls dancing -- but not exactly together -- in a number for Mullally with the quirky, anti-romantic title of ''Please Don't Touch Me.'' Or smiling peasants cavorting their way through a folksy routine called ''Transylvania Mania.'' …Still, they are not exactly the requisite delirium the best musical comedy can provide. Joy arrives when that Berlin golden oldie takes center stage midway through Act 2. Suddenly, this ''Frankenstein'' seems as young -- and as promising -- as its title.” by Michael Kuchwara, AP Drama Critic, at newsday.com |
| “Director-choreographer Susan Stroman has crafted zesty numbers in the monster mash "Transylvania Mania" and Irving Berlin's "Puttin' on the Ritz," expanded from the film. But nothing here even comes close to the outrageousness of her "Producers" coups of toe-tapping grannies with walkers or showgirls with wiener headdresses in "Springtime for Hitler." by David Rooney at Variety “While staging these matters efficiently, director-choreographer Susan Stroman demonstrates little of her customary flair with the dances. The villagers' romp, the creature stomps and the movement of it all is surprisingly ordinary.” by Michael Sommers at nj.com |
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“Well, unless you measure your pleasure in decibels. Even by the blaring standards of Broadway, “Young Frankenstein,” directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman, stands out for its loudness — in its ear-splitting amplification, eye-splitting visual effects and would-be side-splitting jokes…Ms. Stroman seems to take the show one joke at a time: land this gag, milk it for as long as possible and then mark time with some standard-issue ensemble dancing until you move on to the next." by Ben Brantley at The New York Times |
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“Everything a fan could want is present, and many of the most memorable lines take on new lives of their own, transformed into one song after another… Irving Berlin’s “Puttin’ on the Ritz,” a signature sequence in the movie, is here, but like every aspect of the play has been made larger than life, infused with a kind of magic not present in the original. It is this grandiose style that makes a Brooks/Stroman production well worth seeing, even if the tickets cost as much as half a month’s rent." by Logan DeSisto in Fangoria |  |
AWARDS Broadway: Drama Desk Awards nomination for Outstanding Choreography; Outer Critics Circle Awards nomination for Outstanding Choreography and Outstanding Director of a Musical. |
| Photos © Paul Kolnik |
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