Unless you’re a comic with an interest in film making you probably don’t realize this is one film I broke down backwards and forwards in an attempt to answer what makes a good horror film parody. So when Mel Brooks announced he was turning the film into a musical, I was slightly intrigued. You see, the best scene in the film was when Gene Wilder and the Creature played by a young Peter Boyle sang Me and My Shadow. It’s a great scene. But it was almost taken out of the film because it came off as so over-the-top. So adding more music to the mix could be a really good, or a really bad idea. Apparently, Brooks thought more musical interludes were a great idea and the musical version of the film was born. Now that the musical is playing at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, so it seems only fair to look at the reviews. An article in the Broadway World.COM by actor Michael L. Quintos, is kind to the musical. However, Quintos is also clear that the musical, while entertaining, doesn’t quite have the comic punch of the original film.
Quinton starts that review praising Brooks for his biting one-liners, double entendres and wordplay. Quintos calls the musical a faithful translation of the horror movie parody. "Many of the iconic," he says, "often obsessively-quoted scenes from the film are reverently recreated for the stage, generally retaining most of its original funny results." However, he adds, while the show itself has plenty of delightfully giddy moments it somehow just stops short of becoming the universally beloved Brook's film. I‘m taking that to mean the musical passed, but with a few reservations. That may have been partially because there were problems with the sound system on opening night. Quintos calls Joanna Glushak, who takes the role of Frau Blücher, originally played by Cloris Leachman, scene stealing. But that doesn't surprise me at all. The Frau Blücher character was built to steal scenes. Tickets run from $25 to $85 and are available now. The production will run through August 8th, 2010. Visit the theatre's website for more details.
Posted July 29, 2010 by Shayne Michael under Comedy Theatre / Accessed 537 times.
The New Shayne-Michael.COMedy
