Mel Brooks' 'Young Frankenstein' Coming This Fall
Who's Going To Play Igor?
ABC's newest primetime musical event heads to the lab, when it airs a live performance of Mel Brooks' "Young Frankenstein."
ABC made the announcement during the TCA Winter Press Tour in Pasadena.
The musical will be based off the 2007 Broadway version, which took its cue from the Mel Brooks-directed 1974 comedy Young Frankenstein, which starred Gene Wilder as Dr. Frankenstein, Teri Garr as Inga, Peter Boyle as the actual Frankenstein, and Marty Feldman as that weird guy.
'Young Frankenstein' Conjures Original Novel
The music for this new version will be from the Broadway adaptation by Brooks.
“Based on the Broadway stage version of ‘Young Frankenstein,’ ‘Young Frankenstein Live!’ will follow Mel Brooks’ and Gene Wilder’s comedic reimagining of the Mary Shelley classic novel. The live production will feature music from the stage adaptation, originally composed by Brooks.”
No End To the Nightmare
The whole concept of "Young Frankenstein" has continued to grow legs. The Broadway version landed in 2007.
Among the cast was Roger Bart, who played Frederick Frankenstein, Megan Mullally as Elizabeth and Sutton Foster as Inga.
Casting for this live performance and an airdate hasn't been announced yet.
One of the Most Classic Figures In Literature
The premise of "Young Frankenstein" is basically the comedic version of Mary Shelley's original Gothic novel, in which a scientist somehow creates a scared human monster in a weird experiment.
Shelley began the novel after visiting traveling near the actual Frankenstein Castle, where someone had carried out bizarre examinations.
Shelley's historic novel gave birth to much of the horror genre in books and movies.
This Genre Is So Popular Right Now
ABC is hoping to build upon November's “The Little Mermaid Live!” which got about 9 million total viewers, vaulting it to the highest-rated live music TV show since Fox’s “Grease: Live,” from January, 2016. And “The Little Mermaid Live!” rivaled 2018's “Jesus Christ Superstar Live."
But, counterpoint: Who remembers "Grease: Live?"
Also: "The Little Mermaid: Live" didn't go over too well. At all.
'Little Mermaid: Live' Sank Like a Stone
Entertainment Weekly had this to say about "The Little Mermaid: Live," noting what many others pointed out as well -- that Shaggy's outfit was nothing like Sebastian.
"The performers felt segmented into glossy cameos. Shaggy had some fun as Sebastian, especially during 'Kiss the Girl.' But here’s one rule of musicals: If you’re playing the crab, you have to play the crab. The musician cheated with a red jumpsuit that looked leftover from a Power Rangers disco.
The whole show felt like it was cheating, really, avoiding the potential for Peter Pan-ish hate-watching by refusing to chance anything worth hating.
Shaggy's outfit was more like a "Thriller" outfit.
