Friday, November 16, 2007

Young Frankenstein


The sets and the special effects are spectacular -- they should be, they cost a reported $20 million. But the most important thing, the humor, isn’t there. The book and lyrics just aren’t funny. Line after line and lyric after lyric just hang there. It’s a musical comedy without the comedy.

What a shame that this production is on while truly lovely shows like “Cyrano” and a fabulous musical like “Legally Blonde” are darkened by the strike. “Young Frankenstein” shouldn’t just be dark, it should never have seen the light of day.

The lyrics to a song from the much funnier Mel Brooks musical “The Producers” come to mind: “We are still in shock/Who produced this shlock?”

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