Make no mistake about it: Mel Brooks is a dirty old man. And since his very funny film Young Frankenstein he’s gotten ever dirtier and older. What was raunchy but amusing in 1974 is simply repeated louder and cruder in this 2007 Broadway version, currently spending two weeks at the Aronoff Center for the Arts.
Victor Frankenstein (Christopher Ryan), the namesake grandson of the mad scientist who explored “the reanimation of dead tissue,” returns to Transylvania to claim his inheritance. The successful medical researcher departs from 1934 Manhattan with his chilly, leave-me-alone fiancée (Janine Divita) to find his family roots. He meets Igor, a loopy hunchbacked assistant (Cory English); Frau Blucher (Joanna Glushak), a mysteriously arch keeper of the creepy castle laboratory; and the buxom Inga (Synthia Link), who becomes his oh-so-willing lab assistant. They manage to turn a dead body into a live Monster (Preston Truman Boyd).
Young Frankenstein continues at the Aronoff Center downtown through Sunday. Go here to read Rick Pender's full review.
