Review of ‘Young Frankenstein’ by the Woodland Opera House
The hilarious performance of Young Frankenstein the Musical at the Woodland Opera House will leave you in stitches! If you love Mel Brooks, bawdy humor, and great acting, you will love Director Andrea St. Clair’s portrayal of this memorable show.
Instead of a horror movie, like most Frankenstein movies, Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder came up with a fresh idea about a middle-aged scientist named Professor Frederick (Brandon Price), who happens to be Dr. Victor Frankenstein’s grandson and only living descendant. Professor Fredrick travels from his university home in New York to the town of Transylvania in order to inherit the castle and join the family business of bringing the dead back to life.
Right from the start, this show had something different and entertaining. Projections were made onto a sheet at the back of the stage that looked like the old black and white movies announcing the show’s title and credits. Cheers came from the audience when theatergoers saw their friends’ names appear on the screen in huge letters. This was a fun way to start the interaction between the audience and performers, which really set the tone of the show. You could feel the electricity and excitement of the crowd.
You will love Inga (Nichole Richter), Igor (Christopher Travlos), and Frederick in “Roll in the Hay.” The staging was very impressive with special effects, horses and werewolves. We laughed so hard, tears were starting to form. The chemistry between them was very wonderful! The Monster was charming and, dare I say, suave at times. Great acting even with limited lines of dialogue. Kudos to the cast for that cool tap dance number of “Puttin’ on the Ritz” and “Join The Family Business.”
As I said before, all the acting was great, but I have to mention some of the crowd favorites. Christopher Travlos (Igor) was outstanding with spot-on comedic timing. Darryl Strohl-DeHerrera (Inspector Kemp) somehow managed to make us believe he had both an artificial leg and arm.
He was serious and funny at the same time. He reminded me of Maxwell Smart and also had fantastic timing. Amaralyn Ewey (Elizabeth), who played Frederick’s fiancé, commanded the stage and brought down the house at least twice with her songs “Please Don’t Touch Me” and “Deep Love.” Spencer Alexander (The Blind Hermit) along with Rick Eldridge (The Monster) had a hilarious scene where I think some ad-libbing was apparent involving a wayward cigar mishap.
But the crème de la crème performance came from Lenore Turner- Heinson, who after many years away from the Woodland Opera House, returned in all her glory for the role of Frau Blucher. We were blown away with her rendition of “He Vas, My Boyfriend.” That number stopped the show the night I saw it. Through her many years of teaching, youth productions, choral directing, and community involvement which touches so many lives in Yolo County, it was a delight to see her shine in this show.
St. Clair is a master of directing all her actors to really develop their characters. When you add in the challenging dancing of veteran Choreographer Staci Arriaga, Music Director Lori Jarvey, and a cast made up of award-winning actors, it’s no wonder this production was great.
As this show has a lot of adult humor, I do not recommend it for children. It is a great date night show, after all, it is a Mel Brooks Musical. You are guaranteed to leave with a smile.
Young Frankenstein runs now through May 7, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets are available at WoodlandOperaHouse.org.