EDITORIAL REVIEWS
ORIGINAL CAST RECORDING YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN MUSIC AND LYRICS BY MEL BROOKS IT'S ALIVE! From the creators of the record-breaking Broadway sensation the Producers comes this monster new musical comedy, YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, based on the Oscar-nominated smash-hit 1974 film. A wickedly inspired re-imagining of the Frankenstein legend based on Mel Brooks' classic comedy masterpiece. With such memorable tunes as "The Transylvania Mania," "He Vas My Boyfriend," and "Puttin' on the Ritz," the New MEL BROOKS Musical YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN is scientifically-proven, monstrously good entertainment. and the only place you'll witness a singing and dancing laboratory experiment in the largest tuxedo ever made. YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN features music and lyrics by the three-time Tony Award. Winner Mel Brooks, book by Brooks and three-time Tony Award. Winner Thomas Meehan, and is directed and choreographed by five-time Tony Award. Winner Susan Stroman.

AMAZON
Unlike The Producers, the musical version of Young Frankenstein was not met with critical adoration when it opened on Broadway in November, 2007. Mel Brooks had followed the same formula, transferring all of his own source movies famous lines and plot points to the stage, but oddly, the cast album works better than the stage production, which is indeed often lumbering. Brooks songs are still fairly derivative but here, undistracted by director Susan Stromans flat staging, you can focus more on Doug Bestermans excellent orchestrations and on the adept cast itself. As Dr. "Fronkensteen," Roger Bart is much less grating than on stage, for instance. As Inga, Sutton Foster exhibits some mad yodeling skills in "Roll in the Hay" and sounds like a classic Broadway babe on "Listen to Your Heart." Megan Mullally (Elizabeth) sells "Please Dont Touch Me," "Deep Love," and "Alone" (a bonus track cut from the show), while Andrea Martin (Frau Blucher) kills with the Brecht-Weill pastiche "He Vas My Boyfriend." And yes, Irving Berlins "Puttin' on the Ritz" is included, complete with monster grunts and a long tap passage in this extended version. The show may not be worth the hype, but the recording is a pleasant surprise. --Elisabeth Vincentelli