PUUHNONNA RIIIIIIIIIIHZ

(Now there may be spoilers inside, just letting you know)

So I'm sitting there way up in the mezzanine of the Hilton Theatre in New York and the production of Mel Brooks' new musical Young Frankenstein is less than one number old and I am already groaning with my face in my hands. Mind you, it's one of those appreciative kinds of facepalms, but a facepalm nonetheless. The opening number -- a funeral celebration, by the way -- features a moment where Inspector Kemp, the Transylvanian figure of authority with two wooden appendages, is re-telling the story of his encounter with Dr. Victor Frankenstein's horrible monstrous creation.

"I went to stop him, but he attacked me!" Kemp tells the assembled villagers, all too happy now that Dr. Vic is now dead and in the ground. "He ripped my left leg off! And then he tore my right arm off and threw it aside! Later, I had to go all the way to Vienna to have replacements made, utilizing the services of one of the most pre-eminent surgeons in all of Europe."

Uh oh. I can hear the train in the distance.

"All the way to Vienna, huh?" one of the villagers marvels. "Was it expensive?"

Oh, no. The train's nearly here; the telegraph machine is on and whirring in full force. My hands are at the ready, and I brace myself for the impending punchline.

"Expensive?! It cost me an arm and a leg!"

Hand, meet palm. The entire theater groans in pain, but it's a good groan of pain. One of the oldest jokes in existence (Fred Allen would've said "The first time I heard that joke, I laughed so hard I bit the nipple off my bottle") telegraphed from a mile away. But wait, there's a turn. The villager holds for the laugh and continues.

"Which cost more, then? The arm or the leg?"

Kemp turns to the audience and deadpans, "We're going to need a new village idiot."

Now that's a Mel Brooksism if ever I heard one, and a decent topper. The show would continue its run on jokes about bodily appendages, mind you, but the appendages involved eventually became such things as, say, third legs.

( The rest of the show flew along similarly. )

I had a great time at Young Frankenstein. It's quite the spectacle, the acting is top-notch, it does sci-fi up right, the staging is incredible and it's just plain fun besides, and I think it will do decent business. But it lacks the heart that The Producers had, as cynical and manipulative as it was, because it lacks characters with heart. Oh, sure, the characters have brains -- whether or not those brains are their own is up in the air -- but nothing behind 'em. Still, as this is an unabashed, unashamed farce which is well-aware of its place in theatre (the cast sings "Maybe next year, Blazing Saddles!" during their curtain call outro) too much heart may not completely be needed, but it sure would've been nice.

Do go see it if you have the chance. Help Mel pay the rent.

well well well.

( let the wild rumpus start )

First official still. New York Magazine has the script (and gives some interesting spoilers in discussing it.) Release date 2008.
Whatcha think?