‘Have You Heard About the Mania? If Not Then Let Me Explain T’ya. Yes Sir, it’s the Transylvania Mania.’ Young Frankenstein, Garrick Theatre, Londond 04.10.2017

So Graham had gone fishing for the rest of his annual leave, I still had a day off with nothing planned. It didn’t take me long to think of something to do, something I usually decide to do when I’m on my own while the boys away, return to my favourite city to do my favourite thing!

I had woken up early – annoyingly, but it gave me plenty of time to apply for tickets. The plan was to try and catch a matinee in hope of winning one of ticket app TodayTix lotteries. For those who don’t know TodayTix is a fantastic ticketing app for all things West End, along with you being able to purchase tickets at a reasonable price for the week they have a selection of Lotteries. This means you can apply for 1 or 2 tickets for either the matinee or evening performance that day of a show at a discounted price usually ranging from £15 – £25 pounds. When I saw that this musical had joined the many lotteries I promptly applied for the Matinee, and the evening performance, I was so delighted to see at a 11am the notification to say I had won tickets to see the matinee of new Musical to West End Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein for £20! Meaning I had plenty of time to find a partner, get ready, and head to my favourite place!

Our seats were based in the stalls Row R seats 7 and 8, I had been to the Garrick before to see Rock of Ages so I was aware of the floor plan, for this show Row R was fine, with a little overhang from the dress circle, most of the performing is central than up above – with only small moments of the table rising above the overhang but it didn’t ruin the story. Faces were visible and the full stage could be seen. I would recommend these seats, I knew TodayTix wouldn’t give me a restrictive view!

Young Frankenstein one of Mel Brooks’ classic comedies has hit the West End starting previews on the 28th September 2017, 10 years after it opened its run on Broadway. Based on the 1974 film which starred Gene Wilder, it is a parody of the horror film genre, especially focusing on the Mary Shelly’s classic Frankenstein and Son of Frankenstein.  The musical tells the tale of Fredrick Frankenstein grandson of the famous Victor Frankenstein, who has inherited his grandfathers home in Transylvania.  Leaving his home, fiancé he travels to his newly owned estate and meets Igor, Frau Blucher and newly hired Ingar, although not proud of his family name it isn’t long till Fredrick follows in his grandfather’s footsteps and achieves more than he could ever thought he could!

I had not see the film prior to seeing this production, however following seeing this I have now! That’s not to say I haven’t  seen any of Mel Brook’s classic with top comedy musical The Producer’s and another Gene Wilder starring film Blazing Saddles in my DVD collection. Young Frankenstein had the brilliant comic timing, with the excellent direction of Mel Brooks and Susan Stroman it was a guarantee. It had the audience laughing throughout, especially myself. All the songs that were created for this production were very enjoyable brining that extra comic moments and ones that leave you humming to when you leave the theatre. Particular favourites were ‘Transylvania Mania’ ‘Roll in the Hay’ and the classic ‘Puttin’ on the Ritz’ which has transferred from the original film, and I can understand why! I can only hope a London Cast soundtrack will be on the cards in the future.

Something I found impressive about this production was the staging, you could say the Garrick Theatre is quite a small theatre compared to that of the London Palladium but what they achieved on the stage was really good, at times you would wonder how did they do that. With only a few delays at times – but then they are still in previews. I am unsure as to why, but there was a small delay in starting of Act 2 following the interval now this may have been due to the staging/technical fault, or I had discovered in the interval that Mel Brooks was in the audience during Act 1 – and ran out just as the Monster escaped, so maybe extra direction was given! Being in previews this can happen, but you wouldn’t have thought it as the second Act went brilliantly, and just as good as the first!

We were lucky to have caught the full cast tonight, with an understudy in place for the Innkeeper. I was so excited to see them:

Fredrick Frankenstein – Hadley Fraser

Frau Blucher – Lesley Joseph

Igor – Ross Noble

Elizabeth Benning- Dianne Pilkington

Ingar – Summer Strallen

Inspector Kemp/Hermit – Patrick Clancy

The Monster – Shuler Hensley

There are quite a few well known names within this production from both stage and screen! Lesley Joseph most known for her role as Dorien Green, in BBC TV show Birds of a Feather takes on the role of Frau Blucher the housekeeper, she was brilliant to watch with her number ‘He Vas my Boyfriend’ being a personal favourite of the audience in Act 1. Comedian Ross Noble also taken on the role of Igor, Dr Frankenstein’s assistant at first I would be honest in saying that I was intrigued to know how he would perform, I then discovered that he had performed the role of Franz Leibkind in Mel Brooks’ The Producers and after seeing this performance it was clear why Mel asked him to play this role! He had the comic timing, the persona, and the audience love all in one for the role.  He could act, sing, and dance given life to the classic comic role that many loved in the film.

Hadley Fraser took on the lead of Fredrick Frankenstein, with stepping into the shoes of Gene Wilder he did have a challenge ahead of him. Hadley made it look easy, you could see that he was influenced by Gene throughout the musical. He was a delight to watch, making the role his own throughout with great moments loved by the audience. His relationship with Ingar, played by Summer Strallen was a perfect couple as we watched it grow on stage. Summer Strallen is well known on the west end along with her 2 other sisters, it was great to finally see another after watching Zizi in Rock of Ages. Her Ingar was sexy, ditzy, and loveable, with great yodelling, singing, acting and dancing. The quartet all worked so well together as a team, to which you could see that they were enjoying themselves throughout.

Shuler Hensley took to playing the Monster with ease, his persona displayed greatly as the misunderstood beast. It was also great to see Dianne Pilkington again, having previously seen her as Glinda in Wicked today she was Elizabeth Benning the proud high class fiancé her two numbers were brilliant.

The rest of the cast supported well, bringing their characters to life. They were all great to watch and represented the productions greatly.

I was so happy to have won the Lottery to catch this production in its previews, I am sure that when it opens next week the reviews will be great and it will do brilliantly in the West End, it is also a great one to go and see around this time with Halloween fast approaching. It offers a great time, laughs, and entertainment for all. Those who love Mel Brooks will love this show, I know I certainly have fallen in love with it and I will be more than happy to return for future viewings as I know a fair few of my family would love to see it too!

Young Frankenstein plays at the Garrick Theatre, currently booking up until the 10th February 2018 for ticket information go here. I do also highly recommend trying for the TodayTix Lottery, I know I will again!