Frankenstein the Musical at 37 Arts
Friday, October 26th, 2007 by AnniOk so everyone I’ve told I’ve seen this has thought I meant that I saw Young Frankenstein. Yes, it’s kind of strange that both “Frankenstein the Musical” and Mel Brook’s “Young Frankenstein the Musical” would be both opening around the same time - but with Halloween coming up, it makes sense. Also they are totally different.
Anyway, I’m so mad at Young Frankenstein for being so damn expensive. I think no one should go. Theatre goers, revolt against high ticket prices! Please!
Anyway, the show I saw was a faithful retelling of Mary Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein. A dramatic musical, almost operatic in nature. The main reason I went was to see Hunter Foster, who I love lots. I was curious to see him in such a dramatic role.
I’m very conflicted about this production. I have a lot of great things to say about it and a lot of not so great things. Let’s start with the good.
The good.
1) The music. A lot of the music was really really beautiful. Sweeping melodies, and huge arias for the leads. Marc Baron wrote the music, and I was unfamiliar with his work.
2) Hunter Foster. I’ve seen him numerous times, and never before have I heard him sound so good vocally. He nailed it.
3) The acting in general was great.
4) The costumes were amazing. Modern, militaristic, almost Asian inspired - each one slightly different - a brilliant design by Emily Pepper.
5) The use of the ensemble as chorus and small roles - they had a ton to do in the show and all were great.
6) The depiction of the monster as more human than monster was great. No green skin and bolts here - just a good actor doing some interesting physical work to depict his monster status. Very effective.
The bad.
1) The music. Some of it was so over-the-top and overly dramatic, and some of it was plain boring. Just very inconsistent. The first half hour had no good music in it, and I was convinced the whole show was going to sound like Frank Wildhorn. Then suddenly it changed - and got really interesting. Basically I didn’t like the ballads, but the moments of heightened drama and darkness were musically excellent.
2) Christiane Noll’s character. She is a brilliant singer, and sounded great throughout - unfortunately she is cursed with most of the Wildhorn-esque ballads. No fault of Ms. Noll’s, but a poorly written, uninteresting ingenue.
3) Our seats. Sitting front row center, I had to look up at the show with my neck strained. I imagine it felt that way for at least the first five rows. So I guess that is a design flaw. Anything that happened upstage - couldn’t see it. All the beautiful lighting effects were lost on anyone in the front. Would definitely have preferred to be sitting in the mezzanine. I really couldn’t even see the set that well, if there was one - so I can’t comment on that. I just saw lots and lots of lights.
4) Hunter Foster. I love him. But I love him more when he’s doing comedy. I didn’t feel he quite reached the emotional depths necessary for the character. After all, it is the story of his ultimate destruction. Maybe cuz he’s got such a cute little baby face….hard for him to depict true suffering with those dimples.
5) The explanation of the science behind the resurrections. I thought Dr. Frankenstein cut up pieces of dead bodies and sewed them up back together or something? Here, he just dug up dead people, left them in tact, and some lighting effects later (lightning? Dunno, couldn’t see!) they’re back to life again. Sort of messy plot explanation.
All in all it is worth seeing, has some glorious moments, but is not glorious throughout. I think it could be a classic piece of theatre with some tweaking. It feels unfinished to me.
