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Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Fennelly’s ‘Frankenstein’ bites the dust
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For weeks now, we have been hearing about the dueling “Frankenstein” musicals in New York. There’s that big Broadway version by Mel Brooks and that off-Broadway version by a pair of relative unknowns.
Both have strong Atlanta ties.
How would the earnest homage to Mary Shelley’s Goth classic hold up against the relentlessly silly specatacle known, officially, as “The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein”?
Was there every any doubt who would be the last monster standing in Manhattan?
“Frankenstein: A New Musical,” directed by Bill Fennelly, is closing Sunday after 70 performances, including 25 previews. Fennelly, as you may recall, served an eight-month stint as artistic chief of Atlanta’s Actor’s Express, before departing in June to take on the “Frankenstein” project.
For the record, I never saw “Frankenstein: A New Musical” and therefore have no opinion on it. But the New York critics sliced it up pretty bad.
“The histrionic tone is wearying to the point of silliness,” The New York Times’ Charles Isherwood said of Mark Baron’s music and Jeffrey Jackson’s book and libretto. “This one is not even a horror show. It is, however, horrible,” wrote Newsday’s Linda Winer.
Apparently even the long and laborious 19-day stagehands’ strike, which diverted some Broadway traffic downtown, couldn’t revive the gasping musical, which stars Augusta, Ga., boy Hunter Foster (“Urinetown”) as tortured scientist Victor Frankenstein.
Though Brooks’ “Young Frankenstein” opened Nov. 11 to mixed reviews, it has the kind of stellar name and title appeal that means it is likely to run for a long time to come.
Marietta native Shuler Hensley, who plays Frankenstein’s monster in Brooks’ movie-based comedy, has received the best reviews of director Susan Stroman’s cast, which includes “Will & Grace” star Megan Mullally.
“We regret that Hensley, as the Monster, doesn’t get to use his gorgeous baritone throughout the show, but he makes a splendidly human creature,” Winer wrote. The same could be said of Hensley’s recent performance as Kerchak the ape in Disney’s gorgeously designed bomb “Tarzan.”
Oddly enough, Hensley is credited with some of the pre-recorded music used in Fennelly’s musical at 37 Arts Theatre.
As for the Southern connections, let’s not omit Foster’s sister, Sutton, who plays Dr. Frankenstein’s fetching fraulein assistant, Inga, in “Young Frankenstein” and won a Tony Award for “Thoroughly Modern Millie.”
