Young Frankenstein

[logisticslad]

In honor of my brother's 40th birthday, we went to NYC to see the Broadway production of Young Frankenstein. We both enjoyed it. I thought the performances were good, especially Megan Mullally (Elizabeth), Andrea Martin (Frau Blucher), Fred Applegate (Inspector Kemp/Hermit), and Christopher Fitzgerald (Igor). Roger Bart (Dr. Frankenstein) tried to emulate Gene Wilder from the movie, and as such I felt his performance came off a bit restrained. Sutton Foster (Inga)'s understudy was performing for our Sat Matinee, and she was good, but not great. However, the scenery, lighting, and special effects were amazing and definitely worthy of Tony nominations. Unfortunately, the music was not memorable and the story was not too deep. Basically, they did a pretty faithful adaptation of the movie, and the movie wasn't that deep either. It just didn't work as well on stage. One of the best lines came at the end when the cast sang about wanting to perform Blazing Saddles next year (although I suspect that that show would not translate well either). Overall, I give it a B+ as a show, but as I said, we both had fun and were glad to have seen it.

We had taken the train up and had some time to walk around, so we stopped in Midtown Comics and Toys R Us (formerly FAO Schwartz). We ate lunch at a Subway on our way to the show and dinner at a nice upscale (but not pretentious) restaurant called Thalia on 8th at 50th. One of my friends recommended it and so did Rachel Ray (according to the clip on their website).

http://www.restaurantthalia.com/

I had the prix fixe dinner of porcini encrusted tuna sashimi, roasted salmon, and carrot cake with cinnamon ice cream and a pear flavored cocktail. My less adventuresome brother had the shrimp cocktail and a beef fillet with a glass of red wine (shirrah/red zinfandel blend). Everything was delicious!!! The service was great and the atmosphere was just right. I would definitely eat there again.

On our way back to the train station, we bumped into one of my grad students on his way to see a show (when he should have been working on his prelims). I actually applauded his decision to take such a magnificent break. We got back to my brother's house and were glad to see that my sister-in-law had survived her day with the kids. The real present for my brother was for him to have a day away in order to relax and that worked just the way I had wanted.

Comments

[defenestr8or.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the reviews. If you don't leave the theater humming a tune, what's the point?

Running into one of your students - Now THAT's entertainment.

[trektone.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the Young Frankenstein</> review. I've heard a couple of songs from the show, but they didn't do a lot for me. All the pictures I've seen make it look BIG. Maybe I'll get the cast album anyway. It would be nice to see Bart, Mullaly, Martin and Foster on the same stage, though.

[skyethebard.livejournal.com]

What a lovely way to celebrate your brother's birth! A show, shopping and dinner are all nice but it's the gift of your time that matters the most, I'll bet :-)