Last night, Pit & Balcony, our local theatre, opened it's 82nd season. They did so in a spectacular fashion with The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein, and I was lucky enough to have been graced with a pair of tickets to the opening performance last night.
Now, aside from the school plays I was in or had gone to see my little brother in, my experience in going to the theatre was nill. That, in and of itself, was enough to make me excited about going. Just the idea of having this kind of a night out with my wife was wonderful. The fact that it was to see a musical version of Young Frankenstein, one of the best comedies ever put to film, was just the icing on the cake.
That is also why I don't feel so bad about shoehorning a review of it into HMM this year. The movie is great to watch this time of year, and I had seen it quite often in my youth. Therefore, this whole thing ties in with this year's theme.
As a first-timer, there is definitely something special about going to a show on opening night. There was a wonderful buzz in the air. You could feel the excitement and anticipation all around. The only thing I was worried about was how my wife would take to it. I have never made her sit down and watch the movie with me, so she has only seen bits and pieces of it.
The entire show was a delight. From the outstanding set pieces to the sidesplitting musical numbers (there was an entire verse of a song that was composed solely of the word "tits"), the entire show was a delight. The roles were all wonderfully cast, even if it is a little strange seeing someone other than Gene Wilder playing Frederick Frankenstein, but as soon as he sang his love song to the brain, I had bought it.
There were only two things that pulled me out of the action on stage, and neither of them had to do with the actors. One of them was the little old lady sitting next to my wife. She fell asleep close to the end of the show and started snoring. It was a distraction, but my wife and I both thought it was funny. The other came a little earlier in the evening, and it was a bit more boisterous. There was group of three sitting to our right, and two rows ahead of us. They decided it didn't matter what was announced at the beginning of the show, and they were going to use their cell phones during the performance. The two older women behind them didn't appreciate it too much, and they let that be known. The lady (and I use that term loosely) of the group decided she didn't like these women telling her what she could and couldn't do. She started acting indignant, and told them she was going to beat the crap out of them. At intermission, some of the employees came and talked to the three individuals about not using their phones during the performance, and after they walked away, the three people started complaining about it. "If they knew who you were, they never would have said anything to you. They just don't know who you are." Well, neither do I. Nor do I care. Now shut up, and enjoy the show from the $60 seats you paid for.
As I said, the show itself was wonderful. If you happen to live here in Michigan and in the Great Lakes Bay Region, you owe it to yourself to see this show. And if you don't live around here, you really should look to see if any of your local theatres are putting it on. Of course, they don't have Kevin Profitt playing the monster.
Overall, I give this performance a great big Super Duper!