Mel Brooks on Blazing Saddles the musical

When I heard that Mel Brooks had written a couple of songs for a musical version of Blazing Saddles my initial reaction was "Mel, this is meshugas. You're 83, do you really need the tsuris?"

Then I thought no, that's wrong. He's 83 and if he wants to write a Blazing Saddles musical, who am I to tell him to stop? He's already got the theme song from the movie.

This time though, I'm not getting my hopes up. While I'm a big fan of Brooks as a filmmaker, I'm lukewarm on Brooks as the creator of Broadway musicals.

Granted, I've never seen The Producers on stage, although I have watched the movie of the musical. But I did see Young Frankenstein on Broadway and I was disappointed. The tongue-in-cheek homage to horror films didn't translate well.

Unlike The Producers, which won 12 Tony Awards and ran for six years, the Tony-less Young Frankenstein got lukewarm reviews and closed in a little over a year.

But that hasn't deterred Brooks.

In an interview with the Canadian Press, he reveals that he's working on the Blazing Saddles musical, although he warns that the project might not pan out.

"I don't know - if I did it, I wouldn't rush to New York with it because the Times would say: 'Oh, oh dear, another movie converted and transmogrified into a musical.' ''

Personally, I'm not convinced a Blazing Saddles musical would work. I don't know whether some of the most well-known scenes in this sendup of Westerns would translate well to the stage. And then there's the film's use of a racial epithet.

The best part of the interview, though, was the comparison Brooks made between film and theatre:

"Film takes an eternity - it takes an eternity! - and there are, like, infinite collaborations, which waters down anything.

"But the stage is: you throw your naked heart on the stage and they respond to it or not, and it's immediate. You send a bad joke out there and you get this big laugh or you grow wings and fly. It's just amazing."

Megan Mullally at the stage door

I'm sure Megan Mullally is a very nice person and she's quite the trouper, appearing in The Receptionist in Los Angeles with a cast on her wrist after being in a car accident.

In this Los Angeles Times story, Mullally talks about the pressure she felt being on Broadway in Young Frankenstein:

“Since I was the most recognizable name in the show, I always felt like, oh, God. I can never get sick or miss a show, because there were Will & Grace fans flying in from all over the world to see that. And I always thought, what if I miss a show and a guy came from India or a lot of people came from Finland, South American countries, everywhere.

She certainly was in the musical the night I saw it, no beef there. But I do have to take issue with this next statement from Mullally:

"I’d go out and sign autographs every night and go, if I hadn’t been there tonight and you’d come all the way from Russia, that would have been a real bummer.”

Well, I didn't come that far but I did wait outside the Hilton Theatre stage door for quite awhile on a chilly fall night, Playbill and Sharpie in hand, and she never materialized.

It wasn't a huge disappointment. I was there because I love the movie Young Frankenstein, not because I was a big Will & Grace fan.

I got a picture and chatted briefly with the wonderful Christopher Fitzgerald. I had a chance to tell Andrea Martin how funny she was in My Big Fat Greek Wedding. I also met Sutton Foster and Fred Applegate.

What bothers me is that there are performers who do go above and beyond to sign autographs. Some of them, like Alice Ripley, spend an incredible amount of time talking to people.

So please, don't say you were at the stage door every night greeting your adoring fans out of your great sense of obligation when you weren't.

I'll give Mullally the benefit of the doubt. Maybe she was feeling under the weather. Maybe she had out-of-town guests or she had to be someplace early the next morning. Perhaps that was the only night she missed and it just slipped her mind.

Young Frankenstein tour is cast

A few developments since I wrote about the Providence Performing Arts Center's 2009-2010 season:

Roger Bart and Shuler Hensley will be reprising their Broadway roles for the national tour of the musical Young Frankenstein, which kicks off in Providence Sept. 29 and runs through Oct. 4.

I was kind of surprised by this announcement, since Broadway tours are normally recast. And normally, I'd be excited that a show is coming to Providence with part of its original cast. Sadly, not this time.

Bart, probably best known as the murderous pharmacist on Desperate Housewives, plays Dr. Frederick Frankenstein, who travels to Transylvania after inheriting the family castle. Hensley is the monster he brings to life.

Unfortunately, I wasn't a big fan of Young Frankenstein on Broadway or Bart's performance. I loved the 1974 Mel Brooks movie and the way it so cleverly spoofed the horror genre. But the musical was a disappointment. While it is a pretty faithful scene-by-scene, joke-by-joke retelling, I didn't find it nearly as clever or funny. Here's my review.

I'm more excited about a new addition to the schedule. Rent is returning to PPAC from Nov. 17-22. What's that you say, another Rent tour? Wasn't it just in Providence like a year ago? Yes, in January 2008, and here's my review.

But this time it features Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal, who starred as Mark and Roger in the Broadway production. My friend and fellow blogger Chris Caggiano from Everything I Know I Learned From Musicals saw the show in Boston and you can read his review.

Finally, as previously announced, the musical Jersey Boys makes its Providence debut next spring, running from May 12 - June 6. The tour is currently in Boston and while I don't know whether it'll have the same cast in Providence, here's Chris' review.

PPAC's 2009-2010 season

All right, the Providence Performing Arts Center has finally released the schedule for its 2009-2010 season.

Here's the lineup:

Young Frankenstein: Sept. 29 - Oct. 4; Avenue Q: Oct. 20 - 25; Wicked: Dec. 16 - Jan. 10; Xanadu: Feb. 16 - 21; Beauty and the Beast: Feb. 23 - 28; 101 Dalmations: March 16 - 21; A Bronx Tale: April 16 - 18; Jersey Boys: May 12 - June 6.

I'm excited about Xanadu, since I never got a chance to see it on Broadway and it's supposed to be tons of campy fun - on roller skates! I love the movie of 101 Dalmations. And Chazz Palminteri got great reviews for A Bronx Tale when he did the one-man show in New York.

On the other hand, while it's great that Young Frankenstein is starting its national tour in Providence, I was disappointed when I saw it on Broadway and it did get very lukewarm reviews. This was one of those shows where everyone around me was laughing hysterically and I was only mildly amused.

Plus, we seem to be getting a lot of musicals that have been around for awhile: Avenue Q and Jersey Boys, Disney's Beauty and the Beast. I'm a huge fan of Wicked and I'll definitely see it again, but it was just here two years ago.

Next year's lineup also seems a lot less diverse than this year's, which includes Fiddler on the Roof, A Chorus Line, Spring Awakening and The Color Purple.

Compare PPAC's season with Hartford's Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, which is getting the national tours of three current, highly regarded Broadway shows: South Pacific, In the Heights and August: Osage County. I loved them all and they would have been in my lineup, along with Mary Poppins, Dreamgirls and Little House on the Prairie.

Granted, I'm looking at this as a theatre maven, not as your average theatre fan who doesn't get to New York - or even Boston. Jersey Boys and Avenue Q have the cachet of winning the Tony for Best Musical; Wicked, Young Frankenstein, 101 Dalmations and Beauty and the Beast have name recognition.

And who knows, maybe they weren't offered any of those other shows.

The new king of burlesque

I'm so thrilled for the very talented Christopher Fitzgerald. His portrayal of Igor in Young Frankenstein was one of my favorite parts of the musical. (I wish I could have seen him as the original Boq in Wicked.)

And now, Fitzgerald officially has the title role in the new musical Minsky's. Produced by the Center Theatre Group, it runs from Jan. 21 to March 1 at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles.

The show, written by Bob Martin, (The Drowsy Chaperone) with music and lyrics by Charles Strouse (Annie) and Susan Birkenhead, (Jelly's Last Jam) is billed as "a big, racy, romantic musical comedy set in Depression Era New York City." Fitzgerald plays Billy Minsky, the king of burlesque, "who reigns over the rollicking backstage world of Minsky's, where profit margins are as skimpy as the costumes."

The cast also includes Kevin Cahoon from The Wedding Singer, George Wendt from Cheers and Hairspray, Tony winner Beth Leavel from The Drowsy Chaperone and Rachel Dratch from Saturday Night Live. I didn't see The Wedding Singer on Broadway, but Cahoon is hilarious on the cast recording. And who doesn't love Norm from Cheers?

The Center Theatre Group also served as the producer and pre-Broadway tryout location for Curtains, so I'm hoping that Minsky's will make it to New York if everything goes well on the West Coast. I'm looking forward to seeing Fitzgerald in a starring role on Broadway.

It's alive - until January

It's another depressing day for Broadway. You can add Young Frankenstein to the rapidly expanding list of shows that have posted closing notices. Whatever you think of Young Frankenstein (and I was among those who felt let down), this is the latest in a sad trend.

According to an Associated Press story, producer Robert F.X. Sillerman announced today that the musical, which opened on Nov. 8, 2007, will shutter on Jan. 4, after nearly 500 performances.

In this Playbill article, Sillerman says - no surprise - it's the economy, and that a national tour will begin next September. Of course, Young Frankenstein, alone among Broadway shows, declined to report how much money it was taking in every week and how many seats were being filled. (Which it had every right to do, I might add - it's a tradition, not a requirement, to report weekly grosses.)

After the success of The Producers, which ran for six years on Broadway, Young Frankenstein was one of last season's most highly anticipated shows. And as a big fan of the 1974 Mel Brooks movie, it was at the top of my list. It was also one of the most talked about even before it opened for, among other things, its $450 premium seats. But when I saw it, for a lot less than that, I was a bit disappointed.

For me, Young Frankenstein worked as a movie because it was a satire. Transylvania was a foreboding place. The musical tries to recreate some of that, with the design of Frankenstein's castle and laboratory. But overall, the tone struck me as a little too sunny and bright for a send-up of a horror movie.

Sure, it's a faithful adaptation - all of the funniest lines and scenes are there. Still, something felt off. I wasn't laughing as much as everyone else in the audience. (And I have to admit that everyone else seemed to be eating it up.) The production seemed to get lost in the cavernous Hilton Theatre. And I didn't find Roger Bart very engaging as Dr. Frederick Frankenstein.

But there were some things I enjoyed - Christopher Fitzgerald as Igor (who earned a Tony nomination and played his last performance in the show today) and Andrea Martin as Frau Blucher especially. I liked the "Roll in the Hay" number on the ride to Frankenstein's castle, with Bart, Fitzgerald and Sutton Foster as Inga; and "Puttin on the Ritz," with Shuler Hensley as the monster. And I'll probably give it another chance on tour.

Fitzgerald is an actor I'm looking forward to seeing again. According to an item on the Web site of actor and musician Kevin Cahoon, he'll join Cahoon in the musical Minsky's, set in Prohibition-era New York, which will premiere at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles beginning Jan. 21.

But I have to wonder whether we'll see Mel Brooks again on Broadway.

News from the road

Do touring productions need Broadway? That's the interesting question raised by a Variety article. In between trips to New York City, I've started to see more and more road shows, so I'm always looking for news and trends.

I guess the conventional wisdom is that theatergoers like the cachet of seeing a show that's been on Broadway. If you're trying to build up a base of subscribers for your performing arts center, Broadway is a brand name that consumers recognize. And judging from the size of the audiences at shows I've attended, there's a lot of interest on the part of theatre fans who can't make it to New York City.

In Variety, Chris Jones writes that some shows do a healthy business without ever making a stop on the Great White Way.

(Reading stories in Variety can be particularly challenging sometimes because of the weird terminology it uses. I mean, I get that "prexy" is "president" but who's the "presenter?" I think it's the theatre that presents the touring production.)

Anyway, from what I could figure out, while the big Broadway blockbusters have the name recognition, the road-only shows make a lot of money for the venue operators. As an example Jones cites a show that I've never heard of, Tuna Does Vegas, which is in the midst of a 21-city tour and is apparently very popular. Tickets for Tuna Does Vegas, currently making its way across Texas, range from $20 to $45.

These road-only productions, Jones says, "like the Beatles-themed show Rain or Troika Entertainment's intensely successful Jesus Christ Superstar tour starring Ted Neeley, are also emerging as crucial potential profit centers for presenters squeezed by the terms demanded by the blockbuster titles."

Another example Jones mentions is a new, non-Equity tour of The Wizard of Oz, based on a British production, that fills a niche for family oriented entertainment. "You need some motivating factor for people to know they are getting their money's worth," says producer Ken Gentry. "But when it comes to a title like The Wizard of Oz, you have to remember there is always a new generation of people who have never seen it before."

A second Variety story that caught my eye was about the impending national tour of Young Frankenstein, which kicks off in the fall of 2009. Instead of staying in one city for an extended period of time, producer Robert F.X. Sillerman says the musical will play mostly two- to four-week stints.

The article makes the point that that shorter stays are a way to encourage people to subscribe for an entire season, lest they run the risk of getting shut out of a show that they really want to see. I guess you should always leave them wanting more.

"Even a potential behemoth like Disney's Mary Poppins, which kicks off its national tour in March 2009, does not plan a sit-down production for the road. And more significant, its longest engagement clocks in at 13 weeks, in Chicago, the tour's first city, followed by much shorter stays in St. Louis, Cleveland and Los Angeles."

Disney Theatrical's marketing director, David Schrader, says, "We're being a little conservative and not stretching it out to the max. The way we book is we learn the appetite before we lock into the second season."

Here's something else I learned from Variety: "Traditionally, 15% of all road grosses come from just three shows. Thanks to Wicked, The Lion King and Jersey Boys, that percentage more than doubled in 2007-08 and could approach, according to some producers and bookers, nearly 50% in the current season. Translation: more shows vying for less of the pie."

Finally one of this fall's shows - Spring Awakening - turned out to be a tough sell, both because of its subject matter and the fact that it's not based on a popular movie. Variety raises the question: "If the road found The Producers too edgy, how will Middle America respond to a story of teen pregnancy, abortion and homosexuality?" (The Producers is edgy?)

Simma Levine, president of On the Road Booking, tells Variety that she has tired of presenters telling her, "I don't know how my subscribers will like it. We've got a lot of blue-haired ladies. Right now, most tour theaters are booking Spring Awakening for one week only. But it's a start. As one top-of-the-line presenter put it, 'My subscriber base is old, but this will bring in a younger audience.' ''

Well, I'm much older than the target demographic, but I loved Spring Awakening and I was in tears at the end. The 2007 Tony winner for Best Musical is one of the shows I'm most looking forward to seeing on tour. If you're wondering whether or not it's appropriate for you - or your teenager - there's a special section, Spring Awakening for Parents, on the show's Web site.

It's nominated!

Ok, now this I don't understand. The Outer Critics Circle, which recognizes Broadway and off-Broadway shows, released its award nominees this morning and Young Frankenstein leads the pack. It earned 10 nominations - 10 - the most of any show this season. Young Frankenstein? What were they thinking?

The other musicals that got nods were Cry-Baby, A Catered Affair and Xanadu. I'm assuming In the Heights wasn't eligible because it won last year's award for outstanding off-Broadway musical. Of the other three, I've only seen Cry-Baby, and like Young Frankenstein, I was underwhelmed.

Sure, there were some things I liked about Young Frankenstein. I loved Christopher Fitzgerald as Igor, and I'm glad he snagged a nomination. And Andrea Martin was great as Frau Blucher. (Neigh!) And there were a couple of good numbers, including "Roll in the Hay." It was fun to see "Puttin on the Ritz." But overall, Roger Bart was a disappointment in the title role, and I didn't think it was very funny or imaginative. It just struck me as a tired retelling of the movie and not nearly as good.

If you want to see a really inspired and hilarious translation of a movie into theatre, try The 39 Steps. I'm glad that at least it snagged a nomination for best new play, although of course it doesn't have a chance against August: Osage County. The other nominees for best new play are The Seafarer and Rock 'n' Roll. I didn't see The Seafarer, but Rock 'n' Roll was mostly a big disappointing, disjointed bore.

Like all awards, the nominations are a mixed bag for me - some hits and some misses.

I'm glad that two of my favorite shows, South Pacific and Gypsy, received numerous nominations. I just wish the critics had shown more love for Passing Strange, which seems to have been nominated only for best score. I can't believe they bypassed Daniel Breaker's amazing, incredibly appealing performance and Kevin Adams' lighting design that really illuminates the musical's two very different acts. And while I'm happy for Deanna Dunagan's nod, I think Amy Morton and Rondi Reed deserved nominations for their work in August: Osage County, as did Todd Rosenthal for his awesome three-story set. I also liked Tom Pye's scenic design - featuring an immense brick wall - and Gregory Gale's costumes for Cyrano, and I wish they'd received nominations.

I don't know much about the Outer Critics Circle, but according to Playbill, they're a group of writers "covering New York theatre for out-of town newspapers, national publications and other media beyond Broadway." And they've got a pair of pretty scary looking comedy and tragedy masks on their Web site. The winners of the Outer Critics Circle awards will be announced May 12.

Truth in advertising

I was a little surprised when I went to buy the original Broadway cast CD of "Young Frankenstein" today. There's a sticker on the cover that has a quote from The New York Times: "Truly exhilarating."

Funny, I didn't remember Ben Brantley being quite so enthusiastic about the new Mel Brooks musical currently playing at Broadway's Hilton Theatre. In fact, I think he came pretty close to panning it.

When I got home, I looked up the review, and here's what Brantley actually wrote: "There is one truly exhilarating number, though you have to sit through most of the show before it arrives." (The number Brantley is referring to is "Puttin' on the Ritz.")

The second quote on the sticker, "A Monster hit," isn't attributed at all. It doesn't seem to appear anywhere in Brantley's review. But if you didn't know any better, you could easily assume that it did come from the Times.

So, is this what it's come to Mel? Are you so desperate to make a buck that you've resorted to a very selective use of reviews to sell CDs? The $450 tickets for orchestra seats on Friday and Saturday nights aren't enough?

There's a lot I really loved about "Young Frankenstein," including Christopher Fitzgerald's madcap take on Igor, the "Roll in the Hay" number with Fitzgerald, Roger Bart and Sutton Foster on the way to Frankenstein's castle. And I'm hoping the CD will bring back some of my favorite moments from the show. But I have to admit my enthusiasm is waning.

Mel, I've laughed at your movies for years. Now, I just have a sour taste in my mouth. I'm guessing that you haven't seen the sticker. In any case, I'm not angry. I'm just very, very disappointed.

Young Frankenstein

Gratuitous Violins rating: **1/2 out of ****

I've always been a Mel Brooks fan and "Young Frankenstein" has always been my favorite Mel Brooks movie. So to say that I've been eagerly anticipating its debut as a Broadway musical would be an understatement.

Judging from the reaction earlier this week at the Hilton Theatre, I wasn't alone. Even before any actors appear on stage, before the orchestra plays a single note, there's a big round of applause. Clearly, I'm among fans. The audience is pumped to hear their favorite dialogue, see their favorite scenes from the movie.

Well, after all the controversy over $450 premium tickets, over the refusal to release box office tallies, does Mel Brooks deliver? Yes and no. Judging by the amount of laughter and applause I heard, people probably went home happy. This is a very faithful adaptation of the movie in content, if not always in spirit. And I shared much, but not all, of their enthusiasm.

Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed "Young Frankenstein" and I'm glad I saw it. There were many things about it that I loved, and I did laugh, just not as much as I expected. While all the memorable lines and scenes from the movie are in the musical, to my ears they sometimes fell flat. (Even though, I have to admit, they elicited plenty of applause from everyone else in the audience). This is the first musical I've been to where just the appearance of a set on stage got applause, because people knew what was coming next.

Being a fan of the movie is kind of a double-edged sword. I can't help but compare the actors to their counterparts in the movie.

Take Roger Bart's performance as Dr. Frederick Frankenstein. While I think he got better as the show progressed, in the early scenes he just didn't seem to create a very memorable character.

In the movie, when Gene Wilder says "my name is pronounced Frohn-kun-steen," you can sense from the tone of his voice the barely suppressed rage. It's a great moment, and I was really looking forward to Roger Bart's take on it. But when he says the same line, I simply didn't feel any of the same emotion. I thought to myself, "Is that it?"

I felt the same way in the scene where Frederick and his fiancee, Elizabeth, played by Megan Mullalley, are saying goodbye to each other. In the scene from the movie, between Wilder and Madeline Kahn, there's a subtle shift in Kahn's tone of voice between her rather breathless expressions of love and her admonition that Frederick not touch her too closely, lest he mess up her hair or fingernails. With Mullalley, the scene just didn't seem nearly as funny.

Part of the problem is that the Hilton Theatre is a cavernous venue by Broadway standards, and I think the show gets a little lost. I sat three-quarters of the way back, in the left orchestra. When I saw "Curtains" in April at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre, I sat in the third row, in the center orchestra, and I enjoyed it more than "Young Frankenstein." A large part of it was simply that I could see the actors's faces much better. I think that you simply see a different show up close.

The parts that worked best for me in "Young Frankenstein" were the ones where the actors seemed to just get a little zany, a little over the top, more madcap, where they used more physical humor that worked no matter where you were sitting in the audience. I laughed during the scene in the cottage where the blind hermit scalds the monster with hot soup. It's such a memorable scene from the movie that I think the audience would have been disappointed if it had been left out.

I loved the way Sutton Foster as laboratory assistant Inga rolls around in the haywagon and yodels en route to Frankenstein's castle. Andrea Martin is wonderfully creepy as Frau Blucher, who inspires terror in horses everywhere, and Shuler Hensley makes a very appealing monster.

For me, a highlight was Christopher Fitzgerald's hysterical turn as Igor. (Or Eye-gore). Of all the actors in "Young Frankenstein," he does the best job of taking a character from the film and making it his own. I reveled in Fitzgerald's performance from the moment he pranced across the stage in his black cape and ever-changing hump. I didn't even miss Marty Feldman's bulging eyes. He is absolutely wonderful.

Frankly, while the songs were funny, I didn't find them very memorable. Some of them, like "Transylvania Mania," didn't seem to move the story along. (I guess Mel just needed a big show-stopper to end the first act). But I loved the way director/choreographer Susan Stroman turned "Puttin on the Ritz" into a big song and dance number.

"Young Frankenstein" worked as a movie because it was a satire, a sendup of the horror movie genre. Transylvania in the movie was a dark and foreboding place. The musical tries to recreate some of that, with the look of Frankenstein's castle and laboratory, and I loved those sets and the sound and lighting. But overall, I wish "Young Frankenstein" the musical had been a little less cheerful, a little more tongue in cheek. Somehow, this Transylvania is a little too sunny and bright.

Which doctor will be in the house?

One of the thrills of seeing a live performance is the knowledge that anything can happen. That's also one of the drawbacks. I have my ticket to see the new Mel Brooks musical "Young Frankenstein" on Nov. 5, four days before opening night, and I have no idea who will be in the title role.

Roger Bart, probably best known for playing George the murderous pharmacist on "Desperate Housewives" a couple seasons ago, had been Dr. Frederick Frankenstein (that's pronounced Frohn-kun-steen) from the tryout in Seattle this summer through the early Broadway previews. But he's been out all week with a back injury. Broadway newcomer Matthew LaBanca has been filling in.

The New York Post's Michael Riedel says that Bart has a herniated disc. One scenario "has his doctor pumping him with cortisone so he can play the critics' performances and opening night, then take time off to heal." Riedel says word is going around that the producers may have to look for a temporary replacement.

I guess there's no chance that 74-year-old Gene Wilder will be asked to try on Bart's top hat and tails temporarily. Mel Brooks reportedly turned down Cloris Leachman, who wanted to reprise her role as Frau Blucher, because he felt that at 81, she was too old for the job.

The whole understudy thing is a tough one. I went to see "A Moon for the Misbegotten" twice in three days as an insurance policy, in the unlikely event Kevin Spacey missed a performance. I needn't have have worried. He didn't. Still, if he had I would have been extremely disappointed. And I'm not alone in going to a Broadway show to see a specific performer. I saw a long line of fans waiting to get refunds when Fantasia was out of "The Color Purple."

As a big fan of the movie version of "Young Frankenstein," I'm more interested in seeing it translated to the stage, with more singing and dancing and every scene and joke intact. I'm not saying the cast is beside the point, but I'd be excited about seeing this show no matter who was in it. In this case, I think, the show is the star vehicle.

I've seen enough Broadway shows now to know that a little uncertainty goes with the territory. You hope that everyone you want to see will be on stage, but there are no guarantees. That's the flip side of a live performance. Plus, I've had pretty good luck with understudies so far, and I'm favor of always giving a performer a chance to entertain and amaze me.

Saycon Sengbloh was wonderful in "The Color Purple." I was so moved by her portrayal of Celie, watching her grow from an abused, unloved girl into a confident, successful woman, that I was in tears at the end. This is a show that definitely doesn't need a "star" in the starring role.

I was really looking forward to seeing Stephen Spinella, who plays all of the adult male roles in "Spring Awakening." But Spinella, who won a Tony award for "Angels in America," was out at the matinee I attended. Still, I thought his understudy, Ken Marks, was fine, all of the young actors who play the students were there, and I absolutely loved the show's energy, emotion and rock 'n' roll score.

And while Kevin Spacey never missed a performance of "A Moon for the Misbegotten," Colm Meaney was out the second time I saw the play, creating a theatrical chain reaction that gave recent Juilliard graduate Nick Westrate his Broadway debut. When he becomes a big star someday, I'll be able to say I saw him first.

Mel hearts Broadway

Friday's USA Today featured a fall arts preview. While reports on the season's upcoming movies, television shows and music were available online, theater got the cover of the Life section and a half-page inside. More specifically, the new Mel Brooks musical "Young Frankenstein" got the cover and the half-page inside. (With a small box listing other highlights of the Broadway season).

"Young Frankenstein" is my favorite Mel Brooks movie, and I've been looking forward to the musical version. Steve On Broadway already took in the tuner during its Seattle tryout and gave it an enthusiastic review.

Brooks, with his characteristic understatement, calls the cast, which includes Roger Bart and Megan Mullally, "the best ever assembled for a Broadway show." But he's silent on a controversy that's been raging over ticket prices, which will reach $450 for some center orchestra seats.

Coproducer Robert F.X. Sillerman defends them, saying [The select seats] "make up a fraction of the total ticket allotment, and so far, the demand for them is robust. We also offer $25 front-row seats, and the rest of the house is priced comparably to other Broadway musicals. Our tiered pricing is part of Broadway's ongoing effort to deal directly with customers across the economic spectrum by providing precisely the service and location they need at the price they can afford."

And the article makes no mention of another controversial move - the decision to depart from the customary practice of reporting weekly box-office totals. But Sillerman told The New York Times, “This is a private transaction. Consequently, I don’t know if there’s any — I’m quite sure there’s not any — bona fide business reason to do it other than bragging rights.”

The article, with more quotes from Brooks, as well as Roger Bart and director/choreographer Susan Stroman, is well worth a read.

I've got my ticket to Broadway's Hilton Theatre, where "Young Frankenstein" starts previews on Oct. 11 and opens Nov. 8. Although I can assure you I didn't pay anywhere near $450. Only time will tell whether Mel Brooks will have a hit on his hands to rival "The Producers." I'll weigh in with a review in November.

For his part, Brooks raises the interesting prospect that his next Broadway show might be based on an original idea rather than on one of his movies. And despite his notable success in film and television, he says his heart belongs to Broadway.

"This is much better than making movies, much more fulfilling. Things that happen under a proscenium arch are alive, they're immediate. When you hear that orchestra starting somewhere in the pit, filling the theater with music, you get goose bumps. A movie is great, but never thrilling like that."