Fine Arts Dazzle with Young Frankenstein

By Juan Villanueva | Photo by Jennifer Solis |

Last week, from Jan. 22 to 24, students along with family and staff were able to enjoy “Young Frankenstein” here at campus.

The three-day event took place in the auditorium each night at 7 p.m. and involved both student actors and musicians.

“It’s a hard show, both musically and vocally, but it went really well and smooth,” Director Chad Thompson said.

The musical itself was first performed in November of 2007 in Broadway. By the time the musical closed in Jan. 2009, the musical had given 30 previews and 484 performances.

Young Frankenstein itself is based on the 1974 film by the same name, written by both Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder and Directed by Brooks. The book was also written by Mel Brooks along with Thomas Meehan.

“I very much enjoyed playing Young Frankenstein, it was really exciting and a challenge,” Weston Smith said. “We stayed after school everyday and I think the hours we put into it were worth it.”

The musical takes place in the early 1930’s in Transylvania Heights.

Characters for the musical included Frederick Frankenstein, The Monster, Igor, Inga, Elizabeth Benning, Frau Blücher, Inspector Hans Kemp and Dr. Victor Frankenstein.

Act I begins with the death of mad scientist, Dr. Victor Frankenstein. Soon after his death, Inspector Kemp spreads rumors about Victor’s grandson, Frederick.

Frederick Frankenstein who lives in New York, feels ashamed to be a “Frankenstein”. In New York he teaches students about the brain, but he is soon forced to go to Transylvania to resolve a property issue as he finds out that he has inherited his grandfather’s Castle.

During his time in Transylvania, Frederick meets Igor, the son of Victor’s henchmen who tries to convince to follow his grandfather’s footsteps. Igor then takes Frederik to his grandfather’s castle and they soon arrive.

After arriving at the castle, Frederick then falls asleep reading a book. During his sleep, he dreams about his grandfather and ancestors convincing him to build a monster.

Frederick is then awaken by Inga. They both then find his grandfather’s lab. After building the monster, the monsters then breaks free which is followed by a town search to find it.

Act I is followed by an Act II in which after bringing the corpse back to life, Frederick’s experiment does succeed, but later brings consequences.

“It was really exciting because I didn’t expect to get the lead role of Inga when I first auditioned; it was also very fun to work with them, especially Weston,” Michelle Richardson said.