It's alive! Center Theatre Players bring laughs with 'Young Frankenstein'

ROCHESTER − Center Theatre Players are "Puttin' on the Ritz," and giving spectators a "roll in ze hay," with a production of the musical "Young Frankenstein."

A Center Theatre Players cast of 22 will bring to life the Frankenstein story hilariously depicted in the classic Mel Brooks comedy. Showtime is 7:30 p.m. July 20-23 at the Rochester Borough Building Theater Complex.

"If you are a fan of the movie 'Young Frankenstein,' you will love the musical," director Sandy Reigel said. "All of the classic lines, loveable characters and funny situations are all there. The only difference is music has been added. There are some great new songs, but, of course, you will still get to hear the most memorable song from the movie, 'Puttin’ On The Ritz.' If you’ve seen the movie, this is the scene where the monster becomes a musical theater star."

Josh Brown of Center plays the lead role of American doctor and educator Frederic Frankenstein, or "FronkenSTEEN" as he pronounces it, to avoid association him with his grandfather, mad scientist Victor FrankenSTEIN.

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Ending up in Transylvania to collect his inheritance, Frederic is aided by hunchbacked Igor (Ryan Wagner of Wexford) who promptly changes his surname's pronunciation to "EYE-gor" instead of "E-gore." While there, the doc also finds a personal assistant Inga (Elizabeth Damp of Center), whose thick accent delivers one of the film's most iconic lines suggesting a "roll in ze hay."

Also earning laughs are Elizabeth Denning (Bronte Lucci of Center), Frau Blucher (Cynthia Harding of Cranberry Township), the Frankenstein Monster (Max Levine of Beaver Falls), Inspector Kemp (Tom Bickert of Ellwood City), Hermit (John Burja of Rochester) and Ziggy (Jack Miller of Ellwood City.)

The ensemble: Keenan Anderson, Aliquippa; Bailey Pretak, Beaver; Sara Deppenbrook and Meach Taylor, Beaver Falls; Abby Bernard, Adrianna Gradisek, Joseph Karadus, Andrew McCullogh, Cooper Mitchell, all of Center; Ashley Crook and Ben Stanton, Cranberry Township; Gabrielle Wilson, Monaca; and Aaron Shanor, Rochester.

"The cast of 22 is definitely one of our larger ones," Reigel said. "We also have a 10-piece orchestra to accompany them. The show is quite massive not only with big dance numbers but it also contains a large amount of props, costumes, sets, and as I like to say ‘a lot of moving pieces.’"

Keeping things running smoothly are choreographer Adrianna Gradisek of Center; orchestra conductor Christine Lucas of Cranberry; stage managers Julie Schmidt and Stephanie Montini of Center and tech director Alex Andres of Beaver.

"The cast has had a great time bringing the memorable Mel Brooks characters to life," Reigel said. "Many of the younger cast members had never even seen the film, so I suggested they watch it to get a better understanding of the comedic timing of those iconic characters. Although the film actors make it look easy, I think we all have a better appreciation for their genius and how truly difficult it is to duplicate that style of comedy."

Admission is $15, with tickets at 724-888-7054; showclix.com/event/ctp-young-frankenstein or centertheatreplayers.comIf you go, get ready to laugh out loud.

"In keeping with the theme of CTP’s entire year of shows, beginning with last summer’s 'Leader of the Pack,' I havewanted to provide audiences with as much music, joy and laughter as possible," Reigel said. "The humor in this show goes from silly to slapstick comedy. I am hoping that for a few hours the audience will forget about everything else and come out exhausted from laughing too hard."

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Scott Tady is entertainment editor at The Times and easy to reach at stady@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Center Theatre Players bring laughs with 'Young Frankenstein'