Several “open secrets” about Mel Brooks’s upcoming musical Young Frankenstein have now been confirmed. The show will open in the Hilton Theatre in New York City on 8 November 2007.
The cast will include Roger Bart as Frederick Frankenstein, Megan Mullally as his fiancee Elizabeth, Sutton Foster as his assistant Inga, Christopher Fitzgerald as Igor, Shuler Hensley as the Monster, and Fred Applegate as Inspector Kemp.
Brooks and Robert F.X. Sillerman will be the sole producers of the show, which Sillerman says “will be capitalized at $16 million,” according to Variety. “A lot of people in the business would love to invest in the show,” he said, “But in this case, money was never an issue.” Sillerman is the head of content company CKX, whose assets include American Idol and the name and likeness of Elvis Presley.
Young Frankenstein is already the subject of much speculation, because it’s the follow-up to Brooks” wildly successful The Producers, which won 12 Tony Awards in 2001, and broke numerous box office records along the way. This production is based on the 1974 film by the same name. In addition to composer/lyricist/co-book writer Brooks, this production brings back his co-book writer Thomas Meehan, choreographer Susan Stroman, and most of the design team from the earlier production.
Tickets are expected to go on sale on 15 July. The show will be in previews at the Paramount Theater in Seattle, Washington, 7 August-1 September, and then in previews in the Hilton starting 11 October.