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Songs by: Mel Brooks
Directed by: Susan Stroman
Vocals by: Roger Bart, Megan Mullally, Sutton Foster, Christoher Fitzgerald, Andrea Martin, Shuler Hensley, Fred Applegate and Ensemble 

After being put at the top of the Broadway world with his smash musical sensation, The Producers, comedian extraordinaire Mel Brooks now had to do what any successful stage producer would do: create another big show. While The Producers, with its story of two scheming kings of Broadway felt made for the stage, the choice to adapt his 1974 classic Young Frankenstein seems like an unusual one. After all, this is a monster flick that would require plenty of special effects for the laboratory scenes alone. Yet, with the recent release of the original Broadway cast recording, it appears he has lived up to expectations. Much like The Producers, Mel Brooks has crafted a splendid score that fits well with the setting, while also writing his usual funny, low-brow New York Jewish humour.

 The soundtrack starts with an overture, a successful combination of Broadway orchestration and already soothing the listener into what Brooks has written for this new production. He re-creates the style of John Morris' original score perfectly, while adding his own feel to the music. The story immediately starts with the most cheerful funeral song ever written as the Transylvanians celebrate the death of the infamous Doctor Frankenstein. The contrast between Brooks' positive lyrics and dark music works well to make this a grand piece. Afterwards, the story starts to turn as Professor Frederick "Fronkensteen" gives a fast-paced lecture to his class. Playing the part is Roger Bart, who takes a complete 180 degree turn from his flamboyant performance as the gay common-law assistant Carmen Ghia in The Producers. He fills Gene Wilder's shoes with the right amount of straight man delivery and the quickly-paced singing is done marvelously by Bart. From his introduction of his first track, he has already disappeared into the part. The only cast member who outshines Bart is Megan Mullally, taking on the role of Frederick's fiancée Elizabeth. Having already stolen the show on the television series Will & Grace, Mullally brings in the laughs with her first number "Please Don't Touch Me." She understands the humour of Mel Brooks' melody and her singing sells the song even more. Even through just listening to her voice, it's obvious that she captures of the elegance of Madeline Kahn perfectly.

After that number, another character is introduced with Frankenstein's assistant Igor, played by Christopher Fitzgerald. Marty Feldman's terrific performance in the original film should be a challenge to play on stage, but Fitzgerald sounds and sings so much like him that you forget it's a different actor. The famous lines "Walk this way" and "What hump?" are read wonderfully and the chemistry already starts to sparkle between him and Bart. The real discovery of the cast, however, is Sutton Foster. Playing the role of Inga, the Scandinavian beauty who later falls for Frankenstein, she sells the number "Roll in Ze Hay" immediately. Not only is it the most addictive song on the soundtrack, it's also one of the most enjoyable to listen to and part of that is because of Foster. The next number, inspired by Fiddler on the Roof, "Join the Family Business" doesn't feature any of the major players, but plays an important role in getting Frankenstein to re-create the Monster and soon enough becomes his main theme in the show. Not only is it toe-tapping, it helps move the story along. This leads to the introduction of Andrea Martin as Frau Blucher. A worthy replacement for Cloris Leachman, her hilarious song "He Vas My Boyfriend" shows how much fun Brooks has fun with the character.

 With the song, "Life, Life", Brooks turns off the comedy switch and gives Roger Bart a serious song to perform as he tries to create his Monster. The strong cords of the notes combined with the scary lyrics shows that even Mel Brooks of all people can write very different material from his usual comedy. The next track on the soundtrack is a barbershop quartet titled "Welcome to Transylvania." It has its moments of hilarity, but is not one of the top songs on the disc. However, the next musical number proves to be a massive leap in quality. "Transylvania Mania" is the type of song Mel Brooks has become famous for and one can only imagine what director Susan Stroman choreographed for this number. It's hilarious and puts the talents of all the cast members into one glorious, toe-tapping song. "He's Loose," a tune that sounds suspiciously of the "Mob Song" from Beauty and the Beast is also successful in how the plot shifts and like "Life, Life", the humour stops so that Brooks can put in a serious song. Not one of the best songs on the soundtrack, but still successful.

The best song follows that number and is sung to perfection by Sutton Foster. "Listen to Your Heart" is a beautiful love tune with one simple theme: Turn off your brain. Inga's plead to Frankenstein to lower his IQ for a moment is both humourous and touching. It truly reveals a lot about her character and makes us love her even more. Of all the songs in the album, this is the one that will make people hum the most after completing it. For the next song, Megan Mullally returns for a performance that even tops her first number. Combined with Andrea Martin, Mullally turns what could have been a throw-away song about "Surprise" and makes it a worthwhile track and extends Elizabeth incredibly well. Gene Hackman's cameo appearance as the blind hermit is one of the highlights of the original film and Mel Brooks makes his character even more tragic by giving him a big Al Jolson-esque song and what was a little, humorous figure is now a full-bloodied individual. "Man About Town" is a touching song between Frankenstein and his creation, but the number following is what most people are waiting to hear. Expanded from the original film and the only un-original song in the show, the Irving Berlin tune "Puttin' on the Ritz", that famous cinematic moment is re-created beautifully on the soundtrack, proving just how worthy Roger Bart is in Gene Wilder's role. The most die-hard fans of Young Frankenstein will be happy to know that this classic scene is treated with respect and the fun in the number is still there.

 In contrast to Inga's love song, Elizabeth's "Deep Love", an ode to her new found hubby, has the right amount of big notes and classic, crude Brooks humour. Once again, Mullally is the queen of this number and truly succeeds in making us like her character even more. Her pipes hit the top notes of the song wonderfully and she speaks Kahn's classic lines perfectly. "Frederick's Soliloquy" is a short song, but Bart's singing and Brooks' well written lyrics are enough to make it a great piece of music. The "Finale Ultimo" proves to be an excellent last number of the show as it wraps the story very well and gives every character an appropriate closure. Every character is given a great farewell and one famous movie monster makes a cameo appearance to top things off. It's a satisfying conclusion to a great soundtrack. With Young Frankenstein following The Producers, Mel Brooks proves to be the "King of Broadway" and his talent in songwriting continues to show up here. Young Frankenstein is truly a wonder to behold on stage, but this soundtrack will definitely allow at least its music to live on in peoples' memory.