The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein is the subject of a WWOR/MY9 hour-long special,
"Young Frankenstein: Alive on
Broadway," to air this Sunday night February 10 at 7PM on Channel 9. The 20th special hosted by MY 9's Emmy
Award-winning entertainment reporter and critic Pat Collins, "Young Frankenstein: Alive on
Broadway" includes exclusive backstage tours and interviews with Mel
Brooks, Susan Stroman, Roger Bart, Megan Mullally and all of the stars of the
hit musical.
Young Frankenstein
is playing at The Hilton Theatre on Broadway.
For tickets and information, visit www.YoungFrankensteinTheMusical.com.
Collins was only the second TV journalist to interview the
legendary Mel Brooks as he prepared his latest musical (NBC anchorman Brian
Williams was the other). During the
interview, Collins uncovers that the inspiration for bringing the classic movie
to Broadway was Frau Blucher's line, "He vas my boyfriend," a line
that has been developed into a full blown musical number in the show. Additionally, Brooks shares with Collins
that before beginning work on Young Frankenstein, he went to the Forest Lawn
Cemetery grave of Marty
Feldman who co-starred in the film - to ask for his blessing.
Pat also puts on a top hat to learn the "Puttin' on the
Ritz" steps with Tony-winner Roger Bart who plays the singing and dancing
Dr. Frankenstein and takes viewers behind the scenes to see how actor Shuler
Hensley is turned into Frankenstein's monster each night. Extensive interviews with the show's other
stars Sutton Foster, Andrea Martin, Fred Applegate and Christopher Fitzgerald
are also featured.
Another highlight is Collins' rare one-on-one interview with
Gene Wilder at his home in Connecticut. Wilder tells Collins about his close
friendship with Mel Brooks dating back to their Young Frankenstein film collaboration, and reveals that
"Puttin' on the Ritz" was his idea and caused a major argument
between them on the set of the movie.
"Young
Frankenstein: Alive on Broadway" also includes opening night red carpet
interviews with celebrities such as Billy Crystal, Goldie Hawn, Martin Short,
Walter Cronkite, Joan Rivers and Rosie O'Donnell sharing their favorite
"Mel moments," while Cast members reveal their favorite lines from the
movie.