Saint Michael's Playhouse to Present YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, 6/17-28

Playhouse Producing Artistic Director Chuck Tobin today announced the opening of the Playhouse's 2014 summer theater season with the new Mel Brooks Broadway Young Frankenstein (June 17 - 28, 2014). Young Frankenstein features a book by three-time Tony Award-winner Mel Brooks and three-time Tony Award-winner Thomas Meehan and music and lyrics by Brooks. Young Frankenstein, directed by Keith Andrews with music direction by Thomas Cleary, will feature Matthew Crowle as Dr. Frederick Frankenstein, Kathryn Markey as Frau Blucher, Christian Kohn as the Monster, Abby Lee as Elizabeth, Brett Figel as Igor, Ashley McKay as Inga, Bill Carmichael as Inspector Kemp/Hermit, and Zachary Pesner as Ziggy. The ensemble includes Eugenio Contenti, Shelby Davis, Danielle Diniz, Antoinette DiPietropolo, Ian Frazier, Christopher Holloway, Kate Kramitz, Kevin Metzger, Vincent Ortega, and Chelsey Whitelock.

Performances begin on the Playhouse stage on Tuesday, June 17. Performances are Tuesday - Saturday evenings 6/17 - 21, 24 - 28 (8pm curtain), and Saturday matinees 6/21, 28 (2pm curtain).

Matthew Crowle (Dr. Fredrick Frankenstein) appeared on Broadway in Monty Python's Spamalot and the national tour of Doctor Dolittle with Tommy Tune. Regional credits include Singin' in the Rain, Spamalot, Hello, Dolly!, The Drowsy Chaperone. Young Frankenstein marks Matthew's Saint Michael's Playhouse debut.

Kathryn Markey (Frau Blucher) appeared on Broadway in 3 From Brooklyn. Regional credits include Holidays with The Chalks, American Family in 3 Chords, Over The Tavern, God of Carnage, Dancing at Lughnasa, Beau Jest. Saint Michael's Playhouse credits include, Nunsense, The Drowsy Chaperone, The Brighton Beach Trilogy, Pirates of Penzance.

Christian Kohn (the Monster) appeared on Broadway in Hollywood Arms along with numerous other credits including the title role in Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure, An Ideal Husband, Death of A Salesman, Phaedra directed by JoAnne Akalaitis. Saint Michael's Playhouse credits include Fiddler on the Roof, Tuesdays with Morrie, Rumors, Unnecessary Farce, Over the Pub.

Abby Lee (Elizabeth) originated the role of Zoe in the world premiere of Car Talk, with other New York and regional credits that include The Rubber Room, I Had Fun But Drank Way Too Much, The Intervention, Or, West Side Story, Barefoot in the Park. Saint Michael's Playhouse credits include Barnum, Talley's Folly, Dames at Sea, Nunsense, Unnecessary Farce.

Ashley McKay (Inga) appeared in the Japan premiere of Irving Berlin's I Love A Piano directed by Ray Roderick. Other credits include Little Shop of Horrors, Nunsense, High School Musical, Kiss Me, Kate. Young Frankenstein marks Ashley's Saint Michael's Playhouse debut.

Brett Figel (Igor) appeared in the National Tour of Young Frankenstein for nine months and reprised his role at Gateway Playhouse and Ogunquit Playhouse last summer. Other regional credits include The Fox on the Fairway, Spamalot, Legally Blonde, The 39 Steps, A Christmas Carol. Young Frankenstein marks Brett's Saint Michael's Playhouse debut.

Bill Carmichael (Inspector Kemp/Hermit) appeared on Broadway in Mamma Mia, Les Miserables, Cats, and Peter Pan. Off-Broadway Bill was in the original production of Forbidden Broadway and can be heard on the original cast recording. In Los Angeles he was in the original US premiere of Ragtime, Forever Plaid, Sweeney Todd with Kelsey Grammer. Saint Michael's Playhouse credits include Pirates of Penzance, Barnum, Blithe Spirit, Drowsy Chaperone, Unnecessary Farce.

The creative team is lead by director Keith Andrews whose Saint Michael's Playhouse credits include Big River, Barnum, Pirates of Penzance, The Drowsy Chaperone, Suds, The Marvelous Wonderettes, and Always, Patsy Cline. Creative team includes Thomas Cleary (music director), Tim Case (scenic design), Tracey A. Sullivan (costume design), Mark Wilson (lighting design), Zachary Williamson (sound design), Theresa Pierce (property design).

Based on the Oscar-nominated smash hit 1974 film, Young Frankenstein is the wickedly inspired re-imagining of the Mary Shelley classic from the comic genius of Mel Brooks. When Frederick Frankenstein, an esteemed New York brain surgeon and professor, inherits a castle and laboratory in Transylvania from his grandfather, deranged genius Victor Von Frankenstein, he faces a dilemma. Does he continue to run from his family's tortured past or does he stay in Transylvania to carry on his grandfather's mad experiments reanimating the dead and, in the process, fall in love with his sexy lab assistant Inga? Unfolding in the forbidding Castle Frankenstein and the foggy moors of Transylvania Heights, the show's raucous score includes "The Transylvania Mania," "He Vas My Boyfriend" and an unforgettable treatment of Irving Berlin's "Puttin' On The Ritz."

"When I heard that Mel Brooks was adapting his Academy Award-winning film into a Broadway musical I knew I had to produce it for the Playhouse," said producing artistic director Chuck Tobin. "The story follows Dr. Frankenstein and his assistant Igor as they attempt to bring a corpse back to life, with hilarious complications and show stopping musical numbers. This is an ingenious theatrical version of the film performed by our company of stellar professional actors. I guarantee you'll have a monstrously good time".

"We are excited to kick off our 67th season, with Young Frankenstein," said Tobin, "but equally exciting is the fact that the Playhouse received a major upgrade this winter. We've replaced every seat in the house with brand new, quiet, and comfortable theater seating. We've also replaced the carpet and made other upgrades to enhance the theater-going experience." Tobin continued "The old seats certainly served their purpose, having been installed in 1975 when the theater was built. After almost forty years of use nearly every seat had broken springs and had become very creaky and uncomfortable. The new seats are soft, durable fabric over polymer padding, featuring contoured armrests, lumbar support, and newly engineered springs for extra comfort."

Saint Michael's Playhouse is an Actors' Equity Association theater company owned and operated by Saint Michael's College. Actors' Equity Association is the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States. The Playhouse produces its productions with theater artists from Broadway, Off-Broadway, and regional theater nationwide, along with a stellar company of Vermont-based actors, directors and designers. Tobin adds "We rehearse our shows right here in our theater and design and build all of our scenery, costumes and props on location with our crew of approximately 70 theater artists."

The Playhouse's 67th mainstage season includes first-time Playhouse productions of the new Mel Brooks Broadway musical Young Frankenstein, Ken Ludwig's new farce The Fox on the Fairway, a revival of the beloved Broadway comedy classic Arsenic and Old Lace, and Ring of Fire, the musical tribute to Johnny Cash. Single ticket prices for the mainstage productions range from $32.50 to $43.50. Series tickets are still available at a 20% discount. Tickets may be purchased online at www.saintmichaelsplayhouse.org or by calling the Playhouse Box Office at 802-654-2281.

Photo credit Brian MacDonald

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